US Marines head home as training wraps up

THE ninth rotation of US Marines has wrapped up training in the Northern Territory

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THE ninth rotation of US Marines has wrapped up training in the Northern Territory, with 2500 troops expected to pack up and return home this month.

Colonel David Banning, Commanding Officer of Marine Rotational Force Darwin (MRF-D), said the troops were now preparing to return to their home stations after months of training alongside the Australian Defence Force in the Top End.

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“It’s hard to believe it’s October already, which means it’s the end of the deployment and it’s time for us to pack and head back to home station,” Colonel Banning said.

Australian Army Gunners from 8th/12th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, and United States Marine Corps Lance Corporal Kevin Dominic Matias (second from right) load an M777A2 Howitzer at Mount Bundey Training Area. Photo: Rodrigo Villablanca

“We’re going to be rocking up again next spring, heading back down here for the 10th anniversary.”

He said this year’s NT deployment trained while also ensuring COVID-19 mitigation efforts were in full effect.

Australian Army Bombardier Damian Williams (right), from 8th/12th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, and United States Marine Corps Lance Corporal Kevin Dominic Matias inspect the fuses of high explosive artillery projectiles at Mount Bundey Training Area. Photo: Rodrigo Villablanca

“From our first flight down here and execution of a very challenging quarantine procedure, all the way through to transition out to the field and two live fire attacks — we executed that flawlessly,” he said.

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“We also had Exercise Loobye, which included the first ever RQ-21 (drone) flight down here in Australia. We conducted air strikes as a coalition task force with our counterparts in the ADF.”

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