SAN DIEGO, California - Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 3 and 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) kicked off amphibious exercise Dawn Blitz 2017, Oct. 20.

Dawn Blitz 2017 is a scenario-driven amphibious exercise designed to train and integrate the staffs of ESG-3 and 1st MEB. It provides realistic, relevant training necessary for effective global crisis response expected of the Navy and Marine Corps team.

The exercise takes place at sea off the coast of Southern California and will involve participation from ships homeported at Naval Base San Diego including the amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2), the amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage (LPD 23), the amphibious dock landing ship USS Rushmore (LSD 47) and the guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG 108). These ships will integrate with 1st MEB and Coastal Riverine Group 1 to demonstrate how U.S. forces are capable, interoperable and deployable on short notice, while being fully combat ready.

"Dawn Blitz 2017 is an excellent opportunity to operationalize concepts the Navy and Marine Corps services have been discussing for some time," said Cmdr. Matthew Hoekstra, director of maritime operations for ESG-3 and lead exercise planner for Dawn Blitz. "While others continue to talk, wargame or tabletop future concepts, we are executing with live forces afloat and ashore."

The exercise consists of various wartime events leading to the deployment of U.S. and allied forces against a hypothetical enemy. Forces will plan and execute an amphibious assault, engage in live-fire events, and establish expeditionary advanced bases in a land and maritime threat environment to improve naval amphibious core competencies.

"Dawn Blitz provides crucial training for our Navy-Marine Corps team. The capability to conduct prompt and sustained amphibious operations anywhere in the world is essential to our Navy and our nation,” said Rear Adm. Cathal O'Connor, commander of Expeditionary Strike Group 3. “The amphibious force's capabilities range from high end warfighting to the disaster response capabilities our East Coast Sailors and Marines are demonstrating today. Since this is a multinational exercise, working with our international partners helps foster and sustain cooperative relationships that enhance regional security, stability and prosperity around the globe."

Dawn Blitz 2017 builds upon previous iterations of this exercise and affords the Navy/Marine Corps team the opportunity to capture lessons learned, develop Navy-Marine Corps amphibious staff expertise, and test new capabilities and equipment for the future fight.

Unique to this year’s exercise is the integration of the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) to conduct a sea-based strike. This will allow commanders to validate a capability with platforms not traditionally used at the MEU/ARG level.