The crew of USCGC Spencer (WMEC 905) recently returned to their home port in Portsmouth following an 88-day deployment in the U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa area of operations, employed by the U.S. Sixth Fleet and Combined Task Force 65, to defend U.S., allied and partner interests.

     During the patrol, Spencer’s crew worked to combat illicit transnational activities, including illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, by conducting multinational law enforcement operations in the Atlantic Ocean. Their efforts served to strengthen existing relationships with African nations and prioritized opportunities for new partnerships.

     Spencer’s crew also participated in “Obangame Express 2023,” a maritime exercise with participants from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and 17 West African partners. Conducted by U.S. Naval Forces Africa, “Obangame Express” is designed to improve regional cooperation, information-sharing practices, and tactical interdiction expertise to enhance the collective capabilities of participating nations to counter illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and other sea-based illicit activity.

     Members of the Japan Self-Defense Force and U.S. Marines with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit recently completed the first Japan-based Iron Fist exercise, an annual exercise designed to increase interoperability and strengthen relationships between the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Navy, the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. This iteration of Iron Fist included ships from the JMSDF for the first time, which conducted rehearsals and integration with the 31st MEU and 1st Amphibious Rapid Deployment Regiment throughout the exercise.

     Iron Fist 23 demonstrated the strengthening of bilateral response capabilities with the JMSDF through conducting combined amphibious operations including counter-piracy and search and rescue operations. The JMSDF tank landing ship JS Osumi (LST-4001) and the America Amphibious Ready Group swapped landing craft, air cushions, conducted combined amphibious reconnaissance, and performed a combined amphibious landing on the island of Tokunoshima during the exercise.

     The final integrated event was an amphibious landing at Okinawa between the JMSDF, JGSDF, and U.S. Marines and Sailors, which simulated a combined response to provide security in a crisis. Among several tactical activities, this event featured a bilateral mass casualty evacuation scenario.

     The U.S. Air Force and Space Force have partnered to create the new Space Test Course, which will instruct Guardians on test and evaluation processes, to conduct robust and methodical system testing on space-flight equipment at the Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California.

     Space Force Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David D. Thompson and Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin signed a memorandum of agreement Feb. 23, establishing the new course.

     “Ensuring our Guardians can effectively test and validate space-flight equipment is crucial to mission success and protecting the space domain for the Joint Force,” Thompson said.

By Ltjg Michael Schwing, ESG2 Public Affairs

     Recently, Amphibious Construction Battalion TWO (ACB2) held a decommissioning ceremony at the Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek (JEBLC) chapel after nearly 80 years of service to the Navy and Marine Corps team and our nation.

     ACB2 Commanding Officer, Capt. Atiim Senthill, presided over a ceremony that included several previous commanding officers, family, prior command members, and the crew, dressed in blues. Established as the 105th Naval Construction Battalion on July 14, 1943 and re-designated ACB2 in 1950, throughout its run the non-kinetic unit allowed combat units to maintain a forward sustained presence through ship-to-shore logistics in support of Maritime Prepositioning Forces as well as Joint Logistics Over the Shore (JLOTS) operations.

     The Coast Guard is warning winter enthusiasts of unstable ice conditions and encouraging people to take safety precautions following two major rescues on the Great Lakes Feb. 6, 2023.

     Coast Guard boat and air crews responded to two separate ice floes off Wisconsin and Michigan with a total of 25 people rescued.

     Station Sturgeon Bay crew members responded to 11 people stranded on an ice floe off Sherwood Point, Wisconsin. Working with partner agencies, the Coast Guard crew safely transported five adults and six children to shore.

     Since fielding an entire armored brigade combat team’s worth of Army Prepositioned Stocks-2 equipment last year, Army Field Support Battalion-Mannheim hasn’t taken its foot off the gas and work at the Coleman APS-2 worksite in Mannheim hasn’t slowed down.

     Over the course of about a year, the battalion has issued more than 7,000 APS-2 vehicles and equipment pieces in support of U.S. European Command’s mission to enable the rapid deployment of troops to the European theater and show support to our allies, said Jason Todd, AFSBn-Mannheim’s deputy support operations officer.

     According to Maj. Steven Waugh, AFSBn-Mannheim’s executive officer, this includes equipment used to train Ukrainian forces, such as the recent movement and issue of dozens of M2A2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles for training

     The U.S. Marine Corps recently reactivated a new base on Guam in a ceremony honoring the long-shared history of the Marine Corps and Guam and establishing a forward presence in the Indo-Pacific that will endure into the future.

     Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Blaz is the first newly constructed Marine Corps base in 70 years and serves as a testament to the U.S.-Japan alliance. Guam was chosen as the location for the new base during the 2012 Bilateral Agreement between the U.S and Japanese governments, under the Defense Policy Review Initiative, which set the framework for the relocation of Marines from Okinawa to Guam. The base is named in honor of Brigadier General Vicente Tomas “Ben” Garrido Blaz, the first CHamorro Marine to attain the rank of general officer.

     “Today is an important day that marks the future of the Marines on Guam, and it is also a day to reflect on the century-long history of the Marine Corps in this beautiful place we call home,” said Col. Christopher Bopp, Commanding Officer, MCB Camp Blaz. “On this island Marines and their CHamoru brethren have lived in peace and fought in war together and we are proud to carry on this legacy of honor

     A U.S. Air Force fighter safely shot down a Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon.

