Amphibious Training Event Begins Off Djibouti’s Coast

By Navy Lt. Cmdr. Sandra Arnold Task Force 51/5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade

U.S. 5TH FLEET AREA OF OPERATIONS, April 4, 2018 — Naval Amphibious Force, Task Force 51/5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade has begun a two-week amphibious training event in international waters off the African coast of Djibouti.

Alligator Dagger is the largest regional amphibious combat rehearsal to integrate and synchronize TF 51/5’s warfighting capabilities and those of adjacent U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and special operations forces units.

“USS Iwo Jima’s Amphibious Ready Group and the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit are prepared to rehearse a variety of tactical capabilities in this demanding and globally vital region,” said Marine Corps Brig. Gen. Frank Donovan, commander of TF 51/5. “This critical amphibious combat proficiency training will ensure our integrated Navy and Marine Corps forces are postured and prepared to execute operations at sea, from the sea and ashore.”

The expeditionary mobile base USS Lewis B. Puller -- named after Lt. Gen. Lewis “Chesty” Puller, one of the most decorated members of the Marine Corps -- as well as the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, the dock landing ship USS Oak Hill, the destroyer USS Laboon and the 26th MEU are participating.

Practicing Key Tasks

“Alligator Dagger allows us to employ the breadth and depth of our combined arms team in an extremely challenging expeditionary environment characterized by extreme temperatures and unforgiving terrain,” said Marine Corps Col. Farrell J. Sullivan, commanding officer of the 26th MEU. “This combat rehearsal allows us to practice our key mission essential tasks spanning the range of military operations to resolve conflict, conduct humanitarian assistance and/or combat the enemy in remote, austere environments that would otherwise be inaccessible.”

Alligator Dagger will provide Iwo Jima and Oak Hill an opportunity to enhance capabilities in critical mission sets. Using landing craft and Iwo Jima’s embarked aircraft, the ships will provide a flexible and ready amphibious capability to deliver 26th MEU Marines, equipment and supplies ashore.

Ready to Deliver

“We must be a crisis response force ready to execute mission-essential tasks for our component commanders,” said Navy Capt. Jack Killman, commodore of Amphibious Squadron 4. “Alligator Dagger will keep the Iwo Jima ARG ready to effectively deliver a multicapable amphibious force to austere environments by air or sea.”

Alligator Dagger is the premier integrated combat proficiency training the Navy and Marine Corps team engage in during their deployment in Centcom’s area of responsibility. Specifically, this exercise will enable the military to execute amphibious training; live-fire; visit, board, search and seizure; tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel; and air assault evolutions.

“When it comes to crisis response, the ARG/MEU team is the force of choice,” Sullivan said. “This training will help us keep our edge sharp and keep the Marines and sailors focused. When called upon, we will be ready.”

Fort Stewart Soldiers Put Newly Acquired Tanks Through Paces

By Army Spc. Jonathan Wallace 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division

FORT STEWART, Ga., April 4, 2018 — Soldiers with the 3rd Infantry Division’s Delta Tank Company, 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, fired their newly acquired M1A1-SA Abrams tanks here March 29.

Since 2nd ABCT’s conversion from a light to an armored brigade combat team last fall, units within the brigade have been fielding and training on their new ground combat platforms. Delta Tank, 6-8 Cav’s only tank company, was the first unit in the brigade’s firing line to test their crews’ abilities.

‘Gunnery is Beyond Critical’

“Gunnery is beyond critical," said Army Capt. Freddy Mitchell, commander of Delta Tank. "It is a necessary event to create lethal crews. Training like this is advantageous to the unit’s lethality.”

In an effort to meet its goal of becoming the most lethal ABCT in the Army, 2nd ABCT crews must train and master closing with the enemy using fire and movement to destroy or capture enemy forces in sustained and large-scale actions with precision and speed. Gunnery allows those crews to strengthen cohesion and maintain a constant state of readiness, for whenever and wherever they are needed, Mitchell said.

"Today our crews are being evaluated on their proficiency to engage targets from various positions using the Abrams’ weapon systems," said Army Sgt. 1st Class Jose Lopez, master gunner and platoon sergeant with Delta Tank. "Because the Abrams is a stabilized platform, it allows accurate fires even while advancing towards enemy positions."

“The Abrams is the most lethal land warfare platform, battle-tested in both Desert Storm and Iraq,” Mitchell added. “This tank brings another long-range, direct-fire weapons system to our brigade.”

Face of Defense: Navy Audiologist Contributes to Pacific Partnership

By Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Byron C. Linder Logistics Group Western Pacific

YAP, Micronesia, April 3, 2018 — Pacific Partnership 2018 marks the 13th iteration of the Navy's humanitarian and civic assistance mission. It brings together a vast array of military personnel from countries including the U.S., United Kingdom, Australia and Japan. In each demographic, you’ll find personnel who are on their first, second, or even third trip to Micronesia.

But only one participant this year can claim to have the most firsthand experience with the Micronesian islands. He is Navy Lt. Matt Thomas, an audiologist stationed at Navy Environmental Preventative Medicine Unit 6 in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, with 18 years of service on active duty and in the Navy Reserve.

