The Marines on the Combat Center in Twentynine Palms have been involved in exercises involving weapons and tactics training. One of the exercises is an Adversary Force Exercise, which creates a credible, realistic wargame for the Marines. As part of that exercise, Marines are tasked with rescuing civilians from a possible hostile environment. Managing editor Tami Roleff has more information about the non-combatant evacuation operation…
“Assault Support Tactics-3 is a non-combatant evacuation—a NEO exercise—put on by Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics squad 1, based out of Yuma, Arizona, that can involve evacuation of anything from American civilians to foreign nationals.”
Capt. Michael Gardiner, an assistant Air Officer for the Marine Corps Air-Ground Task Force Training Command, said Marines are sent in to help with evacuations overseas for a variety of reasons: including civil unrest, military uprisings, environmental concerns, and natural disasters. The evacuations are recommended (or ordered) by the Department of State, and the Defense Department sends in the Marines.
“It tests the perspective of Weapons and Tactics instructors’ ability to conduct a non-combatant evacuation operation of American civilians while concurrently conducting a foreign humanitarian assistance operation to remove refugees in a permissive urban environment.”
The NEO training was part of Weapons and Tactics Instructors course at the Combat Center in Twentynine Palms and the Integrated Training Exercise 3-21.
