Category: Security

Marking the first time a Marine Expeditionary Unit has navigated the canal since 2008, this large-scale maneuver is a demonstration of the Marine Corps’ capacity for rapid global mobility, maritime dominance, and seamless power projection.

Since its completion, the Panama Canal has served as a vital strategic pathway for the United States and its allies. The canal allows naval vessels to rapidly shift between the Atlantic and Pacific theaters, saving weeks of travel around South America. Navigating this critical maritime shortcut ensures the U.S. military can maintain a flexible, responsive posture — surging ships and troops to meet emerging crises across hemispheres without delay.

“This historic transit is a powerful testament to the flexibility and readiness of Littoral Combat Force-24,” said Col. Ryan Lynch, the commanding officer of LCF-24. “Our ability to seamlessly navigate this critical waterway alongside our Navy partners aboard the USS San Antonio demonstrates our capability to rapidly project power and respond to crises anywhere in the Southern Command area of responsibility. We are ready to operate straight from the sea, at a moment’s notice.”

The transit serves as a validation of the Littoral Combat Force concept and the modern Marine Air-Ground Task Force. It proves LCF-24’s ability to navigate narrow waterways and project assets ashore without relying on established military basing, underscoring the Marine Corps’ enduring role as the nation’s premier force-in-readiness, perfectly calibrated for contested littoral regions.

The foundation of this capability is the unbreakable teamwork between the Navy and the Marine Corps. The interoperability displayed by the Marines of LCF-24 and the Sailors of the USS San Antonio highlights a fully integrated naval force supporting Combatant Commander objectives.

By moving fluidly through the canal, the Blue-Green team proves its unrestricted access to the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility, which spans Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Whether tasked with humanitarian disaster relief, bolstering regional partnerships, or deterring aggression, this force can reach anywhere in the region to deliver tailored, decisive effects.

The 24th MEU’s transit of the Panama Canal proves that the Navy-Marine Corps team remains prepared to respond as America’s 9-1-1 force in any clime and place.

Over the course of the two-week mission stop, the U.S. Navy’s largest annual multinational humanitarian and disaster preparedness mission in the Indo-Pacific enabled PP26 personnel composed of approximately 150 U.S. service members, together with Australian Defence Force, Canadian Armed Force, German Armed Force, and Singapore Armed Force service members, to work alongside the Indonesian National Armed Forces (Tentara Nasional Indonesia), Indonesian experts and civilians across four lines of effort: engineering, disaster management, host nation outreach, and medical.

“This mission has been about more than training and engagements; it has been about people,” said U.S. Navy Lt. Macswayne Muralt, the officer in charge of the Indonesia Pacific Partnership 2026 mission stop. “As an American of Indonesian-Chinese heritage, it has been a privilege to work alongside our TNI and Indonesian partners, strengthening the relationships that help our communities prepare for future challenges together.”

While in Indonesia, the U.S. Navy Seabees, assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 5 and Amphibious Construction Battalion 1, U.S. Army soldiers assigned to the Hawaii National Guard’s 230th Engineer Company, and TNI engineers conducted new construction of a two-classroom building at National Elementary School #158309 and classroom renovations at National Elementary School #158490. Their combined efforts improved public infrastructure, directly increasing students’ learning capabilities.

“Executing these new construction and renovation projects alongside our Army National Guard and TNI partners highlights our ability to seamlessly integrate diverse technical capabilities,” said U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael Hamilton, mission engineer for PP26. “From the first block laid to the final coat of paint applied, this mission represented a unified, team effort. Missions like this reflect the core of why we serve, leaving a lasting, positive impact on a community while strengthening our operational bonds.”

The disaster management team conducted a five-day urban search and rescue vertical lane rescue and patient evacuation training on Sibolga Naval Base, held a two-day disaster response planning at the Sibolga mayor’s office, and a two-day culminating field training exercise at Pandan General Hospital. The culminating exercise simulated a hospital fire and a ship collision designed to improve international interoperability and rehearse critical coordination between military forces and civilians. The hands-on, practical exercise consisted of a simulated building collapse, mass casualty drill, water rescue, and on-scene treatment and evacuation of casualties.

“It was a great experience to work with our TNI counterparts and Indonesia’s national-level first responders,” said U.S. Army Capt. Nathanael Wrye, PP26 disaster management line of effort (LOE) lead for the Indonesia mission stop. “These evolutions allowed us all to explore the individual capabilities of TNI and first responders to react to specific scenarios that can occur during disasters and increase our collective ability to develop plans and strategic outlook.”

Beyond technical and tactical exchanges, the mission stop featured host nation outreach events focused on community engagement and youth education. The Pacific Partnership Band performed a series of public concerts at local venues and school grounds, bringing together hundreds of residents through music.

