RIMPAC moves ashore with land-assault training at Bellows

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) maritime exercise moved from the ocean to land Saturday.

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Service members from the United States, the Republic of Korea and Peru participated in land-assault training at Marine Corps Training Area Bellows.

The exercise focused on amphibious operations, which involve moving military forces from the sea onto land to secure key areas or confront opposing forces.

“Amphibious operations ultimately is about power projection from the maritime domain onto the land domain,” said Lt. Col. Colin L. Sasser, commander of the Ground Combat Element.

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Sasser said the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines is serving as the ground combat element for the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit during RIMPAC.

“While there’s a lot of actions that have to begin while underway aboard naval amphibious shipping, the culminating actions that occur is the actual projection of those forces onto the ground,” Sasser said.

The training also included techniques used during cordon-and-search operations.

RIMPAC began at the end of June and is scheduled to wrap up at the end of July. Thirty nations are participating in the biennial exercise.

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