FRIDAY FOTO (April 19, 2024)

SIMON SAYS — DO THIS.

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Cole Pursley)   Click on the photo to enlarge the image.

Aviation Boatswain’s Mate 2nd Class Robert Miller guides a Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft during take off from the flight deck of the  amphibious assault ship USS America in the Philippine Sea on April 2, 2024. This Osprey is part of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 262.

America, lead ship of an Amphibious Ready Group, is operating in the Indo-Pacific region, the U.S. 7th Fleet’s area of operations, which encompasses more than 47 million square miles (124 million square kilometers), stretching from the International Date Line to the India/Pakistan border; and from the Kuril Islands in the North to the Antarctic in the South.

The 7th Fleet is the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, and routinely interacts and operates with allies and partners in the region, which includes 36 maritime countries and 50 percent of the world’s population, not to mention the world’s five largest foreign militaries: China, Russia, India, North Korea, and the Republic of Korea.

THE FRIDAY FOTO (March 15, 2024)

CALL ME SNAKE.

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sergesant Patrick Katz) Click on photo to enlarge image.

A Royal Thai Marine instructor shows the fangs of a venomous, White-Lipped Pit Viper at a jungle survival demonstration during Exercise Cobra Gold in Sattahip, Chonburi province, Kingdom of Thailand, on February 27, 2024.

Cobra Gold, now in its 43rd year, is a Thai-U.S. co-sponsored training event brought together over 9,000 military personnel, including 4,500 from the U.S. Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy, marking a significant milestone for the exercise.

The three main components of the exercise, which ran from February 27 to March 8, consisted of a command and control exercise, humanitarian civic assistance projects, and several field training events, each designed to test and strengthen the individual and collective capabilities of the participating forces.

There were seven full participants Thaland, United States, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia and three limited participants, Australia, Indonesia and a team from  China, which took part in the  Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Demonstration, according to the China Military website.

Participants engaged in various other activities including, an amphibious exercise, a strategic airborne operation and a combined live fire exercise.

ARCTIC NATION: Numerous U.S., NATO Training Exercises in the Arctic This Spring

ARCTIC EXERCISES: BIG AND BIGGER

Things are heating up in the Arctic and not just the rising temperatures that are melting polar sea ice. Military training exercises are also on the rise in the region known as the High North (territory above the Arctic Circle.

Since a small Russian underwater robot placed a small metal Russian flag on the seas floor beneath the North Pole in 2007, and the sea ice melt began opening up potential new maritime transit routes across the Arctic, the six countries bordering those waters — Canada, Denmark (which controls Greenland), Iceland, Norway, Russia and the United States — have renewed their interests, including air and naval patrols, in the polar region

Nuclear submarine USS Toledo surfaced in the Arctic Ocean 2020. (U.S. Navy Photo by MC1 Michael B. Zingaro)

In 2013, the U.S. “National Strategy for the Arctic Region” described the United States as “an Arctic Nation with broad and fundamental interests” in the region. 4GWAR blog has been writing about military and homeland security issues in the High North since 2011 and created the ARCTIC NATION feature in 2015 to report more frequently on defense, homeland security and environmental challenges at the top of the world for the United States and its allies and partners.

Those challenges grew as Russia began reopening of Cold War-era military bases, building new ones across its Arctic region and testing the approaches to allied airspace waters,  prompting the United States and its NATO partners to step up military exercises in the region. Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine only raised concerns among NATO members and other nations bordering Russia.

“To be frank, their rhetoric has increased” and the U.S. Navy “must operate more assertively” to keep the Arctic open to all nations, the Navy’s top commander for the region told a maritime conference March 6. “The United States is not conceding the Arctic” to Moscow or Beijing, Admiral Daryl Caudle told a meeting of the American Society of Naval Engineers, USNI News reported.

Here are some of the ongoing training exercises, or those recently completed since the  start of 2024.

NORDIC RESPONSE

MARCH 3-14, 2024 in northern Norway and neighboring waters.

Nordic Response 2024 (formerly known as Cold Response) is part of  Steadfast Defender 24 the largest NATO exercise since the end of the Cold War.

