The Armed Forces of the Philippines, Japan Self-Defense Force, and U.S. Armed Forces united to conduct an amphibious landing exercise at Katungkulan Beach, Marine Barracks Gregorio Lim during Exercise KAMANDAG 3 on Oct. 12, 2019.The ship-to-shore maneuver, which was the culminating event of two weeks of combined training focused on assault amphibious vehicle interoperability, marked the first time the AFP conducted a multilateral amphibious landing with its own AAVs. The drill’s success validated the multinational forces’ ability to conduct complex, synchronized amphibious operations, and it reaffirmed the partnerships between the Philippines, Japan and the United States.“It’s a major challenge taking three different elements with different

Members of the local and U.S. communities celebrated the 49th annual Naha Great Tug-of-War Festival from Oct. 12 to 14, 2019 at Naha, Okinawa, Japan.The three-day festival is held on the second weekend in October every year. The largest event features a tug-of-war which uses a 200-meter-long rope made of rice straw and weighs 43 tons, a Guinness World Record. “We are here building community relations. We have a bunch of Single Marine Program volunteers and service members participating in the event. At the end of the event they give you a piece of the rope, which is a pretty cool souvenir because not many people get to travel the world and experience such a unique event.” U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Trevor Evan, a combat engineer with Marine

From Marines in the South China Sea to those in the desert of California, these are 10 of the most influential photos from around the Marine Corps Oct. 7-11, 2019.  Flight at Sea Photo by Cpl. Dalton Swanbeck Download Details Share A CH-53E Super Stallion takes off from the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4) in the South China Sea Oct. 9.   Guardian Angels Photo by Sgt. Conner Robbins Download Details Share U.S. service members with Task Force

The 3d Marine Expeditionary Brigade and the Philippine Marine Ready Force opened Exercise KAMANDAG 3 on Wednesday, October 9th with a ceremony at the Subic Bay International Airport. KAMANDAG 3 will take place from October 9 to 18, 2019, at multiple locations on the Philippine islands of Luzon and Palawan.KAMANDAG 3 is a bilateral exercise between the Republic of the Philippines and the United States, which also features participation from Japan. The Philippine-led exercise will include military-to-military exchanges between Philippine, Japanese, and American forces, with a focus on improving counterterrorism and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief capabilities.Philippine and U.S. service members will conduct training in amphibious