Category Archives: USMC

The ACVs have arrived

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U.S. Marines assigned to Alpha Company, BLT 1/5, 15th MEU, recently made history by launching the new Amphibious Combat Vehicles from the USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) to conduct a live-fire, waterborne gunnery range during Exercise Balikatan 24 at Oyster Bay, Philippines, on 4 May. A promised upgrade from the troublesome (and often extremely dangerous) AAVP-7A1, which was first entered service in 1972.

U.S. Marine Corps photos by Sgt. Patrick Katz, Cpl. Aidan Hekker, and Lance Cpl. Peyton Kahle:

A U.S. Marine Corps amphibious combat vehicle attached to Alpha Company, Battalion Landing Team 1/5, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, splashes off the amphibious dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) during Exercise Balikatan 24 in Naval Detachment Oyster Bay, Palawan, Philippines, May 4, 2024. BK 24 is an annual exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the U.S. military designed to strengthen bilateral interoperability, capabilities, trust, and cooperation built over decades of shared

Amphibious combat vehicles attached to Alpha Company, Battalion Landing Team 1/5, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, drive in formation back to the amphibious landing dock USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) following a waterborne gunnery live-fire training during Exercise Balikatan 24 in Oyster Bay, Philippines, May 4, 2024.  

U.S. Marine Corps amphibious combat vehicles attached to Alpha Company, Battalion Landing Team 1/5, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, conduct an open water transit to return to the amphibious dock landing ship USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49) during Exercise Balikatan 24 in Naval Detachment Oyster Bay, Palawan, Philippines, May 4, 2024.  

As noted by the USMC PAO:

The waterborne operations and live-fire training marked the first employment of the ACV platform in the region, underscoring the United States Marine Corps’ commitment to modernizing the force in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

 

The First American Goulash Kalash at 55

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Republic of Vietnam, 3 May 1969: “Offical caption: Historical Arsenal– Captain Anthony F. Milavic (Miami, Fla.) examines the first Hungarian AKM rifle to be captured in Vietnam. The weapon is the latest development in the AK-47 rifle used by the North Vietnamese Army. Also displayed are 20 different enemy weapons captured by Leathernecks of the 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division. The long-barreled rifle (center) is an enemy sniper rifle that was manufactured in 1953, but it is of the Mosin Nagant design that dates back to the 1890s.”

U.S. Marine Photo A193022 by CPL. Dennis Randolph.

Manufactured by the Fegyver- és Gépgyár (FÉG) state arms plant in Hungary, the central European People’s Republic got in the Kalashnikov game around 1963 with the AKM-63, followed by the AMD-65, and after 1977, by the AK-63 (AMM/AMMS) and AMP-69.

The AMD-65. Notably, the Hungarians were one of the first AK makers to go with plastic furniture rather than wood. 

Of course, many Americans outside of AK nerds know FEG better for their excellent PJK Hi-Power copies that flooded the market in the 1990s.

One interesting thing to note about the Marine officer in the top image, Anthony F. Milavic (born 1936) enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1953 and, by 1966 was a warrant officer, then shortly after earned his O-1 commission. He earned the Legion of Merit for his 1968-69 Vietnam tour working in the 3rd MARDIV’s G-2 shop. Retiring from the Marine Corps in 1978 as a major, he was a very prolific writer for several years on military intelligence and firearms subjects, founding the old MILINET bulletin board. 

USMC Mini Seaplane Tenders?

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You’ve heard of amphibious drones, yes? Like the land-locked cousins but a sea-based variety.

Some are simple, like the 10-pound Aeromapper Talon made by Canadian UAV manufacturer Aeromao.

Using an electric motor, the Talon can stay aloft for 90 minutes with a cruising speed of about 30 knots and, if needed, can make a water landing for recovery.

Yup. It floats. It is in production and has been available for the past four years.

They are being looked at as a low-cost coastal patrol and SAR asset, for instance, in Belize.

