U.S. Marine Corps rehearses urban raid with ACVs at Fort Stewart
U.S. Marines with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit rehearsed a land raid at Fort Stewart, Georgia, on November 7, clearing buildings and moving in Amphibious Combat Vehicles during the unit’s Realistic Urban Training, U.S. Marine Corps photos show.
The Marines belong to Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, the ground combat element attached to the 26th MEU. Photos released by the unit show them advancing toward and entering buildings that had not yet been cleared, and preparing to board an Amphibious Combat Vehicle for the raid.
Realistic Urban Training, known as RUT, brings together all parts of a Marine Expeditionary Unit, including its ground troops, aviation squadron and logistics battalion, to practice operating as one force in a city environment. A MEU is a self-contained force of roughly 2,200 Marines and sailors that deploys aboard a group of amphibious ships and is used for crisis response, raids, evacuations and humanitarian missions.
The exercise is part of the training cycle MEUs go through before they deploy. Later stages usually move the unit onto its amphibious ships to train alongside the U.S. Navy as an Amphibious Ready Group.
Fort Stewart, a large U.S. Army post near Savannah, gives the Marines training areas and mock urban sites they cannot use at their home base, Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. Urban raid training covers moving vehicles and troops into a town, isolating a target building, clearing it room by room and pulling out under pressure, often with aircraft overhead.
The Amphibious Combat Vehicle, built by BAE Systems, is an eight-wheeled armored vehicle that can swim from ship to shore and then drive inland with a squad of Marines inside. It has replaced the Assault Amphibious Vehicle that the Marines used for decades, after the U.S. Marine Corps retired its iconic assault amphibious vehicle. The service is also adding firepower to the fleet, and U.S. Marines began fielding their cannon-armed amphibious vehicle, the ACV-30.
Other MEUs have gone through the same type of training this year. The 13th MEU completed its own Realistic Urban Training on the West Coast as part of its preparation for deployment, the Marine Corps said.
The 26th MEU is based at Camp Lejeune and typically deploys to Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
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U.S. Marines with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit conducted a land raid rehearsal at Fort Stewart, Georgia, on November 7, utilizing Amphibious Combat Vehicles to clear buildings. This exercise is part of their Realistic Urban Training, which prepares the unit for deployment by integrating ground, aviation, and logistics operations. The training involved approximately 2,200 Marines and sailors, focusing on urban combat scenarios.
- U.S. Marines rehearsed a land raid at Fort Stewart, Georgia on November 7.
- The exercise involved clearing buildings and using Amphibious Combat Vehicles.
- The 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit is a self-contained force of approximately 2,200 Marines and sailors.
- Realistic Urban Training integrates ground troops, aviation, and logistics.
- The Amphibious Combat Vehicle has replaced the older Assault Amphibious Vehicle.