3rd Marine Littoral Regiment teams with 4th Marine Brigade to secure maritime terrain in KAMANDAG 10

SUBIC BAY, Philippines — The U.S. Marine Corps’ 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment concluded maritime key terrain security operations during KAMANDAG 10 across multiple expeditionary sites in the Batanes Islands from June 19 to 29, training alongside the Philippine Marine Corps to boost interoperability, littoral mobility, sensing, simulated maritime fires, and force protection in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Working with the Philippine Marine Corps’ 4th Marine Brigade, the unit practiced transporting the Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System and the Marine Air Defense Integrated System, along with maritime sensing capabilities and personnel, in a complex littoral environment. The combined force dispersed across the Batanes Islands from Northern Luzon, relying primarily on Philippine surface vessels to move people and equipment, and established and sustained expeditionary advanced bases.

“It’s no surprise that moving people and equipment in a littoral environment is a challenge,” said U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Robert Moore, the 3rd MLR logistics officer. “By working with our Philippine partners to use ferries and roll-on, roll-off vessels, we were able to rapidly move NMESIS and MADIS across key maritime terrain.”

Alongside mobility training, the units advanced the dispersed deployment of expeditionary sensors to deepen awareness of the maritime operating environment. “The deployment of our sensors gave us the ability to collect data that directly enhanced the combined common operating picture,” said 1st Lt. David Driscoll, the 3rd MLR intelligence collections officer. “Employing our sensors in deliberate locations allowed us to feed information to decision-makers, ultimately driving the whole operation.”

The exercise featured the forward, distributed employment of anti-ship and anti-drone capabilities via NMESIS and MADIS moved by surface vessels, demonstrating a maturing ability to secure and protect key terrain with modern maritime fires and advanced air defense systems. Operating alongside Philippine counterparts emphasized a shared commitment to regional sovereignty.

“The success of this operation is a direct testament to our focus and commitment to enhancing our combined readiness in the Philippine archipelago,” said U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. William Jacob, the 3rd MLR operations officer. “Engaging in realistic training with 4th Marine Brigade across a dynamic distributed maritime environment ensures that our forces are postured to respond together in any situation.”

The event served as a validation of the regiment’s purpose-built approach to distributed maritime operations while working shoulder to shoulder with Philippine Marines. From temporary expeditionary advanced bases, the forces conducted bilateral training, employed sensors, and simulated the delivery of maritime fires in support of the combined force. KAMANDAG 10 builds on shared defense concepts and reflects the evolution of Philippine-led archipelagic coastal defense exercises.

The 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, based at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Bay, specializes in littoral warfare and operates throughout the Pacific, regularly integrating with regional allies and partners during multilateral events such as KAMANDAG 10. The exercise is a multidomain, joint, and combined effort between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the U.S. military focused on enhancing maritime security, interoperability, contested logistics, and combined readiness across the Philippine archipelago.