Tandem Thrust : Troops From 4 Service Branches Take Part in 23-Day War Game

U.S. Marine Corps Col. Dan Pender liked the looks of Monday morning.

From his perch in the flight tower of the amphibious assault ship Belleau Wood 15 miles offshore, Pender could easily make out the South County coast. Hurricane Darby had blown past, taking with it the heavy seas that had pounded the 820-foot ship for the past week. Even the lingering mist and fog had burned off.

So much the better for Operation Tandem Thrust, the largest amphibious military exercise launched by the military in the past three years. A total of 20,000 troops from four service branches are involved in the 23-day war game, a joint effort billed as the “hallmark” of the modern, post-Cold War military.

Pender, 46, a Laguna Niguel resident and commanding officer of the exercise’s air war, said the break in the weather was a welcome relief for the 200 assorted helicopters and jets that would soon be maneuvering from ships to shore.

“Today is a much better day; hardly a rocking in the ship,” Pender said as he surveyed the seas 110 feet below the tower of the Belleau Wood, which serves as an aircraft carrier and has the capability of deploying landing craft.

He was quick to point out, however, that the weather would not dictate the military exercise: No storm out of the southern Pacific was going to stop the 550 Marines from El Toro Marine Corps Air Station on board the Belleau Wood and the accompanying amphibious assault ship New Orleans from carrying out their mission.

“It’s nice to have a stable ship, but we function under all conditions,” he said.

While the resolve of the Marine Corps and other services remains unchanged, the military commanders aboard the ship acknowledged that Operation Tandem Thrust represents a new military effort--sleeker and more cooperative.

From now on, the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines must think along more common, singular lines without the luxury of duplicating efforts --a result of shrinking military budgets, said Rear Adm. James Blenn Perkins III, a Navy commander stationed on the Belleau Wood.

“We have changed the way we do business,” said Perkins, 49, a 28-year Navy veteran from Boothbay, Me. “We’re all going to get smaller and we have to learn to work together. That message has been sent and received.”

Future warfare will be more akin to Operation Desert Storm than World War II. It will be focused on hot spots around the world, protecting American citizens and “maintaining the sovereignty of borders,” military officials said. Operation Tandem Thrust, which began July 1 but was unveiled publicly Monday, is typical of what to expect, they said.

In the current war game, one aggressive Third World nation--Uniland--is locked in a territorial dispute with its peaceful neighbor, Minoria. A recent seizure of Minorian territory along the disputed boundary has prompted the United Nations to ask the United States to quell civil disorder and to restore Minorian sovereignty.

Called into action in the war game spanning 80 miles from San Diego County to Los Angeles County are 23 ships, including submarines, minesweepers and assault ships such as the Belleau Wood, and 200 aircraft, including the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing from El Toro.

Maj. Ray Priest of Mission Viejo, 37, an F-18 Hornet pilot who has spent nearly eight years at the El Toro base, is part of the flight support staff aboard the Belleau Wood.

Priest’s 2,600 hours of flight time are being put to use aboard a Navy ship rather than in a “bird,” the Marine Corps’ nickname for a jet.

“Like any other aviator, I’d rather be flying, but everybody takes a turn doing everything,” Priest said.

Monday was spent preparing for the mock combat ahead. El Toro and Tustin Marine pilots, as well as pilots assembled here from as far away as Alaska and Arizona, will stage a night assault on a Camp Pendleton beach in preparation for “D-Day,” coming up on Friday.

Aboard the Belleau Wood, the flagship or communication base of the sea operation, Monday’s rehearsal and the entire exercise are all about coordinating the forces, Perkins said. He called the liaison officers, those officers from the various services who attempt to coordinate the tasks, “one of the real evolutions of (Operations) Desert Storm and Desert Shield.”

The Persian Gulf War brought another simple but useful military evolution: the standardization of all military paperwork, Perkins said.

“Rather than have a Navy piece of paper or an Air Force one, orders are now written one way,” Perkins said. “You get an instant identification that way, which allows confidence to flow between people.”