Marine Times Reports: 300 troops head to Ga. for exercise Monday

Staff report
Posted : Thursday Nov 1, 2007 11:34:54 EDT

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Several East Coast military units will come together in Georgia on Monday for a three-day large force training exercise.

Marine Aircraft Group 31, based at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C., is playing host to Southern Fury, an exercise aimed at enhancing the interoperability of different branches’ ground and aviation units, according to an air station press release.

Marine Wing Support Squadron 273 will conduct convoy operations with Humvees and 7-ton trucks around Townsend Bombing Range near Jesup. Overhead, F/A-18 pilots from Beaufort will practice air interdiction and close-air support, strike coordination and aerial refueling techniques with a KC-130J Hercules from Marine Aerial Refueling Squadron 252, based at MCAS Cherry Point, N.C.

The South Carolina Army National Guard’s 1-151st Aviation Battalion out of McEntire Joint National Guard Base in Eastover, S.C., will provide AH-64 Apaches to support convoy operations in a simulated urban environment.

Nearly 300 Marines and soldiers are participating in the exercise.