Marines with Marine Attack Squadron 231 supplied four MV-22 Ospreys on the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point flight line Jan. 31 in support of Bold Alligator 2012, the largest sea to air exercise off the East Coast in ten years.
The supplies aboard the Ospreys, of Marine Aircraft Group 26’s Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 266, were flown out to ships off the North Carolina coast involved in the exercise. Capt. Douglas R. Kurz, a supply and communications officer with VMA-231, said along with the supply assistance, the squadron is teaming up with VMA-542 to train with 12 of the squadrons’ AV-8B Harriers in the exercise.
The squadrons will be operating their Harriers from the big decked amphibious assault ship, USS Kearsarge.
“This is a great learning opportunity for us,” said Kurz. “If we don’t practice then we won’t get better at what we do. Bold Alligator is helping the Marines improve combat readiness.”
Bold Alligator, which is considered a large force exercise, consists of approximately 20,000 U.S. and coalition personnel and over 25 U.S. ships. The exercise is designed to prepare the Navy-Marine Corps team for amphibious assault operations in a multi-national and joint service scenario-driven environment.
In recent years, this type of exercise has only been conducted on the West Coast. It will conclude Feb. 14.
“One of the most important parts of operation Bold Alligator is learning how to deploy onto a ship,” said Kurz. “It’s a good way to practice a lot of things in a different manner.”