A massive training exercise involving thousands of Marines from California and Arizona will get underway Monday under the direction Camp Pendleton’s 1st Marine Expeditionary Force.
Navy bases in San Diego will also participate in Steel Knight, a two-week effort designed, in part, to certify Pendleton’s 5th Marine Regiment for deployment to Darwin, Australia.
The regiment will spend six months in Darwin as a forward-positioned crisis response task force that trains with the Australian military. This is part of a long-standing partnership between the U.S. and Australia to jointly protect their interests in the Indo-Pacific.
Steel Knight also tests the ability of the Navy’s and Marines’ air-and-ground forces to carry out missions together.
The 3rd Marine Air Wing from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar will be among the units participating in the exercise.
Pendleton officials said that the general public, especially in San Diego’s North County, may notice increased military activity over the next two weeks.