The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit kicked off its final certification training exercise today to prepare for their upcoming deployment scheduled for mid-January.
The 10-day exercise, called CERTEX, will be the final test of the 24th MEU’s capability to conduct a variety of missions and will include long-range raids, Tactical Recovery of Aircraft and Personnel (TRAP), and a response to a mass casualty scenario.
The Marines began loading the USS Mesa Verde earlier this week at the port in Morehead City, N.C., and finished loading the remainder of its 2,300 Marines and gear aboard the USS Nassau and USS Ashland this morning. As soon as all forces were aboard planning began for their first pending mission expected Dec. 8.
Some of the scenario-based training missions will take place at Army facilities in South Carolina and Virginia, which is a unique addition to this exercise.
The MEU started its training exercises and preparations for deployment in July. Much of its training has taken place in and around Camp Lejeune, but also included exercises in Virginia at Fort A.P. Hill, Fort Pickett, and Quantico, as well as Camp Atterbury, Indiana, where the MEU honed its skills at operating in an urban environment in the local Indiana and Kentucky communities.
The MEU has already executed several at sea drills aboard the amphibious assault ships Nassau, Mesa Verde and Ashland, the naval vessels that will transport the MEU during its deployment.
CERTEX will be the last time the Marines will board, and operate from these ships until they deploy.
The MEU heads into its latest round of workups with considerable combat experience. The MEU headquarters and CLB-24 spent their last tour in Afghanistan assisting NATO’s International Security Assistance Force combat insurgents in Southern Afghanistan in 2008. At the same time 1/9 conducted counter insurgency operations in and around Ar Ramadi, Iraq, and VMM-162 logged its own seven-month stint in Al Asad, Iraq.
The 24th MEU is made up of the following units: 24th MEU Command Element, Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 162, Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, and Combat Logistics Battalion 24.
For more information about the 24th MEU contact the 24th MEU Public Affairs Office using the following emails –
robert.shuford@usmc.mil and robert.piper@usmc.mil
Visit the unit's Web sites at
- http://www.marines.mil/unit/24thmeu
- http://www.facebook.com/24thmeu
If media needs video or photos please feel free to pull our products from -
- http://www.dvidshub.net/units/24meu
- http://www.flickr.com/people/24meu