However, there are much cooler floatplane UAVs out there as well. 
 
 
Developed two years ago by Space Entertainment Laboratory Co., Ltd. in Minamisoma City, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, it can automatically take off and land on the water even offshore with 10-foot swells, and, alternatively, can sail on water like a USV. It is small, with a wingspan of 11 feet, and an all-up weight of about 50 pounds, but can fly for approximately 120 minutes at a cruising speed of 30 knots and can operate within a range of approximately 10 nm. 
 
 
A larger version is under works that will be able to centrally carry a 660-pound payload
 

The larger Hamadori in the works has a cruising range of 350 nm and the ability to continue flying for about 8 hours– which is very interesting.

 
In that vein, read this great speculative piece by Matthew Cosner in this month’s Proceedings entitled, “How Uncrewed Seaplanes Can Support EABO.” 
 
Cosner, an operations research analyst with the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division at Patuxent, theorizes Marine Littoral Regiments operating in conjunction with an uncrewed seaplane squadron. 
 
A Marine uncrewed seaplane squadron (VMU[S]) would be equipped with approximately 18 small seaplane UAVs, organized into three detachments of six UAVs, each with one or more portable mission control systems. Each detachment would comprise perhaps eight to ten Marines with the skills to support, operate, and maintain their assigned vehicles and systems. The detachment would travel in small craft similar to the Navy’s former 53-foot riverine command boats. These would function as miniature seaplane tenders, moving frequently throughout the region.
 
The Marine Corps has identified seven principal tasks for its aviation units: electronic and cyber warfare; offensive air support; air surveillance and reconnaissance; multidomain command and control; antiair warfare; assault support; and aviation ground support. VMU(S) detachments would be capable of swapping mission payloads to support the first four.
More here. 
 

Of Big Airfields on Tiny Islands and Alternate Logistics

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Two F-22 Raptors assigned to the 525th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, Kadena Air Base, Japan, prepare for launch during Exercise Agile Reaper 23-1 at Tinian International Airport, Northern Mariana Islands, March 2, 2023. Throughout the weeklong exercise, F-22 Raptors will fly sorties from locations within the Northern Mariana Islands in a first for the aircraft. AR 23-1 supports the Air Force’s requirement for expeditionary skills necessary to operate outside of military installations; Airmen must have diverse skills that enable them to operate in a contested, degraded, and operationally limited environment. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Hailey Staker)

Congress recently ponied up a big win for American contingency plans in the Pacific by providing $7.1 billion in support and aid, to be distributed over 20 years, to the Freely Associated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau. These island chains are the remnants of the old post-WWII U.S. Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, which were in most cases part of the Empire of Japan before that.

The compacts ensure that the United States can maintain a military presence in the Freely Associated States, and they enable the Compacts’ island citizens to serve in the U.S. military.

As detailed by Air & Space Forces Magazine:

Now, in its most fiscal 2025 budget request, the Air Force has laid out plans to upgrade facilities on the tiny island of Yap, which lies between Guam and Palau, some 1,000 miles southeast of China. Part of the Federated States of Micronesia, Yap comprises just 46 square miles, making it just two-thirds the size of Washington, D.C.

The Air Force wants to invest $400 million to extend its runway in both directions and expand facilities there, beginning with an initial investment of $96 million in 2025.

Meanwhile, Marine F-35s of VMX-1 have been getting the logistics worked out of how to operate the birds from an old 50-foot-wide highway in Southern California. With ordnance and support crews flown in via V-22s, it is a postage stamp-sized operation that could be repeated anywhere a good length of roadway is found– for instance small old airfields around the Pacific Rim.

Speaking of Marines thinking outside of the box when it comes to running operations in likely well-contested forward areas, the Corps is interested in the “autonomous low-profile vessel,” or ALPV, which Gen. Christopher Mahoney, the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, describes as an “extremely low-observable,” autonomous, ocean-going ship.

