Marine helicopters drop supplies to ballistic missile submarine in the Pacific, a first
By MATTHEW M. BURKE
STARS AND STRIPES • May 18, 2023
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — A Marine helicopter squadron from Okinawa for the first time delivered supplies to an Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine transiting the Philippine Sea, a practice integral to the Corps’ island-hopping doctrine.
Two CH-53E Super Stallions on May 9 dropped “mission-essential equipment” to the USS Maine by a “vertical replenishment,” according to a III Marine Expeditionary Force news release Wednesday. The Super Stallions are assigned to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 462 of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing.
Airborne delivery allows Navy assets like the Maine to resupply without disrupting “maritime security operations,” a key tenet of the Marine Corps’ role as a “stand-in force,” the statement said.
Stand-in force is a concept born from Commandant Gen. David Berger’s Force Design 2030, the operational doctrine at all levels of the Marine Corps, especially in the Pacific where the U.S. military is training to deter potential Chinese aggression and maintain open sea lanes. It calls for inserting smaller, mobile units within range of enemy missiles to seize and hold key islands and deny enemy vessels access to the surrounding seas.
https://www.stripes.com/branches/marine_corps/2023-05-18/submarine-marine-helicopters-vertical-resupply-10155202.html
