Amphibious Forces Training Group

Amphibious Forces Training Group
Unit name	Amphibious Forces Training Group
Caption	Training at an amphibious landing craft
Dates	Established c. 20th century
Country	United States
Branch	United States Navy
Role	Amphibious warfare training
Garrison	Various coastal bases

Amphibious Forces Training Group is a specialized United States Navy formation responsible for preparing naval and joint forces for amphibious operations and littoral warfare. It integrates personnel from the United States Marine Corps, United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, United States Army, and allied services to conduct doctrine development, live-fire exercises, embarkation training, and interoperability assessments. The group coordinates with institutions such as the Naval War College, Marine Corps University, National Defense University, and international partners including the Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy, and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

History

The unit traces its origins to pre‑World War II amphibious doctrine experiments influenced by figures like James Forrestal, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, and planners at Amphibious Corps, Pacific Fleet and the United States Atlantic Fleet. During World War II, lessons from the Guadalcanal Campaign, Battle of Tarawa, and Invasion of Normandy shaped training emphases on ship-to-shore movement, logistics, and combined arms integration with formations such as the V Amphibious Corps and I Marine Amphibious Corps. Cold War-era encounters, including crises in the Korean War and Vietnam War, plus doctrinal shifts prompted by the Cuban Missile Crisis and operations like Operation Eagle Claw, led to expanded curricula and joint command relationships with entities such as United States Southern Command and United States Pacific Command. Post-Cold War operations—Operation Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom—drove modernization of doctrine alongside developments at the Office of Naval Research and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Organization and Structure

The group is typically organized into training squadrons, staff elements, and liaison detachments aligned with numbered fleets like the U.S. Seventh Fleet and U.S. Sixth Fleet. Key components include an operational training squadron, an amphibious doctrine cell, an embarkation command, and a joint interoperability office that coordinates with institutions such as the Joint Staff, Fleet Marine Force Pacific, and regional commands including United States European Command and United States Indo-Pacific Command. Command relationships often interface with unit types like Amphibious Ready Group, Marine Expeditionary Unit, and Navy Expeditionary Combat Command, while liaison officers maintain ties to ship classes such as Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, America-class amphibious assault ship, and San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock.

Training Programs and Curriculum

Curriculum areas encompass ship-to-shore movement, over-the-horizon assault, littoral maneuver, vertical envelopment, reconnaissance, and casualty evacuation, with instruction derived from manuals such as Naval Doctrine Publication 1 and doctrine produced by the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory and Center for Naval Analyses. Courses range from individual embarkation training for ratings like seaman, corporal, petty officer, to unit-level exercises for formations including Marine Expeditionary Brigade and Joint Task Force. Specialized modules cover integration with platforms like the MV-22 Osprey, CH-53E Super Stallion, LCAC, Landing Craft Utility, and coordination with naval gunfire support provided by guided-missile destroyer units and carrier strike groups such as USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70). The group hosts seminars with allied staffs from North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Quadrilateral Security Dialogue participants, and partner navies to rehearse combined doctrines developed after studies of the Amphibious Operations Manual and lessons learned from Humanitarian Assistance/Disaster Relief missions.

Equipment and Facilities

Facilities include range complexes, amphibious assault beaches, ship piers, and simulator centers co-located at bases like Naval Station Norfolk, Camp Pendleton, Naval Base San Diego, and Pearl Harbor–Hickam. Training equipment comprises landing craft such as LCAC, LCU, LST, rotary-wing assets like the MH-60 Seahawk, tiltrotor MV-22 Osprey, amphibious armored vehicles including the AAV-P7/A1 and successor programs reviewed by Program Executive Office Land Systems, as well as live-fire ranges coordinated with ordnance centers such as the Naval Surface Warfare Center. Simulators and synthetic trainers are developed with partners including Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and research institutions like Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Naval Postgraduate School.

Operations and Deployments

The group supports deployments of Amphibious Ready Groups and Marine Expeditionary Units to theaters covered by U.S. Africa Command, U.S. Central Command, and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, providing pre-deployment validation, embarkation oversight, and rehearsal support for scenarios ranging from forcible entry to noncombatant evacuation operations modelled on Operation Frequent Wind and Operation Tomodachi. It also assists in multinational exercises such as RIMPAC, Talisman Sabre, Steel Knight, and Bold Alligator, coordinating logistics chains with sealift entities like Military Sealift Command and airlift partners such as Air Mobility Command. Surge responses include contributions to humanitarian responses following events like the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and coordination with agencies such as United States Agency for International Development during disaster relief.

Notable Exercises and Achievements

The group has led major exercises and doctrinal milestones, including protocols validated during RIMPAC iterations, innovations incorporated into Marine Corps Combat Development Command publications, and interoperability advances demonstrated with allies during Talisman Sabre and bilateral drills with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force and Republic of Korea Armed Forces. Achievements include development of optimized embarkation procedures used in Operation Restore Hope-style humanitarian operations, successful integration of tiltrotor assault techniques influenced by tests aboard USS Wasp (LHD-1), and contributions to amphibious concepts later codified by the Chief of Naval Operations and Commandant of the Marine Corps. Awards and recognitions for units trained under the group include campaign credits earned in Operation Iraqi Freedom and commendations from regional commanders in United States European Command and United States Indo-Pacific Command.

Category:United States Navy