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U.S. Marines to conduct exercise on Saipan
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Posted on Jan 26 2000
Around 80 Marines from the Third Marine Expeditionary Force stationed in Okinawa, Japan will arrive in Saipan to conduct the final evolution of a Training in an Urban Environment (TRUE) exercise.
A full compliment of approximately 200 Marines arrived in Guam earlier this month to initiate the training, aimed at preparing elements of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit for potential contingencies.
The exercise will run through the end of the month.
While majority of the exercise was recently completed in Guam, a portion of it will be conducted in Saipan. Most of the training has been held on military land, however, some evolutions will be conducted at other approved civilian sites.
Routine in nature, this training prepares MEU Marines to operate in an unfamiliar urban environment where they could be called upon to evacuate Americans and other designated foreign nationals, provide humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, conduct civic action, show-of-force, and other operations.
Initial coordination has been made with military, federal, state, local, and civilian agencies. Throughout the exercise, training will continue to be coordinated with appropriate individuals.
This type of training occurs approximately three times a year in various locations and has been previously conducted in cities such as Atlanta, New York, New Orleans, Miami, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.
This is the second time a portion of TRUE will be conducted by the 31st MEU in Saipan. Thirteen successful TRUE exercises have been conducted by the 31st MEU in Guam.
