U.S. and coalition forces conducted an amphibious assault as part of Exercise Bold Alligator 2017 (BA17) on the shoreline of Camp Lejeune, N.C. on Oct. 25, 2017.

Bold Alligator, an annual exercise since 2011, is an events-driven exercise featuring U.S. Navy and Marine Corps personnel undertaking tactical level training for amphibious operations in support of the Navy-Marine Corp team's core mission of maritime power projection.

This year's exercise incorporated amphibious, carrier strike group, and expeditionary mine countermeasure operations to provide a rigorous training environment for the combined forces.

"The ability to connect and improve our interoperability with partner nations is an important goal for Bold Alligator," said Captain Daniel Blackburn, Commander, Amphibious Squadron 6. "Creating a strong team between the Navy and Marine Corps is the key enabler for us to have the ability to project power from the maritime environment."

The main event of BA17, D-Day, was a simulated live amphibious assault on the beach. Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAV) with U.S Marines and partner nations led the charge towards the beachhead. The USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43) and Mexican Navy ship, ARM Papaloapan (A411), were critical staging platforms for the vehicles and launched the two waves of AAVs that began the assault.

After securing the beach, six landing craft, air cushion (LCAC) were the primary method of transport for the remainder of the amphibious operations. LCACs are used by the Navy to transport personnel, equipment and cargo during amphibious operations. During the evolution, LCACs were loaded up with equipment and vehicles from the U.S. and allied nations.

Upon arrival on the beach, coalition forces were met by their counterparts from the Marines and Navy Beachmaster Unit (BMU) 4 to conduct an expeditious and safe offload. D-Day also included Marine Corps helicopters, columns of Marine vehicles, and partner nations' vehicles and field units.

Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 4, based at Joint-Expeditionary Base (JEB) Little Creek in Virginia Beach, embarked six LCACs between three U.S. Navy ships: USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44), USS Arlington (LPD 24) and USS Fort McHenry. Together these units completed approximately 51 ship-to-shore movements throughout the exercise.

"LCACs are what the Navy primarily uses because of their versatility, load capacity and over-the-horizon range capabilities," said Master Chief Operations Specialist William Clements, craftmaster for Landing Craft, Air Cushion 87. "LCACs can reach 75% of the world's coastlines."

The Sailors and Marines also worked alongside their foreign counterparts to share information and further develop relationships towards working together in future exercises.

By the end of D-day, all participants had the opportunity to conduct extensive exercises oriented towards real world operations.

"Lack of interoperability was a possible road block with working together with other nations' forces," said Command Master Chief Charles Eakley, from Arlington. "Bringing everyone together and uniting behind a common mission was the real compelling force for the unit cohesion we saw."

The success of Bold Alligator 2017 raises the possibility of expanding future allied training exercises into larger operations.

"I believe that exercises like Bold Alligator will continue to grow in complexity and size," said Blackburn. "There's a continuing need to develop our amphibious warfare skills and to expand our relationships with our partner nations. I also attribute the success of this year's Bold Alligator to the hard work and dedication of the crews of Arlington, Fort McHenry, Gunston Hall, Beachmaster Unit 2, Assault Craft Unit 4 and the Mexican Navy ship ARM Papaloapan.

USS Arlington is currently underway in support of BA17. Improving Navy-Marine Corps amphibious core competencies along with coalition, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Allied and partner nations is a necessary investment in the current and future readiness of our forces. BA17 will take place Oct. 18-30, 2017, ashore along the eastern seaboard.

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For more news from USS Arlington (LPD 24), visit www.navy.mil/.