MORON AIR BASE, Spain (Jan. 13, 2020) – U.S. Marines and Sailors with Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Africa (SPMAGTF) 20.1, Marine Forces Europe and Africa, are participating in a bilateral exercise with the Portuguese Marines, also known as Fuzileiros, near Lisbon, Portugal, Jan. 13-17.

The purpose of this exercise, dubbed “Wild Crocodile II,” is to increase SPMAGTF proficiency at core mission-essential tasks, as well as interoperability and integration between U.S. and Portuguese military forces. The event is the second phase between the allied nations, which began November 2019 with an aircraft familiarization of the U.S. Marines MV-22 Osprey by the Portuguese Fuzileiros.  

The U.S. Marines are scheduled to conduct a long-range insertion from Morón Air Base, Spain, to the training area near Lisbon, Portugal. From there, they will link up with their Portuguese counterparts and conduct a series of small-arms live-fire ranges, rehearse dynamic breaching techniques, and conduct military operations in urban terrain.  

For the first time on SPMAGTF-CR-AF 20.1’s deployment, they also intend to fire M72A7 Light Anti-Tank Weapon rockets. The exercise will culminate with a four-wave MV-22 Osprey insertion of U.S. and Portuguese Marines into a training complex where they will simulate an assault of an embedded enemy platoon as part of a quick-reaction force.

Bilateral training exercises afford the Marines the opportunity to not only hone their skills in real-world training scenarios but also strengthens relationships with Allied and partner-nation militaries. Wild Crocodile II will give SPMAGTF-CR-AF 20.1 the ability to rehearse various capabilities, from the movement of troops through the air, executing a bilateral coordinated attack on an enemy force, and providing emergency medical care and extraction of simulated wounded personnel.

SPMAGTF-CR-AF 20.1 deployed to Morón de la Frontera, Spain in mid-September and is postured to respond to a broad range of military operations in the U.S. Africa Command region, including U.S. Embassy reinforcement, fixed-site security, non-combatant evacuation operations, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel, theater security cooperation, and other missions as directed.

For imagery and video of the exercise, go to www.dvidshub.net/unit/usmcfe. 

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