OFF THE COAST OF NORTH CAROLINA — The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit and their Navy counterparts of Amphibious Squadron 8 kicked off their final training evolution today to prepare their Marines and sailors for an upcoming deployment this spring.

Certification Exercise, commonly called CERTEX, is the third at-sea exercise for the Navy-Marine team and is intended to test their ability to rapidly plan and respond to a variety of crises during the next three weeks.

Over the weekend, approximately 2,300 Marines loaded the three amphibious assault ships of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, which includes the USS Iwo Jima, USS New York and USS Gunston Hall.

The Marines worked around the clock to load the essential aircraft, vehicles and equipment that constitute a Marine Air Ground Task Force, which they will put to the test while refining their skills before heading across the Atlantic into the European and Central Command areas of operation.

The 24th MEU/PHIBRON 8 team will conduct training missions in North Carolina and Virginia in the coming days, which will include a Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel, mechanized raids, long-range aviation raids, and a response to a multiple casualty situation. These missions are based on a continuous fictitious scenario that has developed throughout the MEU’s six-month work-up cycle that has the unit operating off the coast of unstable countries who requested support from the United States.

A unique addition to this final exercise will be the integration of an unmanned aerial vehicle, which will deploy with the 24th MEU. This will be the first East Coast MEU to deploy with a UAV, which they will use to gather aerial imagery.

The 24th MEU’s CERTEX is also being included in the scenario driving Bold Alligator, the largest amphibious exercise conducted off the East Coast in 10 years.

The 24th MEU will conduct some missions in support of this larger exercise, but will mostly focus on its own mission essential tasks they are required to execute prior to deploying.

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From U.S. Fleet Forces Command Public Affairs

NORFOLK (NNS) — Commander, United States Fleet Forces (USFF) and Commander, Marine Corps Forces Command (MARFORCOM) will lead the East Coast’s largest joint and multinational amphibious assault exercise in the past ten years officials announced Jan. 25.

Exercise Bold Alligator 2012 (BA12) will revitalize Navy and Marine Corps amphibious expeditionary tactics, techniques and procedures, and reinvigorate its culture of conducting combined Navy and Marine Corps operations from the sea.

BA12 will be a live and synthetic, scenario-driven, simulation-supported exercise designed to train Expeditionary Strike Group 2 (ESG 2), 2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade (2d MEB) and Carrier Strike Group 12. Staffs will plan and execute a MEB-sized amphibious assault from a seabase in a medium land-and-maritime threat environment to improve naval amphibious core competencies.

The exercise will run Jan. 30 through Feb. 12, ashore and afloat, in and off the coasts of Virginia, North Carolina and Florida

“Amphibious forces are a critical element of maritime power projection that ought to be a high priority for support, even in a resource constrained environment, because they are a cost effective option for accomplishing a wide range of military operations,” said Adm. John C. Harvey, commander, USFF.

The units involved include the Enterprise Carrier Strike Group (CSG), Expeditionary Strike Group 2 (ESG-2), 2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB), Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), Naval Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC) as well as various other ships and units.

Nine countries are participating in exercise BA12, providing maritime, land and air units or observers. The countries participating with the U.S. forces are Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom.

One of the exercise’s priorities is to incorporate lessons learned over the past 10 years of challenging combat operations, overseas contingency operations, humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (HA/DR), noncombatant evacuation operations (NEO) and homeland defense.

The exercise will focus on the fundamental aspects and roles of amphibious operations to improve amphibious force readiness and proficiency for executing the six core capabilities of the Maritime Strategy – forward presence, deterrence, sea control, power projection, maritime security and humanitarian assistance/disaster response.

“In today’s world, the Navy-Marine Corps team must remain capable of gaining access to an operational area, and projecting and sustaining a sizable landing force ashore,” said Lt. General Dennis Hejlik, Commander, MARFORCOM. “We have the legislated responsibilities to be able to conduct these operations, and we certainly must be ready to do so beyond the ARG-MEU level where we routinely operate today.”

