Marines retire ‘workhorse’ Assault Amphibious Vehicle after 50 years
By Claire Barrett
Oct 6, 2025, 10:58 AM
After more than 50 years in service, the Marine Corps is sunsetting its Assault Amphibious Vehicle. (Lance Cpl. Brendan Mullin/Marine Corps)
From the shores of Grenada to the deserts of Iraq, the Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV) shielded and carried Marines from ship to sea to shore for over 50 years.
Now, after a Sept. 26 ceremony, the famous “workhorse” has been officially decommissioned.
Col. Lynn Berendsen, commander of the Assault Amphibian School at Camp Pendleton, California, noted during the ceremony that the AAVs were intertwined with the legacy of the Marines that operated them.
“The AAV gave Maines both mobility and armored protection, allowed them to close with the enemy and seize objectives at speed,” Berendsen said. “In the desert, just as in the Pacific beaches decades earlier, [the AAV] showed it was more than a connector — it was a fighting vehicle at the heart of the Marine Air Ground Task Force.”
https://www.defensenews.com/news/your-marine-corps/2025/10/06/marines-retire-workhorse-assault-amphibious-vehicle-after-50-years/
