From U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs
Construction Electrician Constructionman Trace Martin, and other Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 11, perform contact engagement drills in preparation for their role as the opposing force for a Marine training operation during Exercise Valiant Shield 2016 in Tinian, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Sept. 18, 2016. Valiant Shield is a biennial, U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps exercise held in Guam, focusing on real-world proficiency in sustaining joint forces at sea, in the air, on land and in cyberspace. (Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Benjamin A. Lewis/160918-N-TR141-492)
Forces from the U.S. Pacific Commandparticipated in exercise Valiant Shield (VS) 2016, Sept. 12-23 on Guam and around the Marianas Island Range Complex.
Participants included USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), nine surface ships, the Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group - which included three amphibious vessels - an estimated 18,000 personnel, including Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 11, and more than 180 aircraft from the U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
Valiant Shield is a U.S.-only, biennial field training exercise (FTX) with a focus on integration of joint training in a blue-water environment among U.S. forces. This training enables real-world proficiency in sustaining joint forces through detecting, locating, tracking and engaging units at sea, in the air, on land, and in cyberspace in response to a range of mission areas.
Construction Electrician Constructionman Dejuan Fitzpatrick, assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 11, prepares to act as the opposing force for an island seizure drill conducted by Marines assigned to 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines during Exercise Valiant Shield 2016 in Tinian, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Sept. 20, 2016. Valiant Shield is a biennial, U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps exercise held in Guam, focusing on real-world proficiency in sustaining joint forces at sea, in the air, on land and in cyberspace. (Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Benjamin A. Lewis/160920-N-TR141-137)
The participating forces exercised a wide range of capabilities and demonstrated the inherent flexibility of joint forces. The range of capabilities included maritime security operations, anti-submarine and air defense exercises, amphibious operations, and other elements of complex warfighting.
The lessons learned from exercises like VS16 will assist U.S. forces in continuing to develop regional and global power projection capabilities that provide a full range of options to succeed in defense of its interests and those of its allies and partners around the world.
The VS series is aimed at developing a pre-integrated joint force built from habitual relationships. This force builds interoperable and complementary cross-domain capabilities and benefits from realistic, shared training enhancing the flexibility to develop new tactics, techniques, and procedures as operational conditions dictate. Such forces will provide the deterrence and stabilizing effects of a force-in-being, ready at the outset of a contingency without delays for buildups or extensive mission rehearsal.
This is the sixth exercise in the Valiant Shield series that began in 2006.
Construction Mechanic 3rd Class John Webb (left) and Construction Mechanic 2nd Class Michael Schutt, both assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 11, change a wheel assembly on a 7-ton cargo truck during Exercise Valiant Shield 2016 in Tinian, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Sept. 18, 2016. Valiant Shield is a biennial, U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps exercise held in Guam, focusing on real-world proficiency in sustaining joint forces at sea, in the air, on land and in cyberspace. (Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Benjamin A. Lewis/160918-N-TR141-055)