Rear Adm. John Mustin, commander, Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 2, visited the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) and transport dock ship USS New York (LPD 21) Oct. 17, 2019. The ships, joined by the dock landing ship USS Oak Hill (LSD 51) make up the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (BAT ARG) and were at sea conducting Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU).

The visit was Mustin’s first trip to the BAT ARG since COMPTUEX began at the beginning of October, a month which has seen visits from senior leadership focused on naval integration including: Adm. Christopher Grady, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces; General Robert Hedelund, commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command; Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet; and Lt. Gen. Brian Beaudreault, commanding general, II Marine Expeditionary Force.

“COMPTUEX is a tough, challenging exercise designed to test the crews across every core warfare area, across all domains,” said Mustin. “The BAT ARG is currently in the thick of that test, which is designed to ensure that the Blue-Green team is able to execute the full range of important missions reflexively, with confidence.”

While on board each of the ships, Mustin had the opportunity to meet with leadership to discuss how the exercise was unfolding, and to speak with a few of their top performing Sailors and Marines.

“Our nation demands that we achieve and maintain excellence, and our collective ARG-MEU team needs to gel as a potent amphibious fighting force,” said Mustin as he addressed the crew of New York on the 1MC. “Use this experience to fully, seamlessly and safely integrate, and to flex as warfighters that dominate in a high-end fight.”

COMPTUEX is an intensive, month-long exercise designed to fully integrate a carrier strike group or ARG-MEU as a cohesive, multi-mission fighting force. It thoroughly tests the abilities of the Sailors and Marines assigned to the ARG and MEU to carry out sustained combat operations from the sea, and was the first amphibious COMPTUEX that U.S. 2nd Fleet overseen since the command was re-established in 2018. During the exercise, assessors from Carrier Strike Group 4 provide training and mentorship while evaluating the warfighting capabilities of all units through three distinct phases of increasing complexity and intensity.

Expeditionary Strike Group 2 provides an East Coast amphibious ready force that is manned, trained and equipped to fulfill amphibious requirements and to provide military commanders with a wide range of flexible capabilities including maritime security operations, expeditionary power projection, forward naval presence and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

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