MIDGE POINT, Australia –
Sailors from USS New Orleans transported the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, German Army, and Japanese Self-Defense Forces service members ashore via a landing craft, air cushion operation as part of Talisman Sabre 23 at Midge Point, Australia on July 25, 2023.
Amphibious operations provide a combined-joint force commander the capability to rapidly project power ashore in support of crisis response at the desired time and location. The 31st MEU is continuously forward-deployed and provides a flexible and lethal force ready to perform a wide range of military operations.
“The exercise here is important because of all the joint forces -- we integrate and we do all our training together,” said Sgt. Jorge Bravo, a U.S. Marine with the 31st MEU. “They have their own way of doing things, we have our own way of doing things, and we find the common ground in the middle -- and we were better because of it.”
TS23 provides a key opportunity for bilateral collaboration and coordination required to carry out the entire suite of amphibious Marine Air Ground Task Force missions across air, sea, and land. Sustained operations at remote destinations while balancing the complexities of modern crisis are the backbone of the 31st MEU’s capabilities.
“The reason these types of activities are important is to make sure that when we work together as partner nations, things like your tactics, techniques and procedures are known and issues such as communications and language barriers are overcome,” said Lt. Col. Adam Murgatroyd, Australian Defense Forces, Officer In Charge, Midge Point, Talisman Sabre 23. “So, when we conduct activities for real, that confusion is not present.”
World events underscore the urgency to develop the multi-domain operating capability, especially here in the Indo-Pacific.