Stories

The ACM exercise is a simulated crisis response drill that must be executed within 24 hours to prepare Marines to mitigate emergencies, provide humanitarian aid, or counter threats to U.S. national interests within the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Ryan Sotodavila) - U.S. Marines with 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, 3d Marine Division board a CH-53E Super Stallion with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 462 during an Alert Contingency Marine Air Ground Task Force (ACM) drill on Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Okinawa, Japan, May 8, 2025.

U.S. Marines with 1st Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, I Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group, and members of the United Arab Emirates Presidential Guard point out targets during United Arab Emirates Unit Enhancement Training at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, May 8, 2025. - U.S. Marines with 1st Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, I Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group, and members of the United Arab Emirates Presidential Guard point out targets during United Arab Emirates Unit Enhancement Training at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, May 8, 2025. The training aims to strengthen partner relations and enhance the UAE Presidential Guard’s understanding of Marine Corps tactics and procedures for indirect fire and close air support. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Ricardo Ramirez)

U.S. Marines with 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Marine Rotational Force – Darwin 25.3, and Australian Army soldiers with 5th/7th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment, fire their weapons during a Maritime Key Terrain Security Operations event, in support of Exercise Balikatan 25 near Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines May 5, 2025. Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between the U.S. and Philippine armed forces designed to strengthen the alliance, showcase the capable combined force, and demonstrate the commitment to regional security and stability. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Keegan Jones) - U.S. Marines with 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Marine Rotational Force – Darwin 25.3, and Australian Army soldiers with 5th/7th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment, fire their weapons during a Maritime Key Terrain Security Operations event, in support of Exercise Balikatan 25 near Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines May 5, 2025. Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between the U.S. and Philippine armed forces designed to strengthen the alliance, showcase the capable combined force, and demonstrate the commitment to regional security and stability. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Keegan Jones)

Exercise Kaiju Rain 25 enhances III Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group’s ability to conduct command and control, employ sensor capabilities and integrate multi-domain operations to enable III MEF, the joint force, and allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region. Hodgkins, a transmissions system operator with A Company, 7th Communication Battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group is a native of Minnesota. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Kira Ducato) - U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David Hodgkins tightens a rope to set up a Long-Range Radio System during Exercise Triad Thunder as part of Kaiju Rain on Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, May 5, 2025.

U.S. Marines with Charlie Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, exit from a U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicle assigned to Charlie Company, BLT 1/7, 31st MEU, during a simulated force-on-force mechanized raid at Combat Town, Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, April 24, 2025. The purpose of the exercise was to create a challenging, realistic training environment with the integration of the newly fielded ACV that produces combat-ready forces in urban terrain. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible and lethal force, ready to perform a wide range of military operations as the premiere crisis response force in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Angel Diaz Montes De Oca) - U.S. Marines with Charlie Company, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, exit from a U.S. Marine Corps Amphibious Combat Vehicle assigned to Charlie Company, BLT 1/7, 31st MEU, during a simulated force-on-force mechanized raid at Combat Town, Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, April 24, 2025. The purpose of the exercise was to create a challenging, realistic training environment with the integration of the newly fielded ACV that produces combat-ready forces in urban terrain. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU, provides a flexible and lethal force, ready to perform a wide range of military operations as the premiere crisis response force in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Angel Diaz Montes De Oca)

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Zechariah Guerrero,left, a team leader, and 1st Lt. Max C. Burke, a platoon commander, both with 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Marine Rotational Force – Darwin 25.3, provide security during a Maritime Key Terrain Security Operations event in support of Exercise Balikatan 25 near Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines, May 5, 2025. Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between the U.S. and Philippine armed forces designed to strengthen the alliance, showcase the capable combined force, and demonstrate the commitment to regional security and stability. Guerrero is a native of Texas, and Burke is a native of Virginia. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Ezekieljay Correa) - U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Zechariah Guerrero,left, a team leader, and 1st Lt. Max C. Burke, a platoon commander, both with 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Marine Rotational Force – Darwin 25.3, provide security during a Maritime Key Terrain Security Operations event in support of Exercise Balikatan 25 near Puerto Princesa, Palawan, Philippines, May 5, 2025. Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between the U.S. and Philippine armed forces designed to strengthen the alliance, showcase the capable combined force, and demonstrate the commitment to regional security and stability. Guerrero is a native of Texas, and Burke is a native of Virginia. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Ezekieljay Correa)

U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Andrew Williamson, right, the executive officer of Marine Rotational Force – Darwin 25.3, salutes with Group Captain Melissa Neilson, the commander of Headquarters Northern Command, during the 83rd anniversary ceremony of the Battle of the Coral Sea in Darwin, Australia, May 6, 2025. - U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Andrew Williamson, right, the executive officer of Marine Rotational Force – Darwin 25.3, salutes with Group Captain Melissa Neilson, the commander of Headquarters Northern Command, during the 83rd anniversary ceremony of the Battle of the Coral Sea in Darwin, Australia, May 6, 2025. The ceremony commemorated U.S. and Australian service members who lost their lives in the Battle of the Coral Sea, which took place from May 4-8, 1942, during WWII. Williamson is a native of New York, and Neilson is a native of Tasmania. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Angelina Sara)

The IAMD event consisted of dry- and live-fire demonstrations of counter-unmanned aerial systems, to include the U.S. Marine Corps’ Marine Air Defense Integrated System, the U.S. Army’s AN/TWQ-1 Avenger, and the Philippine Air Force’s Surface-to-Air Python and Derby - Medium Range. Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. military designed to strengthen our ironclad alliance, improve our capable combined force, and demonstrate our commitment to regional security and stability. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Iyer P. Ramakrishna) - U.S. Marines with 3d Littoral Anti-Air Battalion, 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division, teach Philippine Airmen with the 960th Air and Missile Defense Group, how the Marine Air Defense Integrated System operates during the Integrated Air and Missile Defense event as a part of Exercise Balikatan 25, at Naval Station Leovigildo Gantioqui, Philippines, April 24, 2025.

VMFA-211, an F-35B squadron from MCAS Yuma, Arizona, deployed to augment MAG-12, 1st MAW under the Unit Deployment Program, which provides U.S.-based units with operational experience in the Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by LCpl. Erick Reyes) - A U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II aircraft with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 211, Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing lands at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, May 10, 2025.

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Adam Clyne, an assistant patrol leader with 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Marine Rotational Force – Darwin 25.3, and a Philippine Marine with 3rd Marine Brigade, Philippine Marine Corps, pose for a photo before a counter-landing live-fire rehearsal in support of Exercise Balikatan 25 at Rizal, Palawan, Philippines, April 27, 2025. - U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Adam Clyne, an assistant patrol leader with 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Marine Rotational Force – Darwin 25.3, and a Philippine Marine with 3rd Marine Brigade, Philippine Marine Corps, pose for a photo before a counter-landing live-fire rehearsal in support of Exercise Balikatan 25 at Rizal, Palawan, Philippines, April 27, 2025. Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between the U.S. and Philippine armed forces designed to strengthen the alliance, showcase the capable combined force, and demonstrate the commitment to regional security and stability. Clyne is a native of Minnesota. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Keegan Jones)