For two years, 1st Lt. Kenon Morgan trained his crew for the launch of the Marine Corps’ newest armored vehicle on its first overseas deployment.
Now aboard the USS Harpers Ferry, the 27-year-old platoon commander from Camp Pendleton is seeing the results of their preparation and called being part of the inaugural deployment for the Amphibious Combat Vehicle a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
This week, his platoon participated in the troop transport’s first ship-to-shore swim off Okinawa, Japan, where crews also practiced getting out of the vehicle in the water. The ACV can be used to carry infantry troops and their gear from ships waiting offshore to the beach, swimming up onto the sand and driving a couple hundred miles inland on one fueling.
“There are very few times when, as a service member, you get to be part of a new program for the Department of Defense,” Morgan said. “The ACV platoon gets to be the ones to do this for their first (deployment). We had a long training workup to get to this point.”
Sailing with two Navy ships in the Indo-Pacific Ocean, the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit out of Camp Pendleton is the first to take ACVs aboard and use them in large international training events. It is also an opportunity for Marines to further test the new vehicles.
Already in development and testing, the vehicles were launched into service following the 2020 sinking of an Amphibious Assault Vehicle – a…
