WEBVTT

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As a group we've we've talked , um , a

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lot about , you know , what what's our

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story because it's just so much and for

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every individual , the story is just a

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bit different and for every family the

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story is a bit different as well .

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But I , I , I think probably the most

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impressive thing is that if you take a

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well-trained group of marines and

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sailors and you give them the equipment

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they need to operate and deploy , you

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literally can do anything .

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Them is a uniquely structured crisis

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response force that has the ability to

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react or respond to different missions

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or operations across the spectrum of

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military operations , from humanitarian

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assistance to wartime and conflict .

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From a logistics perspective , the

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ability to self-sustain for 15 days is

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reflective of the incredible capability

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that the mu can provide . My experience

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with the 15th Muu has highlighted the ,

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the formidable capability that the Mw

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provides across the spectrum of

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operations . The 15th m is composed of

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uh BLT 15 , which provides our infantry

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battalion .

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CLB 15 , uh , which provides our

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logistics , battalion .

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VMM 165 , which provide our rotary wing

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support .

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And VMFA 225 , which provide our fixed

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wing uh support .

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As well as Recon Company and the

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command element .

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After forming in June 2023 , the 15thm

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conducted key training exercises ashore

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and embarked aboard the three ships of

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the Boxer amphibious Ready Group to

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prepare for deployment . The

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pre-deployment training prepared us in

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a way that you could only get it out of

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repetitions practice working with other

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MSEs and actually like accomplishing

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those missions is the only way that we

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were able to actually improve .

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The more time we had on the boat on the

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flight deck , the more we got used to

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living this life , the more we , uh ,

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we learned how to talk with our navy

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counterparts , the more we just learned

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how to live the boat life .

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The biggest difference I saw from Rutt

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in the last ship period was the

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confidence in my junior Marines and

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stepping up into that that leadership

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role that we want them to step up into .

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In January 2024 , the Somerset became

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the first ship to set out on the

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deployment with more than 600 Marines

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and sailors of the 15th mute . I

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think when the force found out that

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they were gonna get to go in January ,

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I think there was a lot of excitement .

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I , we almost didn't have time to think

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about what does that mean ? We just

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knew we were the lucky ones that got to

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go and get into the fight and get into

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paycom and start doing exercises ,

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start doing the stuff that we've been

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training to do for the last 2 years .

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So I think it was a mix of excitement

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but also unknowns . Um , because we did

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have a really big exercise to get ready

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for Cobra Gold is huge , which I think

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we loved like that , like give us the

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challenge , like that's what we wanna ,

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that's what we wanna do . Don't give me

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the easy mission . Give me the tough

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one .

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Ready ? Yeah

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In March 2024 , the Harpers Ferry

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departed San Diego to link up with the

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Somerset for exercise Battle Catan . It

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would be the first opportunity for the

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Marine Corps to employ its new

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amphibious combat vehicle overseas .

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ACVs were utilized during Balaatan for

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bilateral training with with the

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Fillmar . Wrapped up in that operation

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uh was one , the first splash Oconus of

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ACVs immediately followed by the first

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waterborne gunnery range .

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In April 2024 , the Boxer's deployment

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was delayed , forcing the 15thm to

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adapt how it would support operations

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across the Indo-Pacific region . It

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became clear that that was that was

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gonna be a little bit different , uh ,

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set up for the ships in Indopecom and

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it's let's look at , look at our

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processes , look at what lessons are we

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learning from these first couple

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exercises that we've done because now

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we've got a lot more to do and we need

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to be able to sustain this performance

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not just for 1 or 2 or 3 exercises but

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for like 7 .

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The Somerset arrived in Hawaii to

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participate in RIM in the Pacific 2024 ,

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its final exercise where it would

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briefly meet up with the boxer for the

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first time underway . During RIMPAC ,

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the world's largest maritime exercise ,

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the 15th Mull conducted integrated

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training alongside 12 partner nations .

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As the Somerset returned home , the

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boxers set out for Korea to link up

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with the Harpers Ferry for a month of

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combined unit level training and to

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participate in Sang Yong 2024 .

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It's really our goal for Seyon 24 was

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to strengthen our relationship with the

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Republic of Korea , Marines and Navy ,

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as well as integrating not only the

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Marine Corps but the amphibious force

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as a whole .

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As the Harper's Ferry began the voyage

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home after Sang Young , Boxer said it's

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focus on the Philippines . However ,

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Super Typhoon Krathon struck the

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Batanes Islands in the Luzon Strait .

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As a ready crisis response force , the

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15th view was called to support our

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Filipino allies .

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Within a couple of days we had to

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transition directly into an exercise .

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Uh , you read about it in the history

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books about muses doing two things at

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once , and this muse was able to

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demonstrate that , uh , when it came to

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the humanitarian assistance disaster

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relief , uh , immediately into coastal

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life for our defense with our partners

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hundreds of miles to the south .

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I .

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Yes . The boxers returned to San

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Diego marked the end of 11 months of

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deployed operations across the 15thmw .

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For the first time in nearly a year ,

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the entire force was reunited . To

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be America's vanguard , one , you have

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to be ready . 2 , you have to be there

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and be forward to be relevant . You

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have to have the capability to deal

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with all the problems that the world

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might throw at you . I think we meant

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that definition to the letter . In the

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time that we were in theater within an

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opaquecom , the US military conducted

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400 operations , activities and

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investments . 84 of them were ours , so

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we can account for almost a quarter of

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all actions in theater with our 2500

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man force . The circumstances is

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what made us different and when you

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take that skill and you add in the will

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and the perseverance , the resiliency

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that this force is built over time , I

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think you get something special and

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that's , that's what I'm most proud of

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with this team . There wasn't a single

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problem during the deployment or during

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the PTP , no matter how hard it got

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that we couldn't figure out an answer

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to . It was just expected .

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If I were the adversaries , I'd be

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concerned . I , if I was them I'd

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probably be grateful that we're finally

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home .