NOUMEA, New Caledonia -- The U.S. Marine Corps participated in Exercise Croix du Sud 23, one of the largest joint humanitarian assistance and disaster relief training exercises in the South Pacific, in various locations across New Caledonia from April 24 to May 6.
This is the first time in five years that the exercise has been held. And the first time Marines have participated. More than 3,000 service members from 19 nations joined forces to support a notional scenario based in the areas of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response, Non-combatant Evacuation Operations, and Stability and Support Operations.
“Exercises like this help us prove through our allies and partner nations throughout the South China Sea that we are valuable. Working side-by-side helps us prepare for future disasters. As we learn to trust each other and build that relationship, we know they can show up for us as we show up for them.” U.S. Navy RADM Eric C. Ruttenberg, Reserve Director of Maritime Operations, U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Marines from Combat Logistics Battalion 5, Combat Logistics Regiment 1 supported the Combined Joint Task Force Joint Operations Center in the capital city of Noumea with planners and a NEO team. Six Marines from CLB-5 embedded with the Land Component Command and the Ordre de Malte non-governmental organization at the Koumac Airport to share Evacuation Control Center practices with the French military and assist with onward movement of evacuees after processing.
“Here in New Caledonia, we have an unstable international climate; therefore, an effort such as a noncombatant evacuation operation makes sense to work with our partner nations,” Said New Caledonian Armed Forces Capt. Remy Choupin, operations chief at Koumac’s ECC. “For me, the importance of a combined mission like Croix du Sud is first to learn to know each other, to work together, to share our own experience, our skills, and therefore improving to deal with events that could occur.”
Croix du Sud 2023 Closing Ceremony
Photo by Staff Sgt. Dana Beesley
Croix du Sud 2023 Closing Ceremony
NOUMEA, NEW CALEDONIA
05.06.2023
Photo by Staff Sgt. Dana Beesley
1st Marine Logistics Group
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Service members present their nations’ colors during the closing ceremony for Exercise Croix du Sud in Noumea, New Caledonia, May 6, 2023. Croix du Sud is the New Caledonian Armed Forces’ Combined Joint Task Force certification event with training objectives focused on a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response, Non-combatant Evacuation Operations, and Stability and Support Operations scenario in Oceania with desired effects focused on enhancing military-military, civil-military, and joint/multinational coordination in the region during crisis response. Nearly 3,000 service members from 19 countries participated in the exercise, making it the largest multinational exercise ever conducted in the country. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Dana Beesley)
In addition to New Caledonian Armed Forces and U.S. forces, military personnel from Australia, Canada, Fiji, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Tonga, the United Kingdom, Vanuatu, and France collaborated and trained together.
“The opportunity to participate in a joint exercise was amazing for the Marines out here,” said 1st Lt. Kevin Nguyen, a logistics officer with CLB-5. “It’s been an opportunity to see how other nations do operations, and improve the way the Marine Corps does these things in order to be more efficient.”
On May 4, distinguished visitors toured the ECC and JOC at Koumac and were briefed on the capabilities of the NEO ECC during the exercise.
“Exercises like this help us prove through our allies and partner nations throughout the South China Sea that we are valuable,” said U.S. Navy RADM Eric C. Ruttenberg, Reserve Director of Maritime Operations, U.S. Pacific Fleet. “Working side-by-side helps us prepare for future disasters. We know that we can show up in a country and be on the ground running immediately. As we learn to trust each other and build that relationship, we know they can show up for us as we show up for them.”