     President Joe Biden ordered the action, but it was delayed until the balloon was over water off the coast of South Carolina to ensure no Americans on the ground were harmed.

     "The balloon, which was being used by the PRC in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental

by Ens. Susanna J Rogers, Amphibious Squadron 8 Public Affairs Officer

     The Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (BATARG), comprising Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5), San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Mesa Verde (LPD 19), and Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship USS Carter Hall (LSD 50) successfully integrated with the 26th Marine Expeditionary (MEU) and Amphibious Squadron 8 (PHIBRON 8) during the PHIBRON-MEU Integration (PMINT) exercise, which concluded on Feb. 5, 2023.

     During the nearly two-week underway the group successfully completed multiple visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS) raids, on-shore and off-shore missions, flight operations, simulated strait transits, live fire exercises, and other full mission profiles integrating Navy and Marine efforts to display the BATARG’s capabilities as a lethal expeditionary strike force ready to respond at all times.

By 1st Lt. Duane Kampa, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing

     A steady chorus of thumps reverberated through the air as a U.S. Marine Corps CH-53 Super Stallion recently delivered fuel to a Forward Arming and Refueling Point at Inyokern Airfield, California. The Marines swiftly seized the delivery and made quick work of preparing the FARP for sustained operations as part of exercise Steel Knight, an annual training event that sharpens the skills and lethality of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing and 1st Marine Division.

     The leadership of Marine Aircraft Group 16 has made significant efforts to develop the capabilities of their Marines, Sailors and assets in response to guidance from the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General David H. Berger. One such capability is the establishment of FARPs in austere environments.

     The United States Navy operates the world’s most capable submarine fleets. Its undersea fleet includes four separate classes of vessels including both attack submarines as well as ballistic missile submarines that are capable of carrying nuclear-armed ballistic missiles and which serve as the most survivable leg of the U.S. military’s nuclear triad.

     The U.S. Navy’s submarine fleet is also unique in that it is composed entirely of nuclear-powered undersea vessels.

     Some of the Navy’s most valuable undersea assets, however, are its four ballistic missile submarines that have been configured to carry and launch a large number of Tomahawk cruise missiles.

     Seventy representatives from across the Coast Guard recently convened to develop recommendations that align efforts and increase synchronization within the Coast Guard on Arctic matters in Anchorage, Alaska.

The Coast Guard Arctic Summit provided a forum to collectively review domestic and international Coast Guard Arctic equities and requirements through topic-specific sessions focused on creating high-level recommendations for enhancing efforts in the region and informing future decision making.

     Staff Sgt. Elizabeth Cox recently became the first female Army National Guard Soldier to graduate the Army National Guard Warrior Training Center’s M1 Abrams Master Gunner course, earning the title and additional skill identifier of Abrams Master Gunner.

     The 53-day course at Fort Benning, Georgia, upskills accomplished armor crew members like Cox,  and hones their proficiency in tank gunnery and maintenance. Cox’s desire to impart knowledge to her home tank crew motivated her to attend the course.

“I really enjoy the fact that you have one crew, and you become a family,” she said. “You have to take care of your track. If you don’t, you or a member of your family could die.”

     The US Air Force recently announced that two F-15EX Eagle II fighter jets delivered to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, launched air-to-air missiles for the first time from their new outer wing weapon stations.

     The 96th Test Wing's pilots fired an AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile from Station 1 and an AIM-9X from Station 9 over the Eglin Test and Training Complex's water range. Both aircraft successfully released the missiles on separate passes against a target drone.

     The Coast Guard is honoring eight civilians for their excellence in 2021. Recently, Adm. Linda Fagan, Commandant of the Coast Guard, presented the Civilian Employee of the Year (CEOY) and Non-Appropriated Fund Civilian Employee of the Year (NAF-CEOY) awards at a ceremony at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Every year, the service recognizes a handful of civilians for going above and beyond in their work.

     Two dozen New York National Guard Soldiers helped spread the holiday spirit by volunteering to load donated Christmas trees bound for service members and their families across the country.

     The Soldiers joined veterans and Gold Star and Blue Star families at Ellms Family Farm in Ballston Spa to load 100 trees. These trees go to military bases and are distributed to military families as part of Trees for Troops, a Christmas Spirit Foundation charitable initiative.

     America’s newest nuclear stealth bomber recently made its debut after years of secret development and as part of the Pentagon’s answer to rising concerns over a future conflict with China.

     The B-21 Raider is the first new American bomber aircraft in more than 30 years. Almost every aspect of the program is classified.

     The Department of the Air Force recently released its Climate Action Plan formulated in foresight and response to climate change and its reshaping of the increasingly complex global security environment. DAF installations are implementing innovative solutions and pilot programs to meet the goals outlined in the plan, bolstering mission readiness through installation energy resilience.

     Hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) recently arrived in Cartagena, Colombia, in support of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet’s Continuing Promise 2022 (CP22) mission.

     This visit marks the third of five mission stops as part of CP22 and the eleventh visit to Colombia since 2007.

     The United States Marine Corps celebrated its 247th birthday on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022.

     In 1775, the Corps was born out of a Philadelphia tavern during the American Revolutionary War.

For those who have earned the title of Marine, Nov. 10 is celebrated as if it was their own birthday, serving as a yearly reminder of the brave spirit that has compelled young men and women to defend our nation and its interests for more than two centuries.