U.S. Marines with 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, conduct a rapid deployment exercise to increase the confidence of III MEF’s ability to rapidly deploy and maintain a secure Indo-Pacific region while showcasing the lethality and operational flexibility of 1st MAW, on Okinawa, Japan, October 24-25, 2019. As the only forward-deployed MEF, III MEF is strategically postured to quickly and effectively respond to any crisis within the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps video by Lance Cpl. Sarah Taggett)
Transcript
The ability to do a rapid deployment operation, you may have to push to an island to provide support. So you have to have a force that is going to be equipped, rapid enough and able to execute those operations to push that support forward to maintain that operational commitment. So the rapid deployment operations provide us an ability to keep up with the forward edge of the battlefield. As units push forward, not only on ground but also with the air assets, it gives us the ability to keep them logistically supported and provide them the capability to push further and further ahead.