The culmination of Bold Alligator 2012 will include three large-scale events within the exercise: an amphibious assault at Camp Lejeune, N.C.; an aerial assault from the sea into Fort Pickett, Va.; and an amphibious raid on Fort Story, Va.

Embedded within their participation in BA12 is the Enterprise CSG’s Joint Task Force Exercise (JTFEX); the Iwo Jima (ARG) and 24th MEU certification exercise (CERTEX); and Riverine Group 1 (RIVGRU 1) Maritime Security Operations Ready (MSO-R) certification by Naval Expeditionary Combat Command (NECC).

For more history and information on Bold Alligator 2012, see Harvey’s blog at http://www.usfleetforces.blogspot.com/.

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy. Join the conversation about Bold Alligator 2012 on social media using #BA12.

For more news from U.S. Fleet Forces Command, visit http://www.navy.mil/local/clf/.

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By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jamica Johnson, U.S. Fleet Forces Command Public Affairs

USS New York, At sea (NNS) — The amphibious transport dock ship USS New York (LPD 21), boarded two vessels, one compliant and one non-compliant, during Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) Dec. 14.

New York is part of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), including Amphibious Squadron 8, the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) and the amphibious dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44).

COMPTUEX is a major requirement for the ARG pre-deployment certification that evaluates an ARG’s ability to deploy and conduct major combat operations, with New York focusing heavily on maritime security and ensuring their team is prepared for anything.

“We take Sailors from the ship and train them to assist in maritime security operations,” said New York Operations Officer Lt. Rebecca Domzalski, from Great Quarters, S.C. “Essentially we are taking those Sailors, placing them on a small dhow and other boats on the high seas. Once aboard, they check for smuggled weapons, illicit drugs and human trafficking in accordance with international laws and enforcing U.N. sanctions.”

Both Navy Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) and Marine Expanded Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (EVBSS) teams carried out various training scenarios, with both compliant and non-compliant mariners.

“The difference between VBSS and EVBSS – EVBSS is more of a tactical mission. VBSS is used for vessels that are compliant and don’t mind us coming on board to search,” said Domzalski. “EVBSS is for those vessels that don’t want to be boarded, for example, the piracy operations, where the pirates take the vessel and refuse to stop, so our forces that are more experienced tactically go aboard.”

Although the primary mission of the VBSS team is searching for wrongdoers, while deployed, they are also tasked with the objective of building positive relationships and promoting peace.

“VBSS teams must be prepared for various situations. One mission specific to a certain region is the Approach and Assist Visit (AAV),” said Domzalski. “AAV is where they go to boats in the area and talk to people in the vicinity. They shake hands, see if there is any information. They try and build good relations.”

New York and her crew are both new to the open seas and the deployment challenges that await them. COMPTUEX is a transition exercise designed to bring ships into real-life scenarios.

“Our VBSS team is made up of both experienced and inexperienced people, some who have never deployed before,” said Domzalski. “The guys were given a lot of in-scenario missions because they need to get used to walking on to a vessel and seeing what it’s going be like and talk to people in character and deal with language barriers.”

The team progressed through different levels of training. From the bottom, where they experienced proper boarding techniques, to more advanced levels of training, where they dealt with a prize crew by assuming command of the vessel and driving it to the next port.

“We were tasked with two operations yesterday, counter piracy and escort ops,” said Ensign Jeremy Wellens, VBSS team Boarding Officer. “The first was a counterpiracy mission, where a motor vessel was attacked by four small boats and in that situation, our mere presence was enough for the boats to stand down. The second we found illicit materials on board, and at that point, the boat was seized.

“The lesson my team and I learned was, there is no one way to do something,” said Wellens. “In the situations we face, we have to trust our instincts.”

The Iwo Jima ARG is currently underway for COMPTUEX with a scheduled deployment in spring 2012.

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from U.S. Fleet Forces Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/clf/.

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