U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Michael Nodwell, a small arms repairman with 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, guides a light armored vehicle to a fuel station during exercise Steel Knight/Dawn Blitz 21 (SK/DB 21) at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, Dec. 7, 2020. Exercise SK/DB 21 demonstrates 1st Marine Division's resilient nature by testing and enhancing its ability to command and control units in an expeditionary and contested environment.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Quince Bisard)
The U.S. Marine Corps recently completed an exercise aboard the Air-Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms. More than 600 Marines with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing and 1st Marine Division came to the Combat Center to train in Steel Knight/Dawn Blitz December 4-9. Steel Knight/Dawn Blitz 21 are annual exercises that provide intense training to ensure 1st Marine Division remains lethal, combat-ready, interoperable, and deployable on short notice. Marines from 3rd MAW —helicopters, refuelers, and Ospreys—trained with ground and infantry troops in exercises that were similar to missions performed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Marines with 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, load ammunition into an M777 Howitzer during Exercise Steel Knight/Dawn Blitz (SK/DB) 21 on Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, Dec. 6, 2020. Exercise SK/DB 21 provides effective and intense training in an expeditionary environment to ensure 1st Marine Division remains lethal, combat-ready, interoperable, and deployable on short notice.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Nicole Zurbrugg)
