Marines and Saudi Port Authority workers at Yanbu Industrial Port, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia [Image 1 of 4]

(UNDISCLOSED LOCATION)

03.06.2023

Photo by Ruben Cordero 

U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central Command

In an historic transfer, Marines and Saudi Port Authority workers at Yanbu Industrial Port, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, load U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey aircraft of Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 266 (VMM-266) – the Fighting Griffins, of New River, North Carolina – onto the U.S. commercial ship Green Ridge for seaborne transit back to the United States March 7. The outgoing Ospreys, formerly part of the Air Combat Element of the Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti-based Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA), are concurrently being replaced by Ospreys of VMM-364 – the Purple Foxes, of Camp Pendleton, California, which will also belong to CJTF-HOA. Historic is the fact that this strategic transfer marks the first time that Yanbu Industrial Port, located within the U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility (AOR), has served as a logistical hub for the transfer of U.S. aircraft originating from within the U.S. Africa Command AOR. It is also the first time that the Yanbu Industrial Port has served as a landing zone, of sorts, in that the Ospreys arriving from, and those departing to, CJTF-HOA were not transported by ground; rather, they flew directly onto and off of the port facility.

• Date Taken: 03.06.2023
• Date Posted: 03.07.2023 14:41
• Photo ID: 7668406
• VIRIN: 230307-M-FA445-001
• Resolution: 1206x843
• Size: 0 B
• Location: (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION)