U.S. Marines and sailors have arrived in Australia’s Northern Territory to kick off the 14th annual rotation of the Marine Rotational Force – Darwin (MRF-D) Marine Air-Ground Task Force announced Marine Corps and Australian Defence Department releases on Monday, US Naval Institute News reports.
Meanwhile, Marine Rotational Force – South East Asia (MRF-SEA) began Exercise Valiant Mark 25 in Singapore on Monday, its final engagement before returning to the United States by the end of this month.
The Darwin deployment brings approximately 2,500 U.S. Marines and sailors to Australia to train and operate alongside the Australian Defence Force, reads a statement from the service.
“The Marines and sailors of this year’s rotation look forward to training with our Australian counterparts and regional partners, building upon decades of shared tradition and operational experience,” said U.S. Marine Col. Jason Armas, commanding officer of the MRF-D 25.3 Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF), in the release.
MRF-D is scheduled to participate in 17 exercises during its deployment, including the U.S. – Australian-led multinational exercise Talisman Sabre 25.
Based in Darwin, the MRF-D will hold exercises to drill humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, non-combatant evacuations, embassy reinforcements, expeditionary operations and rapid deployment of forces. The drills will span the Australian continent and extend beyond its borders to the Philippines, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and other regional security partners.
“The annual MRF-D rotation is a significant component of Australia’s force posture cooperation with the United States. This is a hallmark of our alliance and enhances Australia’s capacity to deter coercion and maintain a secure and stable region,” reads an Australian Defence Department release.
The releases did not mention the exact units forming MRF-D 25.3 though MRF-D is normally built from units from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif. The previous year’s rotation, MRF-D 24.3 consisted of 5th Marine Regiment as the command element, 5th Marine Regt. (Reinforced) as the ground combat element; Combat Logistics Battalion 5 (Reinforced) as the logistics combat element; and Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 268 (Reinforced) as the aviation combat element.
As MRF-D enters the region, MRF-SEA is entering the last month of its six-month rotation in the region with the unit scheduled to return to California by the end of March. During its deployment MRF-SEA carried out exercises Sama Sama and KAMANDAG in the Philippines, Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Malaysia, CARAT Brunei, Exercise Keris MAREX in Indonesia, Exercise Valiant Mark 24 in Singapore, and Cobra Gold 25 in Thailand with Valiant Mark 25 in Singapore being its last engagement in the region. MRF-SEA also assisted in the delivery of humanitarian aid to Philippine civilians affected by Typhoon Krathon in northern Luzon in October last year.
Although MRF-SEA, like MDF-D is drawn from units under I MEF’s command, the unit is constructed differently than MRF-D, instead of a fixed force composition throughout the deployment like MRF-D, the current MRF-SEA deployment is built around the command element of the 13th MEU and organized according to tasks.
“The core of MRF-SEA is the 13th MEU’s command element. Our organic capabilities allow us to plan, command and control, and execute crisis responses or exercises. Depending on the task at hand, MRF-SEA receives task-organized force packages from I MEF to ensure we have the right capabilities, at the right time, for the right mission.”, Capt Mark McDonough, a spokesman for MRF-SEA told USNI News.
“We provide INDOPACOM a stand-in force that can rapidly receive follow-on forces to execute planned exercises or meet situations as they arise.”
MRF-SEA and the Singapore Armed Forces began Exercise Valiant Mark 25 on Monday in Singapore with the exercise scheduled to wrap up on Mar. 26 with 600 personnel from the 3rd Battalion Singapore Guards and 7th Singapore Infantry Brigade, and about 200 personnel from the MRF-SEA taking part in the exercise that will include professional exchanges, live-firing and heliborne training, culminating in a bilateral urban operations mission, stated a Singapore Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) release.
“The consistency and growth of Exercise Valiant Mark over three decades since its establishment demonstrates the commitment of both nations to the regional security and mutual dedication in strengthening military-to-military relationships in the Indo-Pacific Region.”, said Col. Wong Pui Chuan, Chief Guards Officer and Commander, 21st Singapore Division, in the statement.
