Singapore, US leap for joint readiness

Photo By Lance Cpl. Mike Granahan | A CH-47 Chinook helicopter slows to 10 knots about 10 feet above the water while members of the Singapore Armed Forces Naval Diving Unit conduct helocast training with U.S. Marines. The Marines conducted the helocast training alongside members of the NDU during Exercise Sandfisher off the coast of Singapore Jan. 12.  

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE

01.20.2012

Story by Lance Cpl. Mike Granahan 

III Marine Expeditionary Force   

SINGAPORE - After a carefully planned leap, U.S. Marines and members of the Singapore Armed Forces Naval Diving Unit made a splash landing off the coast of Singapore Jan. 12.

The Marines, part of Company A, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, conducted the bilateral helocast training with their Singapore counterparts as part of Exercise Sandfisher.

Sandfisher is an annual training exercise in which the Singapore Armed Forces Naval Diving Unit conducts bilateral amphibious reconnaissance and combat diving training with 3rd Recon. Bn. to sustain tactical proficiency. The engagement also supports the U.S. Pacific Command’s theater security cooperation program.

Helocasting is a form of tactical insertion where service members are flown by helicopter within one nautical mile of a shoreline. They then cast themselves out the back of the aircraft, which is still flying at about 10 knots, carrying all of their gear. From there, they make their way into enemy territory preferably undetected.

“It is a specialized insertion method to get swimmers ashore when the landing area is not conducive of small craft,” said Gunnery Sgt. Hunter B. Sorrells, a platoon sergeant with the company. “We are able to get the reconnaissance team in with very little to no signature.”

The Marines of 3rd Reconnaissance Bn. are well-versed in the art of helocasting, but this jump was prepared by the NDU and was carried out “flawlessly,” said Sorrells.

The briefing held by the NDU the morning of the jump was extremely detailed, going over things including weather, the exact scheme of maneuver and a recovery plan, said Sgt. Joshua Margolies, a team leader with 3rd Recon.

“Singapore provides a unique capability, in that they have a very robust training capacity,” said Capt. Chris J. Kearney, a platoon commander with Company A. “We learn from them as much as we teach.”

For most of the members of the NDU this was their first experience helocasting.

“I think everything went really well, they did everything exactly the way they planned it out,” said Margolies. “It was probably one of the easiest helocasts I’ve ever done.”

• Date Taken: 01.20.2012
• Date Posted: 01.19.2012 20:17
• Story ID: 82601
• Location: SINGAPORE, SG