Marines Largest Air Assault Operation | Exercise Steel Pike | MFA

Описание: More than 400 U.S. Marines conduct largest air assault exercise in a decade during Steel Pike 19. Steel Pike is a joint regimental exercise designed to provide Marine Air Ground Task Force capabilities in order to increase lethality and combat effectiveness to prepare for possible future combat operations.
#Marines #Exercise #Military
More than 490 Marines from Camp Lejueune took part in what Lt. Colonel Darrel Ayers said was the largest air assault exercise on the east coast in a decade. They were airlifted by CH-53 Stallion and MV-22 Osprey helicopters to Camp Davis near Holly Ridge, where "enemy troops" -- men from the Division Combat Skills Company -- were waiting.

"Steel Pike 19 comes from Major General David Furness of the 2nd Marine Division. When he took over the division, one of his objectives was to get the air wing and the infantry battalions back to where we were before Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Over the last 15 years, we’ve been in combat, and some of the things we used to do back in the '90s and early 2000s have kind of gone to the wayside because of our focus on combat operations." -Lt. Colonel Darryl Ayers, Commanding Officer of 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines

"We're all excited. It’s a good opportunity for the Marines - the majority of them didn’t do this in their basic level training. So most of them have never been on a Hilo before and it’s a good opportunity for them to not only work with the battalion as a whole but also get good training and experience working with the air wing as well. That’s an opportunity infantry doesn’t get very often ... We’re not always going to be hiking where we’re going. It’s good to get that familiarization with other parts of the Marine Corps." -2nd Lieutenant Dylan Kruger, 3rd Platoon Commander

Video Credit:
Sgt. Sylvia Tapia
2nd Marine Division