In short, a legit version of the old narco-sub, but with the advantage of being unmanned.

An autonomous low-profile vessel sails on the Del Mar Boat Basin to test its capabilities as part of Project Convergence Capstone 4 at Camp Pendleton, Calif., Feb. 23, 2024. The ALPV is a semi-submersible autonomous logistics delivery system that can be configured to deliver multiple variations of supplies and equipment throughout the littorals. Photo By: Kevin Ray J. Salvador, Marine Corps. VIRIN: 240223-M-AJ782-1510Y

Contracts: You can walk on the Sonobuoys and Harriers Get Support to 2029

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A few interesting things in yesterday’s DOD contract announcements.

Emphasis mine:

Sparton De Leon Springs LLC, De Leon Springs, Florida, is awarded a $106,391,400 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the production and delivery of a maximum of 20,000 AN/SSQ-125 Modified High Duty Cycle Sonobuoys for the Navy in support of annual training, peacetime operations and testing expenditures, as well as, to maintain sufficient inventory to support the execution of major combat operations based on naval munitions requirements process. Work will be performed in De Leon Springs, Florida (54%); and Columbia City, Indiana (46%), and is expected to be completed in March 2026. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1). Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N0001924D0113).

The 36-pound SSQ-125 uses the standard LAU-126/A launcher, such as used on the P-8 Poseidon

Keep in mind that the use of sonobuoys by drones will be a real thing very soon, which could be a huge game changer in terms of ASW. 

This week from General Atomics: 

MQ-9B SeaGuardian Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) on the U.S. Navy’s W-291 test range in southern California.

GA-ASI’s SeaGuardian flew the full test flight event configured with the SDS pod and SeaVue multi-role radar from Raytheon, an RTX business. During the test, the SDS pod dropped eight AN/SSQ-53 and two AN/SSQ-62 sonobuoys. Upon dispensing, the sonobuoys were successfully monitored by the SeaGuardian’s onboard Sonobuoy Monitoring and Control System (SMCS).

Meanwhile, L3 Harris has been working on a modular launch tube sonobuoy for larger drones such as the Reaper

Harriers…

A U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier II assigned to Marine Attack Squadron 223, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, taxis on the runway at Bodø Air Station, Norway, March 3, 2022. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Adam Henke)

And in Harrier news, welcome to the last few USMC AV-8B units as well as the Italian and Spanish navies:

The Boeing Co., St. Louis, Missouri, is awarded a $13,674,435 cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-
delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide continued post-production support (PPS) for the T/AV-8B Harrier to include readiness improvements, upgrades, correction of deficiencies and issues related to structural fatigue. Outyear PPS is based on developed plans identifying optimum support options for sustaining engineering and integrated logistic support until the fleet is transitioned from T/AV-8B Harrier to the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter for the Marine Corps, and the governments of Italy and Spain requirements. Work will be performed in St. Louis, Missouri (80%); and Cherry Point, North Carolina (20%), and is expected to be completed in December 2028. No funds will be obligated at the time of award; funds will be obligated on individual orders as they are issued. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N0001924D0008).

Technology Security Associates, California, Maryland, is awarded a $13,661,338 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide program management, financial, engineering, logistics, administrative, security, and technical support services for the AV-8B Harrier Weapons System for the governments of Spain and Italy in support of the T/AV-8B Harrier Joint Program Office. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Maryland (30%); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (30%); Cherry Point, North Carolina (30%); and California, Maryland (10%), and is expected to be completed in April 2029. International Agreement (non-Foreign Military Sales) funds in the amount of $13,661,338 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-4(a)(2). Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N0001924C0039).

