JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – More than 300 Marines and 200 sailors are training this month on Blount Island, working to be prepared for any scenarios they might face in the field.
The Maritime Prepositioning Exercise has brought Marines in from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to give them the opportunity to get hands-on training.
A small transport ship arrived Tuesday, fresh off a 90-minute journey nearly 12 miles to the USNS Dahl anchored off the coast.
Humvees on board the ship were brought to shore, just as they would be if they were being pre-positioned in an attack situation.
“Although it looks like a slow pace today, it's only because we are doing it in a training environment,” Romeo Rosario, deputy commander of Beach Group 2, said. “In a real-world contingency operation, we would have far more sailors out here, far more craft, moving a lot more equipment.”
PHOTOS: Marine training exercise on Blount Island
The training is more than just moving vehicles, it's also getting the Marines fully prepared to pre-position other things like communication equipment for ammunition that combatants might need in a time of crisis.
Everything coming on shore is tracked so that leaders can know where it is when they need it. In a real situation, the beach where this is happening would be much larger, able to equip up to about 16,000 Marines and sailors.
“Being able to do that in such a proficient way and organized fashion, so that we are ready to take that equipment, that capability, and employ it is critical,” Marine Col. John Sullivan said.
“It's good to do this on a smaller scale so we can perfect it, but we can do it quicker with more ships to get their gear where it needs to be in a faster amount of time,” Marine Corp. Thomas Kraynak said.
Sometimes, the biggest challenge is more than just offloading what is needed. But the key is to make sure those on the ground are never waiting for what they need.
“The reality is this takes time,” Sullivan said. “Including transit time from the United States to a particular operational area, it may take up to 17 days or more.”
Training like this, which continues through Aug. 24, isn’t done by all Marines, so the nearly 350 that are doing it now are much better prepared than many others who haven’t completed it, officials said.