Returning Commander Speaker Series Highlights Navy and Marine Corps Contribution to National Security

More than 4,000 Sailors and Marines from the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group (KSGARG) and the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (26 MEU) have just returned home after an eight-month deployment that saw them support maritime security operations, provide crisis response capability, and increase theater security cooperation and forward naval presence in the U.S Navy's 5th and 6th Fleet areas of operation.

CAPT Jim Cody, Amphibious Squadron 4 Commander, and Col Matthew St. Clair, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit Commander, will provide an overview of the sea services' efforts and answer questions.

After departing last March 11 from Norfolk and Little Creek, VA and Camp Lejeune, NC, the KSARG/26th MEU sailed to the 5th Fleet's area of responsibility in the Middle East. There, the ARG/MEU team participated in four major multinational exercises designed to strengthen coalition partnerships and reinforce regional security and stability, including Exercise Eager Lion 2013 in Jordan. KSARG/26th MEU also spent time in the Mediterranean supporting 6th Fleet contingency operations.

As an expeditionary crisis response force operating from the sea, the MEU is proficient across the range of military operations, from amphibious assaults, raids and maritime interdiction operations to humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, and non-combatant evacuation operations. While conducting pre-deployment training before its March departure, the 26th MEU deployed in November 2012 aboard the USS Wasp (LHD-1) in support of Hurricane Sandy disaster relief efforts in New York and New Jersey.