Double Seven

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80 Years Ago this month: 77th Naval Construction Battalion insignia on the cowling F4U Corsair at Bougainville, February 1944. Note the M1911 in the shoulder holster of the aviator to the right in case he wound up in the “walking club” and a bubble canopied F4U-4B in the background. During the period the image was captured, the base was home to Marine Aircraft Group 24 (MAG-24) which included VMF-211, 212, 215, 218, 222, 223, VMSB-235, 244, and VMTB-134, and 232. The plane painted was White 77 (possibly BuNo 17677?), with the cowling design applied by hand by T. Preuit, of the 77th’s Sign Shop.

Via The U.S. Navy Seabee Museum

The 77th NMCB was formed stateside at Camp Peary, WV on New Year’s Eve 1942 and shipped out just eight months later for points West via Port Hueneme in August 1943. Bound for Guadalcanal, the battalion’s first echelon began arriving in Vella La Vella by 25 September and from there transferred as a body to Bougainville starting that same December.

There, for the next four months, they constructed the YOKE field as well as a myriad of buildings and support facilities for MAG 24.

They were aboard when what was known as the three-week-long “Battle of Bougainville Perimeter” took place, with ‘Bees conducting 24-hour armed patrols while they worked and enduring nearly 1,000 Japanese artillery shells close to their camp, their personnel spending almost all of their off time sheltering in slit trenches.

M1903 Seabees in the 77th Naval Construction Battalion armory cleaning & checking their rifles

“At chapel services, attendance held up well despite the shelling,” noted the 291-page WWII cruisebook for the battalion.

Once that was accomplished, the “Double Seven” moved on to Emirau and Sangley Point, ending the war in the P.I.

Inactivated on 15 October 1945, the battalion earned 22 purple hearts, an NMCM, and three bronze stars for heroism.

Welcome aboard, John L. Canley

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Marines and Sailors at Naval Base Coronado participated in commissioning ceremonies for the giant new 100,000-ton ton expeditionary mobile base USS John L. Canley (ESB 6), on Feb 17.

This is the first ship to be named after Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Maj. John L. Canley, Ret., for his actions during the Battle of Hue City in 1968.

Canley (ESB-6) is the fourth Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary mobile base (ESB) and is envisioned to support low-intensity missions in remote areas as a sort of modernization of the old Mobile Sea Bases Hercules and Wimbrown 7 from the Prime Chance era. As such, they can support MCM assets, USCG patrol boats, Army aviation types, and all flavors of Marines and Navy special warfare units.

They carry the 4th largest flight deck in the U.S. Navy, as part of a huge mission bay. 

Check out this tour: 

Class leader Lewis B. Puller was home to the SEALs who lost their lives late last month while interdicting stateless dhows smuggling rocket parts to Yemen.

Chuck has hung up his rifle for the final time

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Marine Sgt. Charles “Chuck” Mawhinney in Vietnam, left, and in 2013 while at Marine Corps Logistics Base, Barstow, California. (Photos: USMC)

Charles Benjamin “Chuck” Mawhinney was born in Lakeview, Oregon in February 1949, and, the son of a Marine Corps WWII vet, volunteered for service in October 1967 during the height of the Vietnam War. Assigned as a rifleman in the 5th Marine Regiment in Vietnam, he was later reassigned to the regiment’s scout sniper section and, in 16 months while working with not only his Regiment but also in support of ROK Marines and U.S. Army units, was credited with 103 confirmed NVA-VC kills and 216 “probable.”

This left him with the legacy of being the most successful sniper in the service’s history. 

After rotating back CONUS and serving as a marksmanship instructor at Camp Pendleton, Mawhinney left the Corps in 1970 as a sergeant and returned home to Oregon. There, he worked for the U.S. Forest Service until he retired in the 1990s.

Mawhinney, as reported by local media in Oregon, passed in Baker City on Feb. 12, aged 74.

Ironically, Mawhinney outlived the scout sniper program he was associated with, as Marine Corps brass recently moved to terminate the program, seen as unneeded in an age of drones.

Baa, Baa .45

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While on the ground at the SHOT Show in Las Vegas last month, we came across a Government Issue .45 1911 that looked more at home in the South Pacific in 1943. 

