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MARINE CORPS TRAINING AREA BELLOWS, HAWAII — Various U.S. Army and Marine Corps units put 3d Marine Littoral Regiment to the test during the Marine Corps Combat Readiness Evaluation, February 10-14, 2025. The evaluation exercise was the first of its kind with U.S. Marine Corps Training and Education Command, Marine Corps Tactics and Operations Group, and Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command providing support while 3d Marine Division and 12th Marine Littoral Regiment conducted the evaluation across multiple locations around the Hawaiian archipelago.
A MCCRE is a formal evaluation of a unit based on Marine Corps Training and Readiness (T&R) standards derived from assigned Mission Essential Tasks to ensure standardization and readiness in preparation for operational deployments. For 3d MLR, a unit designed to enable the Combined and Joint Force, the MCCRE is also an opportunity to showcase the regiment’s capabilities in a realistic, scenario-based combat rehearsal.
“This MCCRE was unique given the very exquisite capabilities of the MLR to work across domains, and with commands multiple echelons higher than other Colonel-led formations,” said Col. John G. Lehane, commanding officer, 3d MLR. “That uniqueness required supporting organizations including Training & Education Command (TECOM), Marine Aviation Weapons & Tactics Squadron (MAWTS), Marine Corps Tactics and Operations Group (MCTOG), Tactical Training Exercise Control Ground (TTECG), Marine Corps Logistics Operations Group (MCLOG), and the 3d Marine Division Staff augmented by representatives from across the joint force to present a realistic complex scenario that stressed the formation from the individual and team, up through the Regimental level.”
When 3d MLR redesignated from 3d Marines in 2022, the formation was redesigned with a seven-fold value proposition in mind. 3d MLR would 1) conduct Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO), 2) support maritime domain awareness, 3) attack enemy maritime targets, 4) conduct expeditionary strike, 5) support operations in the information environment, 6) coordinate air and missile defense, and 7) plan and direct crisis response operations. During the MCCRE, 3d MLR demonstrated these seven core capabilities and resolidified itself as a formation capable of disrupting the adversary in a contested littoral environment through reconnaissance, counter-reconnaissance, and sea denial operations to support the maritime campaign.
In accordance with 3d MLR’s deployment model, the regimental headquarters and its subordinate battalions divided into task units and dispersed across the Hawaiian archipelago. This model, reflective of the EABO concept developed underneath Force Design, allows 3d MLR to maximize its mobility, minimize its signature, and cover a large area of operations.
On Oahu, Marines with 3d MLR’s headquarters element conducted distributed command and control operations and executed a tactical displacement drill. On the Big Island of Hawaii, Marines with 3d Littoral Combat Team participated in 3d MLR’s certification exercise while executing battalion-level live-fire ranges at Pohakuloa Training Area. Across the Hawaiian archipelago, 3d Littoral Logistics Battalion facilitated the logistical coordination and movement of personnel and equipment around the island chain. Other key players included 1st Reconnaissance Battalion and 3d Littoral Anti-Air Battalion, whose Air Control Battery conducted air space surveillance and passed relevant information to the Ground Based Air Defense Battery in support of air defense.
"The MCCRE is a snapshot of a unit's combat readiness,” said Maj. Gen. Christian F. Wortman, the commanding general of 3d Marine Division. “It gives us a clear picture of where commanders need to direct training efforts in order to ensure that the Marines are prepared to face any threat, any place, time now."
3d MLR’s MCCRE culminated with a 2-week field exercise – the first week focusing on staff planning and orders development and the second week being a scenario-based, tactical exercise. Evaluators observed as the formation operated against a living, breathing, and thinking “adversary force” played by the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division.
As the scenario progressed, 25th ID sought to track, target, and destroy 3d MLR’s fighting capabilities.
Scenario injects also incorporated representation from the Joint Force, with 3d MLR’s Fire Support Coordination Center conducting notional strikes alongside simulated U.S. Navy warships and the Intelligence Operations Center utilizing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) data collected by a simulated MQ-9 Reaper from Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 3.
“As the culminating event of an eight-month pre-deployment workup, the 3d MLR’s Marine Corps Combat Readiness Evaluation (MCCRE) was a litmus test on the effectiveness of our training. It validated our ability to deploy and be ready to support and integrate with the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF), the Numbered Fleet, and the joint force and our allies,” said Lehane. “It also helped me, as a commander, identify areas where we could invest more training for our Marines and Sailors to ensure they are put in the best position of advantage possible. It was a genuinely fantastic exercise, and I am grateful to all that supported it. For the first time, it will allow our senior leaders to look their naval and joint counterparts in the eye, and tell them that this Regiment has been manned, trained, equipped and tested and is ready for competition, crisis or conflict.”
3d Marine Littoral Regiment is a dedicated U.S. Marine Corps unit specializing in amphibious and littoral warfare operations. Stationed on Oahu, Hawaii, and deployed throughout the Indo-Pacific region, 3d MLR is committed to promoting regional security and stability through strategic partnerships and collaborative efforts with partner nations and Allies.
| Date Taken: | 02.24.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.24.2025 18:59 |
| Story ID: | 491419 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS TRAINING AREA BELLOWS, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 68 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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