The much larger Steadfast Defender — 90,000 troops from 32 countries — is taking place largely across northern Europe from Germany to the Baltic States from January through  May. Nordic Response, 20,000 personnel from 13 NATO-member nations,  focuses on defending NATO’s northern flank, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland, and securing the Atlantic up to the Arctic. About roughly 5,000 of them are from the U.S. Marine Corps, Navy, Army, and Air Force.

Norwegian led military exercises with NATO and partner nations have taken place in Northern Norway every other year. The name was changed to Nordic Response now that Finland and Sweden are no longer just partners but the newest members of NATO.

The participating nations are: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Many participating militaries, like U.S. Marines and Sailors trained in Norway prior to the start of Nordic Response to familiarize themselves with the harsh environment.

Swedish marines prepare fast assault craft for small boat operations in the well deck of the amphibious warship USS Gunston Hall during Steadfast Defender 24 in the Norwegian Sea, on March 5, 2024. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Danielle Serocki ) Click on photo to enlarge.

The exercise focuses on northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland – as well as the corresponding airspace and seas. Maritime exercises include more than 50 submarines, frigates, corvettes, aircraft carriers and various amphibious vessels. In the air, there will be more than 100 fighter jets, transport planes, maritime surveillance aircraft and helicopters.

On the ground, thousands of soldiers will practice defending and protecting Nordic territory with artillery, tanks, tracked vehicles and other land vehicles. “Designed to strengthen agility and interoperability among allies and partners, Nordic Response will test the collective ability of Arctic nations and others to operate in the rugged conditions of the high north,” Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder told a press briefing March 5.

Norway (CIA World Factbook via University of Texas Libraries) Click on photo to enlarge image.

In Norway, most of the activity starts from Bjerkvik and inner Troms, extending northeast to Alta and central Finnmark. Additionally, there is significant activity in the sea areas off Troms and Finnmark, the Norwegian military announced.

“NATO is the cornerstone of Nordic security. Therefore, it is essential for Norway, Finland and Sweden that allied forces regularly train in our areas,” according to the Norwegian Forces (FORSVARET) website. “Moreover, NATO forces need continuous experience and knowledge to operate in our cold, Arctic climate.

“With Finland and Sweden as allied neighbours, the exercise contributes to closer Nordic integration within NATO. The exercise also strengthens the operational total defence cooperation in the Nordic countries, leading to better collaboration in peace, crisis, and conflict,” FORVARET added.

 

A U.S. Marine with 1st Battalion, 2d Marine Regiment, stands watch during a reconnaissance mission prior to Nordic Response 24 in Setermoen, Norway, on February 7, 2024.  (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Corporal Christian Salazar) Click on photo to enlarge the image.

Nordic Response is also closely integrated with the British-led naval exercise Joint Warrior, in the seas between Scotland, Norway, and Iceland.

JOINT WARRIOR

February 24-March 4, 2024 in the North Sea and Norwegian Sea.

Joint Warrior is a biannual, multilateral, multi-warfare exercise led by Britain’s Royal Navy incorporating surface, airborne and land scenarios providing joint training in a multi-threat environment for NATO units.

This year’s iteration, as part of NATO’s massive Steadfast Defender exercise, began February 24, 2024 off the Northern coast of Norway. The object was to deter hostile state activities by practicing and demonstrating security measures for sea lines of communication and littoral maneuvers on NATO’s flanks, according to NATO.

NATO’s two northern maritime groups trained with multinational forces during the UK-led exercise Joint Warrior 24-1 held in the North Sea and Norwegian Sea from February 24 to March 4. (Photo via NATO)

The exercise included more than 20,000 personnel, 30 ships, 4 submarines and multiple aircraft ranging from maritime patrol and fifth generation fighters to troop transporters. Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States participated in the exercise, which ended March 4.

Following Joint Warrior, the majority of naval forces were slated to participate in Norwegian-led Nordic Response.

ARCTIC EDGE.

Feb. 23 – March 11, 2024 across Alaska and Greenland.

Arctic Edge is a homeland defense exercise led U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) to demonstrate U.S. military capabilities in extreme cold weather in the high latitude environment, joint force readiness, and U.S. military commitment to mutual strategic security interests in the High North (the region above the Arctic Circle).

Marines from Fox Battery, 2nd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, fire rockets from a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) in the Yukon Training Area of Fort Wainwright, Alaska during Arctic Edge. (U.S. Army photo by Eve Baker, Fort Wainwright Public Affairs Office) Click on photo to enlarge image.

The exercise includes NORTHCOM components — Special Operations Command North and Marine Forces North — along with participation from international allies and interagency representatives. Also participating will be state and local partners including, the Alaska National Guard, Alaska state and local law enforcement, Alaska native tribes, regional corporations and local communities — all designed to demonstrate Globally Integrated Layered Defense in the Arctic.

U.S. Marine Corps Reserve forces from the 4th Marine Division performed a rapid insertion using the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS). C-130 aircraft from the New York Air National Guard’s 109th Air Wing, and the Marine Corps supported complex force movements.

Additionally, U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets) trained with Danish commandos in the mountains of Greenland (an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark) and with Navy SEALS and Norwegian commando divers in the waters off Alaska.

East-Coast based U.S. Naval Special Warfare Operators (SEALs), 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) Green Berets and Norwegian Naval Special Operations Commandos conduct diving operations to strengthen interoperability and refine skills in the Arctic region near Kodiak, Alaska on February 23, 2024, during Arctic Edge 2024. . (U.S. Army photo by Specialist Preston Mothersole) Click on photo to enlarge the image.

THE FRIDAY FOTO (February 16, 2024)

CHAIN, CHAIN, CHAIN — CHAIN OF SEALS

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Trey Hutcheson) Click on the photo to enlarge the image.

East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare Operators (SEALS) use a Submarine Exploration (SUEX) diver propulsion vehicle during a sustainment exercise in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Sustainment exercises are an integrated, comprehensive exercise designed to ensure the team or group is ready to meet all mission sets and carry out sustained combat operations from the sea. Training evolutions like this allow Naval Special Warfare personnel to refine their interoperability with other naval units and extend their operational reach in the maritime domain.

Special Warfare Operators (SO) perform maritime and land-based Special Operations in urban, desert, jungle, arctic and mountain environments. Duties include combat diving, paradrop operations, small boat operations, tactical ground mobility, small arms and crew-served weapons, fast roping, rappelling, explosives, communications, trauma care, intelligence gathering and interpretation, and Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Explosive (CBRNE) defense measures.

Naval Special Warfare Group TWO, based at Virginia Beach, is the command headquarters for all East Coast-based U.S. Navy SEAL Teams for missions primarily in Europe, North and South America.

THE FRIDAY FOTO (January 26, 2023)

THE MARINES (MACHINES) HAVE LANDED.

(U.S. Navy photo by Michael Walls) Click on the photo to enlarge the image

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) — drones to the rest of us — fly over a beach at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California on January 19, 2024.

Equipped with specialized software and sensors, these drones showed off their capabilities during the Technical Concept Experiment (TCE) 23.2,

Sponsored by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), in partnership with I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF), the event demonstrated ONR-funded technologies designed to enhance the Marine Corps’ capability in carrying out amphibious operations — including foiling explosive hazards, mine countermeasures and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

“Since their inception, the Marines have been known for their ability to come ashore and establish a beachhead and move inland,” said Dr. Tom Drake, head of ONR’s Ocean Battlespace Sensing Department. “Present and future Marines still need to carry out such missions. Our goal is to give them the best possible tools to do that quickly, safely and effectively.”

TCE 23.2 aligned with the emerging naval concept known as Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO), which involves deploying small but highly mobile units to isolated locations where they can monitor enemy operations within the conflict zone and, when necessary, shoot and scoot before being detected. EABO has the potential of quickly getting forces into a strategically vital area in response to an evolving threat when no other U.S. military assets are available.

A key element of EABO is detecting and disarming explosive hazards, from the deep water through the beach zone to the inland objective.

SHAKO: THE MARINERS WHO SAVED THE CONTINENTAL ARMY

A Different Christmas “Miracle”

On Christmas night, 1776, the Continental Army was in dire straits — just five months after Independence was declared. The Army was short of men, food, clothing and morale, with only the ice-choked Delaware River between it and destruction.

Reeling from a string of losses on the battlefield and facing a shrinking army, a frustrated Continental Congress and an increasingly indifferent citizenry, General George Washington needed to do something big to boost Patriot morale and salvage the foundering Revolution. That big thing was to cross the Delaware in a winter storm for a daring night-time raid on a garrison of Hessian mercenaries at Trenton, New Jersey.

