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Marines assigned to 1st Marines, 4th Division stand by in the hangar bay of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2) to embark aboard aircraft during Dawn Blitz 2017. Dawn Blitz is a scenario-driven exercise designed to train and integrate Navy and Marine Corps units by providing a robust training environment where forces 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.