Photo By Senior Chief Petty Officer Brandon Raile | Operations Specialist First Class Sean McNamara, assigned to Explosive Ordnance...... read more read more
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Adak, Alaska (NNS) – Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit One (EODMU-1), operating as Combined Task Group 35.1, successfully tested their ability to operate unmanned underwater vehicles and conduct expeditionary mine countermeasures in very shallow water in an Arctic environment from Sept. 2-12 in the waters off of Adak, Alaska in support of Arctic Expeditionary Capabilities Exercise (AECE) 2019.
One of the responsibilities of the U.S. Navy is to support and enable amphibious landings for the United States Marine Corps; therefore, the path to the beach must be determined free of danger to the landing force. The very shallow water zone, defined as depths between 10 to 40 feet of water, presents unique environmental challenges that may limit underwater visibility and pose a greater danger of placing personnel in a minefield.
During the exercise, an expeditionary mine countermeasure (ExMCM) company attached to EODMU-1 worked together in a man-machine team with unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), specifically the Mk 18 Mod 1 Swordfish and Mk 18 Mod 2 Kingfish to ensure the very shallow water zone was free of hazards. The team conducted mine hunting, hydrographic surveys and intelligence preparation of the operational environment in the Arctic waters ahead of additional Navy and Marine Corps assets that will be operating in the region.
The ExMCM company is a 30-person unit with four elements: the command-and-control element, an unmanned systems platoon, an EOD mine countermeasures platoon, and a post-mission analysis element. ExMCM companies first deployed in 2014 and have continued to prove their capabilities, operating from a variety of platforms in many different environments.
“Navy EOD is only EOD force that can clear underwater hazards, making the force a crucial enabler for the Navy and Marine Corps team to be able to maneuver where they want to, when they want to,” said Cmdr. Brian Reitter, commanding officer of EODMU1. “We are excited about the training and evaluation opportunities this exercise has afforded us, and we can’t thank the local Adak community enough for hosting us here.”
Capt. Oscar Rojas, commodore, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group One, said Navy EOD is constantly pushing the limits of unmanned and autonomous systems to prepare forces to operate in Arctic environments.
“Being able to exercise these capabilities as part of AECE 2019 ensures are forces are capable, interoperable, and deployable on short notice,” said Rojas. “ExMCM provides an inherent flexibility, scalability, and rapid-deployment capability that a large platform like a ship or aircraft cannot match. UUVs are a force multiplier for us, improving the efficiency and range of our capabilities and allowing us to work safer and more efficiently in a contested environment.”
Approximately 3,000 U.S. Navy and Marine Corps personnel are participating in Arctic Expeditionary Capabilities Exercise (AECE) 2019 in the Aleutian Islands and south-central Alaska Sept. 1-28.
AECE is one in a series of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command exercises in 2019 that prepares joint forces to respond to crises in the Indo-Pacific region. AECE will specifically test joint expeditionary force logistical transfer capabilities in the Arctic environment, including wet logistics over the shore, expeditionary mine countermeasures, mobile diving and salvage, offshore petroleum discharge system operations, and expeditionary infrastructure assessment program. Navy and Marine Corps participants will conduct operational and tactical actions to validate the Distributed Maritime Operations (DMO), Littoral Operations in a Contested Environment (LOCE) and the Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO) concepts.
EODMU-1 provides operational EOD capabilities to include locating, identifying, rendering safe, exploiting, recovering, and disposing of all explosive ordnance including chemical and nuclear weapons while providing access for conventional and special operations forces to maneuver across the full range of military operations.
U.S. Navy EOD is the world’s premier combat force for eliminating explosive threats so the Fleet and Nation can fight and win wherever, whenever and however it chooses.
For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.
For more news from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 1, visit www.navy.mil/local/eod1/ or follow us on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/EODGROUP1/.
| Date Taken: | 09.12.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 09.12.2019 14:47 |
| Story ID: | 340263 |
| Location: | ADAK, AK, US |
| Hometown: | SAN DIEGO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 244 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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