Washington crossing the Delaware: on the evening of Dec 25th, previous to the battle of Trenton. New York: Published by Currier & Ives circa 1876. (Photograph: Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2002698169/.)

The general’s story is well known to most Americans, especially if they’ve seen Emanuel Leutze’s iconic (but inaccurate) 1851 life-size painting, “Washington Crossing the Delaware.” Less well known is the remarkable regiment of New England mariners who rowed Washington’s troops across the river in a howling snowstorm and played a key role in the victory at Trenton the following morning.  Your 4GWAR Editor has written about the tough, dependable Yankee sailors-turned soldiers of the 14th Continental Regiment in the December issue of SEAPOWER magazine.

Click here to read the whole story.

Equally tough was their commander, Colonel John Glover a rum trader-turned merchant sea captain-turned fishing fleet owner. His regiment (also known as Glover’s Regiment and the Marine Regiment) — made up of sailors and fishermen from Marblehead and other Massachusetts coastal towns — played a crucial role in the Continental Army’s survival twice before Trenton.

Surrounded in Brooklyn Heights after the disastrous Battle of Long Island in August 1776, Washington’s troops escaped to Manhattan in a single night by sailboat, ferry boat, row boat — any  kind of boat to be had. But when the wind died in the middle of the evacuation, it was Glover’s Yankee mariners who rowed the remaining troops and their equipment to safety.

Mural, from the 1930s, depicting the Battle of Pell’s Point, on display at the Bronx County courthouse in The Bronx, NY. (National Park Service and Bronx County Courthouse) Click on the photo to enlarge the image.

On October 18, 1776, a small brigade of Massachusetts troops under Glover delayed a British amphibious force trying to intercept and destroy Washington’s army as it evacuated New York City and headed north to White Plains, New York. With less than 800 men, Glover stationed his three regiments, at staggered intervals, behind low stone walls that flanked the road running inland from the landing site at Pell’s Point, in what is now known as New York’s Borough of the Bronx (your 4GWAR Editor’s hometown). Rising up to fire disciplined volleys and then withdrawing to walls farther back, Glover’s men held off a force of some 4,000 British and Hessian troops for several hours, withdrawing only when their flanks were threatened by overwhelming enemy numbers. The Battle of Pell’s Point gave the main body of Washington’s army time to complete the retreat to White Plains.

To read our article on Glover’s men click here.

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A NOTE ON SOURCES: Your 4GWAR Editor first learned about the Marblehead  fisherman and their role in Washington’s Crossing of the Delaware sometime in the early 1960s from a comic book, Treasure Chest of Fun & Fact, an American Catholic comic book published by George Pflaum of Dayton, Ohio starting in 1946. Living in Brooklyn near the Long Island Battle sites and discovering Glover’s Rock in Pelham Bay Park as a boy in the Bronx fleshed out the story of the seafaring soldiers of 1776.

Your 4GWAR editor pitched the story as a kind of early surface action to SEAPOWER‘s editors last Fall when they called for Christmas-related material for their December/Surface Navy issue. Researching the subject, I discovered Patrick K. O’Donnell’s book The Indispensibles: The Diverse Soldier-Mariners Who Shaped the Country, Formed the Navy, and Rowed Washington Across the Delaware. It tells a story that goes far beyond Trenton, Long Island and Pell’s Point, including the role Glover’s men played in a small secret naval force Washington created (without congressional approval) before there was a U.S. Navy. SEAPOWER does not use footnotes in its articles, so the magazine mentioned only The Invincibles as “the main source for this article,” in a note to readers. However, lest readers, especially my fellow historians, might think the magazine article was just a glorified book report, here are the other sources consulted for this piece:

BOOKS

Fischer, David Hackett, Washington’s Crossing. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004)

Nelson, James L., George Washington’s Secret Navy, How the American Revolution Went to Sea. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008)

O’Donnell, Patrick K., The Indispensables: The Diverse Soldier-Mariners Who Shaped the Country, Formed the Navy, and Rowed Washington Across the Delaware.  (New York: Grove Press, 2022)

