U.S. National Guard Practices D-Day-Style Landings

War Is Boring

Security, Americas

This was their first time doing so in decades. What are they preparing for?

Amphibious assaults are usually a component of major conflicts, and when major world players start training on “world war”-style tactics, it is hardly ever a good sign.

However, such is the case in both the East and West, where the US and Russia seem to be ramping up for potential operations near shorelines.

In the United States, elements of the Virginia Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 111th Field Artillery Regiment conducted the waterborne artillery exercise, nicknamed Operation Gator, earlier this month at the U.S. Marine Corps’ Camp Lejeune, which is located along the North Carolina coastline.

Firing field guns from landing craft, the exercise was the first of its kind in decades, and the first for the 111th since D-Day, 1944.

According to The Drive, select Landing Craft Mechanized Mk 8s from the 11th Transportation Battalion, the 111th pulled up onto the shore and began pounding selected targets with accurate artillery fire.

Meanwhile, in Russia, the nation’s shipbuilding industry has begun to pump out a fleet of new warships, including several landing ships and 10 nuclear submarines.

This article by Andy Wolf originally appeared at War is Boring in 2019.

Image: Wikimedia