Beachmaster Unit (BMU) 1 hosted 31 international students from the Marine Corps University (MCU) Command and Staff College, March 1.

The college offers a Professional Military Education program in which majors and lieutenant commanders from all over the world are selected to learn how our nation's military branches operate.

"These officers are going to become the decision makers as they become more senior," said Cmdr. Dave Cho, the international military students officer. "Who they meet and what they learn while attending could positively impact future operations and result in smoother coordination through their new understanding of the capabilities and limitations of the U.S. military."

Not only are the officers from various countries, but they all have different jobs within their respective militaries.

"Everything is new for me, coming from infantry," said Romanian armed forces infantry officer, Maj. Dumitru Todosiuc. "This will help with command and control relationships, in order to work together and understand each other better."

This visit focused on the Navy's amphibious and joint operations conducted hand-in-hand with the U.S. Marine Corps.

The students began with a visit to amphibious dock landing ship USS Pearl Harbor (LSD 52) to see the capabilities of the well deck and understand the missions which fall under an amphibious ready group. They also visited Naval Beach Group (NBG) 1 and the Marine Logistics Group in Camp Pendleton, where they were able to observe the amphibious missions a ship's well deck can support.

Visiting different commands allows officers to relate the operations observed to their own militaries and better understand how the U.S. executes missions.

"Specifications in a book are different than seeing a lighter amphibious resupply cargo vessel or landing craft utility operate," said Dr. Craig A. Swanson, associate dean of academics of the MCU Command and Staff College.

The college takes several trips throughout the year to demonstrate U.S. naval capabilities and give students firsthand interaction with different commands and Sailors. The relationships they form during their time attending MCU are beneficial for future operations and partnerships.

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Expeditionary Strike Group 3, visit http://www.navy.mil/.