Willis, Sam The Struggle for Sea Power, A Naval History of the American Revolution.  (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, first American edition, 2016)

ARTICLES, WEBSITES

John Glover: Sailor, Soldier, Patriot – National Park Service:  https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/john-glover-sailor-soldier-patriot.htm

Overlooked Hero: John Glover and the American Revolution – National Park Service:  https://www.nps.gov/sapa/planyourvisit/overlooked-hero.htm

The Red, Black and White Men of Glover’s Regiment Take Washington Across the Delaware – New England Historical Society.com https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/glovers-regiment-crosses-delaware/

The Battle of Pell’s Point – National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/the-battle-of-pell-s-point.htm

Washington Crossing the Delaware — the Legendary Move that Saved America – American History Central website: https://www.americanhistorycentral.com/entries/washington-crossing-the-delaware-1776/

Trenton – American Battlefield Trust:  https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/trenton

Billias, George A., Soldier in a Longboat—American Heritage February 1960 Volume II, Issue 2. https://www.americanheritage.com/soldier-longboat

Ten Facts About Washington’s Crossing of the Delaware River, George Washington’s Mount Vernon website:  https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-revolutionary-war/washingtons-revolutionary-war-battles/the-trenton-princeton-campaign/10-facts-about-washingtons-crossing-of-the-delaware-river/

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SHAKO is an occasional 4GWAR posting on military history, traditions and culture. For the uninitiated, a shako is the tall, billed headgear worn by many armies from the Napoleonic era to about the time of the American Civil War. It remains a part of the dress or parade uniform of several military organizations like the corps of cadets at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York.

 

 

 

 

THE FRIDAY FOTO (December 8, 2023)

UTILIZING THE LOCAL FLORA.

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sergeant Shaina Jupiter) Click on photo to enlarge image.

Marine Lance Corporal Troy Hemminger conducts a patrol base operation rehearsal during Keris Marine Exercise 2023 (Kerris MAREX 23) at Piabung Training Area in Sukabumi on the Indonesian island of Java on November 26, 2023.

A patrol base is a security perimeter which is set up when a squad or platoon conducting a patrol halts for an extended period, but less than 24 hours. Patrol bases can be used to avoid detection by eliminating movement; hide a unit during a long detailed reconnaissance; perform maintenance on weapons, equipment, to eat and rest; to plan and issue orders. Leaders planning for a patrol base must consider the mission as well as passive and active security measures.

Keris MAREX is a bilateral exercise led by the U.S. Marine Corps and the Indonesian Marine Corps, or Korps Marinir, to promote military interoperability and maritime domain awareness capabilities while strengthening relationships, and expand military capabilities among participating forces.

Hemmingern is an anti-tank missile gunner with the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, attached to Marine Rotational Force-Southeast Asia. MRF-SEA is a Marine Corps Forces Pacific operational model that involves exchanges with subject matter experts, promotes security goals with allies and partners, and positions I Marine Expeditionary Force west of the International Date Line.

SHAKO: U.S. Marine Corps’ 248th Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LEATHERNECKS, JARHEADS AND DEVIL DOGS.

Riflemen with Marine Barracks Washington, execute “pass and review” during the Ceremonial Drill School evaluation at Marine Barracks Washington, D.C., Oct 17, 2023.  (U.S. Marine Corps photo by LCpl. Pranav Ramakrishna)

Friday, November 10, 2023 marks the 248thth Birthday of the United States Marine Corps.

The Marine Corps was created by the Second Continental Congress on November 10, 1775 and since 1921, Marines around the world have celebrated the Corps’ founding under Marine Corps Order No. 47, Series 1921, issued by then-Commandant Major General John LeJeune. His order summarized the history, tradition and mission of the Marine Corps and directed that the order be read to every command on every subsequent November 10, the Marine Corps Birthday.

Since the 1950s, the Marines have marked the occasion with a birthday celebration and a cake cutting ceremony, where the senior Marine Corps officer on board slices the cake — usually with the traditional Mameluke officer’s sword, commemorating the Marines’ first overseas action near the shores of Tripoli in 1805. The first slice of cake is handed to the oldest Marine present. That senior Leatherneck then hands the slice to the youngest Marine on site.

