Photos: Joint Base Charleston participates in pre-deployment exercise with Marine Expeditionary Unit

NORTH, S.C. (WCBD) – Members of Joint Base Charleston (JBC) traveled to North Artillery Airfield in North, S.C. last week to complete combat training exercises designed to enhance readiness and response capabilities across multiple branches.

Airmen from the 437th Airlift Wing and 628th Logistics Readiness Squadron provided support to the exercise, conducted by the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU).

The 22nd MEU is a 2,500 person unit based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. It is considered the nation’s Crisis Response Force and operates as an Air-Ground Task Force “aboard a three-ship U.S. Navy Amphibious Ready Group.”

During the Composite Training Unit Exercise, members practiced effectively communicating with other units and carrying out logistic operations, such as “moving people and things from the ship to a location inland.”

U.S. Marine Corps First Lieutenant Jase Davis, 22 MEU air support element officer in charge, explained that the role of his group “was to link Marine ground forces to the Marine air picture and the joint air picture.”

This sort of live training exercises “increase the lethality of the Navy-Marine Corps team, ensuring they are forward, flexible, and ready at a moment’s notice.”