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Marines complete simulated ‘surge’ operation during FFII
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Posted on Dec 17 2013
[B]TINIAN, Northern Mariana Islands[/B]—Marines and sailors completed simulated surge operations during Exercise Forager Fury II on Dec. 9-13.
Forager Fury II is an annual training exercise conducted by Marine Aircraft Group 12 that rehearses the aircraft group’s ability to rapidly project aviation combat power anywhere in the pacific area of operations. It is in the conducted in the territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The surge is a 72-hour continuous period where all the aviation assets on Tinian and Guam operate around the clock, according to Lt. Col. Howard Eyth, commanding officer of Marine Wing Support Squadron 171, Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III Marine Expeditionary Force.
“The surge is essentially the heart of the exercise,” said Eyth. “It is a 72-hour period in which MAG-12 endeavors to generate as many combat stories as possible and sustain them throughout that period of time. We do so by launching and recovering aircraft both from Guam and two forward arming and refueling points on Tinian, one at North Field and one at West Field.”
The training opportunities for the MAG in the Marianas are ones not accessible in mainland Japan, according to Maj. Thomas Mondoux, executive officer of MWWS-171.
“It’s an excellent opportunity for us to showcase the full capabilities of our equipment and the capabilities that are in an MWSS,” said Mondoux. “Also, it gives us an opportunity to operate in an austere environment to fully test the limitations of our people and equipment when we operate under a continuous surge it helps identify where our frictions points are and forces us to maximize performance of our personnel and equipment.”
Exercise Forager Fury II is scheduled to end on Dec. 20. [B][I](PR)[/I][/B]