U.S. Marines have been called Leathernecks since the age of sail when war at sea meant boarding an enemy ship (or repelling boarders) with small arms including swords, pikes and bayonets. In combat, a wide, stiff leather neck-piece, called a Stock, protected a Marine’s neck and jugular vein from the slash of a cutlass. On parade, it kept his head erect and looking smart. Far from an insult, the Marine Corps Association’s monthly magazine is called LEATHERNECK.

The nickname “Devil Dogs” came out of World War I. The nearly month-long Battle of Belleau Wood in June 1918 was the first major engagement of American troops on the Western Front in the Great War. It also is one of the most significant battles fought by the U.S. Marines, earning them France’s highest military award and the nickname Devil Dogs from the Germans. The bloody action at Belleau Wood saved Paris, and the French government renamed Belleau Wood, the “Bois de la Brigade de Marine” and awarded the 5th and 6th Marine regiments the Croix de Guerre. The Germans, too were impressed with the Marines. An official German report described the Marines as “vigorous, self-confident and remarkable marksmen.” Captured German soldiers and their letters described the Marines as Teufelhunde, or Devil Dogs.”

Jarhead started out as an insult aimed at Marines by Sailors in the Second World War. The term “referred to Marines’ appearance wearing their dress blue uniforms,” according to the National Museum of the Marine Corps. “The high collar on the uniform and the Marines’ head popping out of the top resembled a Mason Jar.” But the Marines chose to own the moniker as their own, according to the museum. “Some Marines refer to the ‘high and tight’ haircut as a ‘Jarhead cut.’”

Corporal Arianna Lindheimer, with combat graphics specialists, U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific, engages in live fire with the French Fusil D’Assaut de la Manufacture d’Armes de Saint-Etienne (FAMAS) during bilateral training with French forces in Tahiti on August 30, 2023.  (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Haley Fourmet Gustavsen)

THE FRIDAY FOTO (October 20, 2023)

NERVE CENTER.

(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jordan Klineizquierdo) Click on the photo to enlarge the image.

Sailors aboard the USS Thomas Hudner (DDG 116), an Arleigh Burke-class  guided-missile destroyer, conduct strike scenarios while underway in the Mediterranean Sea on October 11, 2023.

Thomas Hudner is part of the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group and is currently operating in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, at the direction of the Secretary of Defense.

USS Carney, another Arleigh Burke destroyer in the Ford carrier strike group, destroyed 15 drones and four land-to-air cruise missiles in the northern Red Sea on Thursday (October 19, 2023.) A U.S. defense official told the Stars and Stripes website the next day (Friday) the missiles and drones came from Yemen and may have been targeting Israel.

The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group’s presence in the Eastern Mediterranean is meant to deter Hezbollah and Iran from joining the war between Hamas and Israel, according to statements from the Pentagon. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the Ford carrier strike group, which had been operating in the Mediterranean, closer to Italy, to move to the Eastern Mediterranean as part of the U.S. response to Hamas’ attacks on Israel, according to USNI News.

THE FRIDAY FOTO (October 13, 2023)

DANGER (VERY) CLOSE.

(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Corporal Kyle Jia) Click on image to enlarge

He may look like an astronaut, but the rig that Marine is wearing is to protect him from very real danger here on Earth.

This photo shows Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Mark Frick, an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team leader, photographing a simulated improvised explosive device (IED) that’s been neutralized. Anyone who’s seen the Oscar-winning movie, “The Hurt Locker,” knows the sergeant is an expert in bomb disposal, one of the trickiest and very dangerous jobs in the military.

Assigned to the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), Frick was participating in Exercise Northern Challenge 2023, at Keflavik Airport, Iceland on September 22, 2023.

Northern Challenge 23 is an Icelandic Coast Guard-led bomb disposal exercise designed to provide the most modernized explosive ordnance disposal training in the world. This year’s iteration featured 16 nations, over 400 participants, and marked the first time the U.S. Marine Corps participated in the exercise.

Other participating nations included: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Northern Challenge 23 provided an opportunity for participants to share ideas and tactics, better equipping them to neutralize modern explosive threats, and in-turn share these procedures and knowledge with members of the EOD community back home.

The Special Operations Capable 26th MEU, is assigned to the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group under the command of the Navy’s Task Force 61/2, on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. Naval Forces Europe area of operations.