BOSTON -- The Marines are planning a full on assault at Carson Beach May 8.
They will be combining their combat elements from the air and on the ground when storming the South Boston waterfront, just to show the city how strong their force is when flexing their muscle.
Bostonians should not be alarmed, but rather intrigued – this is a demonstration put on by Marines supporting Marine Week Boston.
“We want to show how the MAGTF (Marine Air-Ground Task Force) works together to complete missions,” said Lt. Col. Mike Van Nest, an Eastham, Mass., native serving as the executive officer of Marine Medium Tiltorotor Squadron 264. “We’ll demonstrate to the community of Boston one of the many functions of the Marine Corps.”
The Marine Air-Ground Task Force is a structured organization of combat elements that can be structured many different ways depending on the mission. There are four core elements in a MAGTF:
The command element, a headquarters unit that takes charge of all elements; the ground element, consisting of infantry, armored vehicles and artillery; air element, the firepower from the sky composed of helicopters and fighter jets; and the combat service support element, consisted of the elements needed to logistically support all elements of the MAGTF.
Lt. Col. Shane “Rhino” Tomko said this exhibit of the MAGTF will be “the most incredible demonstration on the planet.
“This will show what we can bring to bear against any enemy, any target, any place, any time,” said Tomko, the battalion landing team commander for 3rd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment. “The beauty of the MAGTF is we can do everything to complete the mission internally from anywhere at any given time.”
Spectators can expect to see a full assault by Marines storming Carson Beach, who will be carried by MV-22 Ospreys, a tiltrotor troop carrying aircraft. Present MAGTF forces on the ground will include, artillery Marines with the M777 Lightweight Howitzer, tankers with the M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank, amphibious assault crewmen with their amphibious assault vehicles and infantry Marines in their light armored vehicles.
An UH-1Y Huey and an AH-1 Super Cobra will swarm the skies in support of the operation.
Cpl. Tyler Young, an infantry rifleman serving with Company K, 3rd Bn., 24th Marines, said Bostonians well get a kick out of the demonstration.
“They can see what we’ve been doing in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Young, a Terre Haute, Ind., native. “It’s going to be very cool. We’re going to show them how we take out targets.”
The event is open to all and will be followed be festivities and music.