Seeking a Change

Before joining the Navy, Thomas found himself working for a baseball team and being less than impressed with the “grunt work” the job entailed.

“During my breaks, I would read, mostly history. I was a history major, and I wanted to work overseas when I got out of college, but I was not doing that. So I put it all together and figured the Navy would be the way to make that happen,” Thomas explained.

Thomas pursued a career as a surface warfare officer, but it was during a deployment to Djibouti in 2010 that he began not just a transition from the reserve to active duty, but also to a whole new field.

“The medical field was my avenue to go from the reserves to active duty, and audiology offered me the chance to take the prerequisite courses while I was deployed. I took eight classes that one summer in Djibouti, applied to every school that I could, and got accepted,” Thomas recalled, adding he continued to serve in the Navy Reserve while balancing a full-time class schedule.

Navy Environmental Preventative Medicine Unit 6, Thomas’ command, has a significant operational presence in the Oceana area. But, he said, it was force of will that got him to Micronesia.

“I had to piggyback myself to missions that were coming out here. I’d done my research and seen [Micronesia] had, at one time, taken U.S. dollars to start a newborn hearing screening program for audiology, so that was the foot in the door when we had a couple of projects in Chuuk,” he explained. “Two months later, I was in Yap with an entomologist. While he did his work, I did audiology and reviewed their programs. Since then, there’s certain funding that comes up for public health works, and myself and a couple of other team members are the caretakers for that. We go to different states in Micronesia and determine what their needs are, and I’m also doing audiology, so I’m dual-hatted in that sense -- working as a provider but also as an advance planner for public health works there.”

Helping Where Needed

While medical professionals in Micronesia can perform hearing screenings, Thomas explained that in the event of a patient failing the screenings, solutions local to the islands are nonexistent.

“There is no audiologist in [Micronesia], period … if the kids don’t pass, they don’t have the capabilities to do a follow-up diagnostic test to determine if there’s any damage, or determine the extent. It’s nice to come in and reassure parents that the kids are fine medically, or if there’s permanent hearing loss, educate them on what next steps to take. It helps to educate the teachers as well -- students who may have not appeared to be paying attention actually can’t hear,” he said.

The effort to bring screenings to more people appears to be paying off, Thomas said, allowing him to focus on the patients who need him most. “My first day in Chuuk, I saw 40 people, and averaged 35 per day while I was there,” he said. “Now I’ll average 12-20 people, and the last time I was in Pohnpei, I saw six a day -- cases that were earmarked for me to see -- cases with failed hearing screenings or speech difficulty.”

In addition to the lack of a resident expert, Thomas identified two environmental factors for hearing loss in Micronesia.

“I see a lot of the hearing loss is due to ear infections,” he said. “Kids in general are susceptible to ear infections, but when you add in a warm tropical climate and, in Chuuk especially, the kids are always in the water -- it’s a picnic for bacteria. Some treatment, if it’s done, it’s not followed through, or they just don’t stay out of the water. So you see what could be a temporary hearing loss develop into permanent hearing loss, and unfortunately I’ve seen that happen a number of times here.”

Thomas noted that while children can usually be treated, the sands of time are to blame for adult hearing loss.

“The kids I have seen here, I can get them to pass the hearing screening, but a lot of the adults have permanent hearing loss through age. They’re not exposed to a lot of the loud noises we have in the U.S., so that’s typically not an issue we see here,” he said. “The ear infections that lead to permanent hearing loss are definitely prevalent here.”

Specialists

Audiology is far from the only specialty available among the personnel taking part in the Pacific Partnership mission, and for Thomas, it is an incredible reward to see the effect that has on the people they help.

“A big thing for Pacific Partnership is the specialties they don’t have and can’t sustain. It has a long-lasting impact. I was a surface warfare officer for 14 years, and none of those deployments were as enjoyable as this one -- you didn’t have the feel of the impact on the local population,” he said. “You don’t have the feeling of, ‘I’m affecting lives on a local basis.’ I became an audiologist in 2015, and I have been begging, kicking and screaming to go on Pacific Partnership ever since. I finally got on this one, and I’ve already thrown my hat in to go on next year’s as well.”

For new visitors to Micronesia, Thomas advised that Yap is far from representative of the islands as a whole.

“See every island you can,” he said. “They’re all different, and they all have their own features. Yap has great diving, Chuuk has different diving and Pohnpei has waterfalls that I’ve never seen before. They’re all friendly, but they’ve got their own unique vibe.”

Pacific Partnership is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific. The mission’s objective is to enhance regional coordination in areas such as medical readiness and preparedness for man-made and natural disasters.

More than 800 military and civilian personnel from Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Peru, Singapore, South Korea and the United Kingdom will join allied and partner nations for the mission. Personnel are embarked aboard the hospital ship USNS Mercy and expeditionary fast transport ship USNS Brunswick, working side-by-side with host nation counterparts to be better prepared for potential humanitarian aid and disaster response situations.