Marines kick off Exercise Hamel with transit aboard Aussie ship

A company of U.S. Marines recently sailed midway around the Australian continent aboard an Aussie ship, About 180 members of Marine Rotational Force–Darwin were recently transported from Marines embarked on the landing helicopter dock HMAS Adelaide on June 16, marking the first time that many U.S. troops of this size went to sea with their Down Under matesaboard an Australian  since World War II.

About 180 members of The Marines of Company A, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Marine Rotational Force—Darwin were transported more than 2,000 miles from Port of Brisbane, Queensland, on Australia's east coast to from Camp Pendleton, California, and 90 U.S. soldiers joined an additional 500 MRF-D Marines in Adelaide in the south, Australia, on June 22 for Exercise Hamel. The Marines — mostly grunts from the California-based 1st Battalion, 1st Marines — spent about a week aboard the Australian landing helicopter dock Adelaide. 

Once they reached their destination, they joined up with U.S. and Aussie soldiers for Exercise Hamel, a three-week brigade-level training event. The Australian A army-led non-live fire, force-on-force exercise runs through June 25-July 15 in South Australia.

During the seven days aboard the HMAS Adelaide, the Marines engaged in various physical training events and competitions, including a 72-hour cycle competition, said MRF-D spokeswoman 1st Lt. Sarah Rhodes, a spokeswoman for MRF-Darwin said in an email to Marine Corps Times.

"You would see many Australians and U.S. service members spending their free time together, competing in basketball games, and sharing experiences," she Rhodes said. "While the statistics may differ from a U.S. ship, such as the size and the number of the ship’s crew, the day-to-day activities were very similar."

One thing that stood out to the Marines, though, was the ? The chow.

"The food was fantastic on the ship," said Sgt. Mitchell Wilkerson, a squad leader with MRF-Darwin 1st Squad Leader, 3rd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment. "Probably the best food I’ve had in the Marine Corps."

"We’d have pickup games of basketball with the [U.S. troops] and Australians out there," he said in an email to Marine Corps Times. "While we are different branches, we all know how to operate and accomplish the mission."

Exercise Hamel includes more than 8,000 service members from the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Army, Australian Army, Royal Australian Navy, Royal Australian Air Force and the New Zealand Army. It focuses on platoon-size elements "exercising combined fundamental war-fighting skills in order to enhance each participating nation’s capacity to execute tactical mission sets in a combined operating environment," Rhodes said.

This marks the seventh year of Exercise Hamel, but it's the and the first time it has been held in South Australia instead of Queensland. U.S. Marines have been participating in the exercise since 2012, when the service kicked off its rotations Down Under. There were 150 leathernecks involved in Exercise Hamel that year. This year, it's four times that amount training with Australian troops, but this year has more than 600. 

The Marines aboard from the HMAS Adelaide, who just concluded Exercise Southern Jackaroo in Queensland with Japanese and Aussie troops, Australia, brought along with them 47 Humvees igh Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles, 12 7-ton trucks Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacements and four heavy tactical vehicles Logistics Vehicle Systems Replacements, in addition to the battalion’s weapons.

Lt. Col. Steven Sutey, 1/1's commanding officer of 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, MRF-D, said it’s unique exercise for the Marines participating in the exercise because they're normally they are the higher headquarters element with international troops falling under them and have international elements fall under them.

"This is a great opportunity for us to work as a subordinate element for an international higher headquarters, very similar to what we would do in Afghanistan," he said in an email to Marine Corps Times.

Once Exercise Hamel is complete, the Marines will return to Darwin in the Northern Territory to , Australia, to prepare for Exercise Koolendong, a battalion-level training event typically held in the Australian Outback.