HAD YAO, Thailand -- One by one, Marines climb into their respective amphibious assault vehicles (AAV). Each AAV is filled with a squad of Marines, around 13, who will soon get out to assault an enemy position.
The AAV’s are parked in the belly of amphibious dock landing ship USS Tortuga (LSD-46), which opens aft with huge steel doors. The vehicles debark by revving engines and racing out into the ocean. Almost completely submerging, the AAV’s buoyancy fights to bring the vehicle back above the surface of the water. Once righted, the engines roar belching out a black cloud of smoke and pushing this land/water capable vehicle towards its objective.
The Marines can’t see outside, all they can do is listen to the rev of the engine and brace for movement. On the other side of a dull roar, jetfighters fly over head dropping ordnance on the beach to soften its defenses. Paratroopers float out of the clouds and helicopters drop Marines directly on their objective as a preemptive strike.
All the while, the ocean tosses the AAV’s back and forth, lulling its passengers into a seasick coma.
“Hold on!” yells the AAV crew chief. The tracks of the AAV’s grab and break loose of the soft sand beneath them. Finally, at a more shallow depth, the tracks of the vehicles rip through the sand, carrying it out of the ocean and toward its objective.
For the passengers, the ride is completely different. Instead of floating on the surface of waves, they travel on dirt, rocks and asphalt. The enemy position is near.
The AAV’s lurch forward, pronouncing the stop and successful arrival.
“Stand clear of the ramp!” yells the crew chief. Sunlight pours over the ramp as the locks release and it slowly lowers to the ground.
The Marines file out, run to cover and form a line facing the enemy. They begin bounding, one fire team moves forward, stops and provides cover fire while another team races ahead of them. They bound to the enemy position, secure it and fire off a star cluster to let surrounding friendly units know their objective has been secured.
On May 19-20, more than 80 Marines from the Landing Force participating in Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) Thailand 2010, assaulted the beach here with the Royal Thai Marine Corps. It had all the components of the assault described above and it was bilateral, meaning that U.S. Marines and Royal Thai marines joined forces and worked together to complete the assault.
“It’s something I experienced, an assault, in ’03, but I haven’t done amphibious assault doctrine since,” said Gunnery Sgt. Matthew Lockwood, 1st Section leader, AAV Platoon, Company A, LF, a native of LaMarque, Texas. “This assault, with the paratroopers, the helicopters and the jets, is just pushing us back into the amphibious assault doctrine – it is pushing us back to our amphibious roots as Marines.”
On May 19, the first assault was a rehearsal, allowing the Marines from both the LF and the RTMC to become comfortable around all the moving parts. On the 20th, the Marines had blank rounds, explosions were set off to simulate the air support and the assault was completed at full speed.
The assault was the culminating training event for the CARAT exercise with Thailand and demonstrated the cohesive ability of the RTMC and U.S. Marines. Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training is a series of bilateral exercises, held annually, in Southeast Asia to strengthen relationships and to enhance force readiness.
For the Marines of the LF, the opportunity to train with the RTMC was a once in a life-time experience. For the AAV Marines, the exercise was special because it allowed them to see amphibious assault tactics through the tracks of a foreign AAV unit.
“The best thing about this exercise was the shared experience with the Thai Marines,” Lockwood said. “They loved it because we come from the same place – we’re both trakers. My Marines loved working with them because the Thai’s were excited that we were there. So that makes my Marines excited to be there.”