Marines embarked aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer recently sailed through the Strait of Hormuz with an armored vehicle strapped to the flight deck, ready to fight off drones and Iranian gunboats.
A light armored vehicle (LAV) belonging to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit can be seen on the flight deck as an AH-1Z Viper lifts off in a recently-released Marine Corps photo, NPR's Phil Ewing first noted.
The exercise allows Marines "to evaluate our ability to offload personnel and equipment, generate combat power across the Atlantic, and then redeploy assets through a known logistically complicated area of operation," 1st Lt. Robert Locker, a Marine communications officer, said in a release.
FILE PHOTO: U.S. Marine Corps Light Armored Vehicles with 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division standby to be armed with ammunition to conduct a platoon level gunnery range at Fort Irwin, California, March 22, 2019.
One Marine died and six others were injured after a light armored vehicle rolled over during training at Camp Pendleton on Thursday morning, 1st Marine Division has announced.
The accident involving Marines with 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion happened at around 9 a.m.
The Marines are looking for a few good recruits to bolster the ranks, and the Corps is willing to pay a little something extra for those looking to go infantry. Emphasis on little.
As the military’s smallest service, the Marine Corps is often the last to receive new gear — getting M4s and upgraded .50-cal machine guns years after the Army’s already had them in spades — leading to a sense that Marines get the other branches’ hand-me-downs.