As part of its Air Aces Series, Auto-Ordnance had its new Black Sheep 1911 on display. Crafted by the folks over at Outlaw Ordnance, the artists start with an Auto-Ordnance Stainless 1911 and then apply a carefully researched red, white, and blue Cerakote finish that emulates a World War II aircraft associated with famed Marine air ace Major Gregory “Pappy” Boyington. 

A functional work of art, underneath the custom Cerakote finish, the Black Sheep 1911 is still an Auto-Ordnance Stainless 1911 in .45 ACP. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

Note the “rivet” pattern, the sheet of Rising sun victory stencils, and the correct “Lucybelle” nose art. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

lso, note the “belly” of the gun is left in the white to emulate the aluminum body of an F4U Corsair. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

The aircraft Boyington was photographed with in November 1943, White 86 (BuNo.18086), was an F4U-1A Corsair of the same type he flew with the Black Sheep. Ironically, no records confirm he ever flew it in combat and the bird was made up specifically for the photoshoot. As such, it included 20 Kyokujitsu-ki rising suns, one for each confirmed Japanese aircraft he had shot down by that time, his name, and the nickname (“Lucybelle”) of his then-girlfriend, Lucy Malcomson. He would later fall out with Malcomson, leading to a bitter court case and, when the 1970s TV show “Baa Baa Black Sheep” would recreate this plane, Boyington, then on his fifth wife, advised the producers the plane was named “Lulubelle” instead.

A late model Goodyear FG 1D Corsair (BuNo 92246), one of only about 100 Corsairs left, is painted to emulate White 86 and is on display at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com) 

It has Boyington’s name stenciled under the cockpit but no “kill” flags or Lulubelle/Lucybelle nose art. I guess NNAM didn’t want to wade into that controversy

x

Battleship Landing Party Bill, circa 1950s

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Ensign Schuyler F. Heim and other members of the landing party from the South Carolina-class battleship USS Michigan (BB-27) preparing to disembark, on 22 April 1914, at Vera Cruz. Their whites are made khaki through the use of coffee grounds. NHHC NH 100612

The Battleship New Jersey Museum just found the ship’s organization book from 1956 and posted a great video detailing the landing party bill.

Of note, the Korean War-era landing party 201-man rifle company (6 officers, 195 enlisted), was commanded by the Marine detachment’s skipper (a captain) and made up of a platoon of 36 Marines (presumably led by a Marine LT) then fleshed out by 165 bluejackets organized into a company HQ section (commanded by a second Marine LT), a 2nd and 3rd infantry platoon, and a machine gun platoon. The senior Navy officer would be a LtJG who would act as the company executive officer while the company’s First SGT would be a Marine MSgt and the company Gunnery Sergent would be a PO1, likely GM1.

Inspecting USS New Jersey’s Marine detachment, 1944. Of note, this was one of the first Marine Detachments to hit the fleet with M1 Garands. Catalog #: 80-G-82699

Armament included 154 M1 Garands, 20 M1911 sidearms, a whopping 27 M1918 BARs, and 6 light machine guns (probably M1919s).

The three infantry platoons (at least in the case of the two Navy-staffed platoons) would be further divided into 9 four-man fire teams, each with a team leader (M1), rifleman (M1), BAR gunner (M1918) and assistant BAR gunner (M1), combined into three squads each with an additional squad leader, with the whole thing led by a platoon leader, for 40 men per platoon. No platoon Sgt/CPO, and no HMs or commo at the platoon level. Hey, it was 1956…

Anyway, good stuff, and a quick explanation of why a Cold War-era Marine Det on a battleship or cruiser included a captain and two lieutenants for a platoon-sized element.

The last Marine Carrier Dets, useful shipboard for guarding admirals, performing TRAP missions, and keeping an eye on “special munitions” (aka nukes) were disbanded in 1998.

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