FRIDAY FOTO Extra: Amphibious Warfare

Hitting the Beach

(U.S. Marine Corps photo)

Amphibious Assault Vehicles of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit land at Freshwater Beach during a mock amphibious assault as part of Talisman Sabre 2011 a joint U.S.-Australian military exercise along the northern and eastern coasts of Australia. As Australian Brigadier Gen. Bob Brown notes in this Australian Defence Forces video, “the Marines are the masters of this.”

Amphibious warfare has been a specialty of the U.S. Marine Corps since its creation in 1775 (You can view a creaky 1950s-style Marine Corps film on amphibious operations here) . But 10 years of war in the deserts and cities of Iraq and the mountains and valleys of Afghanistan have some critics wondering what role amphibious operations will play in the future.

That and other topics related to forcible entry from the sea will be discussed at a two-day Amphibious Operations Summit in Washington next week. Attendees at the conference, sponsored by the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement (IDGA), will hear from amphibious experts from the Navy, Marine Corps, Australia and France. Gen. John Amos, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, will be a keynote speaker.

One topic to be discussed is where do the Marines go for amphibious combat transportation after the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) program — designed to replace the 1970s era AAVs — was cancelled earlier this year.

To see a Military Channel video of an amphibious assault exercise with AAVs and other landing craft, click here on YouTube.