Marines, tanks head to Korea for exercise - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Marines, tanks head to Korea for exercise

The Marine Corps is sending hundreds of personnel to South Korea for a large amphibious exercise scheduled for March.

Members of 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, left Camp Pendleton, Calif., in mid-February and are traveling aboard the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard. They’ll spend a few weeks at sea and stop in Japan before arriving in South Korea.

The exercise is aimed at bolstering military cooperation between U.S. and South Korean Marines, who are long-time allies, officials told Marine Corps Times. It will be led by the 1st Marine Division, 2/1’s parent command, which also is based at Camp Pendleton.

During the exercise, the 850-man infantry battalion will be reinforced by an M1A1 Abrams tank platoon from 1st Tank Battalion and an unspecified detachment from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, also out of Camp Pendleton, which is currently deployed overseas with the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group.

Elements from III Marine Expeditionary Force, which is based in Japan, also will participate, said 2nd Lt. Spencer Kenyon, a spokesman for 1st MARDIV. It’s unclear what type of personnel III MEF will send.

South Korea is home to about 28,500 U.S. troops and remains a regional hot spot thanks to the endless ruckus coming from neighboring North Korea. On Sunday, for instance, the North warned the South that plans to hold live-fire drills this week in the Yellow Sea would be met with a “merciless” attack.

The Marine Corps’ permanent presence in South Korea is small, with about 100 Marines in Seoul and 40 in Pohang, at Camp Mujuk. But other forces in the region routinely travel to the peninsula and train alongside the South Koreans.

Last month, the commander of Marine Corps Forces Korea, Maj. Gen. Mike Regner, met with his South Korean counterpart to examine how both sides could increase training and, according to media reports, facilitate future rotations of U.S. Marines. Defense Department officials have declined to discuss that prospect.

This exercise is expected to last through most of March.

Training in South Korea is just what the Marine Corps needs, said retired Maj. Gen. Jerry Humble, a former commander of Marine Corps Forces Korea.

“We couldn’t find a better ally,” said Humble, who retired in 2003. “It’s just a great place for amphibious type of forces with boots on the ground.”

South Korean Marines are a “tough” force, he said.

“It’s a brotherhood corps, with very, very similar attitudes about training, about discipline, about being great Marines.”