“Music connects people instantly. It cuts across language and culture in a way nothing else does. The students were the highlight of this mission stop, hands down,” said U.S. Navy Lt. Joel Thiesfeldt, Pacific Partnership band master. “When kids who don’t speak your language are singing and dancing along with you, that’s cultural outreach doing exactly what it’s supposed to do: bringing our nations closer together.”

The medical team conducted a total of 79 engagements, consisting of seven veterinary exchanges, seven community health engagements, and 65 subject matter expert exchanges across the disciplines of nursing, dental, midwifery, general surgery, emergency medicine, internal medicine, and ophthalmology. PP26 medical personnel engaged with local professionals to enhance mutual medical capabilities and strengthen long-term capacity.

“We had great collaborative engagements with our host and partner nations in subject matter exchanges and side-by-sides,” said U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Squires, PP26 medical LOE lead for the Indonesia mission stop. “The opportunity to share and exchange knowledge from our specialists to the community of health professionals is a truly rewarding experience. I realized working here that health is a universal language. No matter what culture, religion, language, or place we come from, our shared experiences broke down barriers and we found common ground in finding different solutions for similar challenges.”

Following the ceremony, Pacific Partnership personnel prepared to embark aboard the Royal Australian Navy Bay-class landing ship dock HMAS Choules (LSD 100) to continue the mission of strengthening regional security, enhancing cooperation, and improving disaster preparedness across the Indo-Pacific.

Now in its 22nd iteration, the Pacific Partnership series is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster management preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific. Pacific Partnership works collaboratively with host and partner nations to enhance regional interoperability and disaster response capabilities, increase security and stability in the region, and foster new and enduring friendships in the Indo-Pacific.

For updates and multimedia from Pacific Partnership 2026, follow #PacificPartnership, #PP26, and #PacificPartnership26 on social media or visit: DVIDS’s Pacific Partnership.

“The Naval War College is a place where military leaders can learn how to use AI to optimize their effectiveness as warfighters,” said NWC President Rear Adm. Darryl Walker. “AI can provide crystal clear battlespace awareness and lightning-fast calculations to assist operational and tactical commanders so they can move faster and more decisively. The forces who master AI will be the most successful in conflict deep into the future.”

Dr. Amanda Rosen, professor of teaching and learning at the NWC’s Teaching Excellence Center, said the July 31 conference started conceptually as a small gathering of faculty to share best practices amongst themselves. But after she sent out a request to determine interest among colleagues, she received 15 volunteers to present and many more – from not only the Naval War College, but from other U.S. professional military institutions – to attend. “Interest just kept growing and growing and now we have 265 (registered to take part),” she said.

Rosen – who is organizing the July 31 conference alongside Dr. Curtis Bell of NWC’s International Programs Department, Dr. Chris Demchak of the Cyber and Innovation Policy Institute (CIPI) and Teaching Excellence Center Director Dr. Kimberly Moreland – said AI can be tasked with coding, role-play simulations, research, and translation, in addition to the more basic editing and schedule management.

“For initial users, a lot of it is about efficiency and offloading menial tasks,” she said. “But it goes beyond that. It also allows us to do things we were never able to before.”

Rosen said Bell pointed out that before AI, anyone could come up with a good idea, but putting those good ideas into practice would often require so much labor or specialized expertise that those innovations would never get past the drawing board.

“We are moving from a period where AI is increasing our efficiency to a place where it’s increasing what is even possible,” she said.

During the faculty conference, sessions were held on AI in adaptive learning, class discussion preparation, design and execution of academic courses, security and multiple talks on the technology’s role in wargaming.

On day earlier, during the student workshops on July 30, talks were held on cybersecurity and law as they pertain to AI, among other topics.

Facilitated by U.S. Navy Cmdr. Jonathan Durham of the Joint Military Operations Department, speakers for the student sessions included representatives of the war college’s Maritime Advanced Warfighting School (MAWS), the military’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, the Office of the Judge Advocate General and others.

Established in 1884, NWC informs today’s decision-makers and educates tomorrow’s leaders by providing educational experiences and learning opportunities that develop their ability to hedge aggressively, innovate continuously, fight distributively, delegate confidently, and command with clarity within complex battlespaces.

Submarine Squadron 20 Deputy for Training, Cmdr. Luke Kelvington, has temporarily assumed command of West Virginia (B).

The submarine is currently in port conducting a maintenance repair period. The relief of the CO does not impact the ship’s mission or schedule.

Sammur assumed command of USS West Virginia (B) on August 14, 2025. He has been temporarily reassigned to Submarine Group 10.