World War 11 island-hopping tactics back in action as US Marines practice for China war Archived Message Posted by margo on March 22, 2019, 1:25 pm Bird-brained dinosaur goes island hopping... extract Business Insider -- EVERYTHING that is old may indeed be new again. During World War II, US Marines moved from island to island, fighting bloody battles against entrenched Japanese forces determined to dominate the Pacific. Now, as the possibility of conflict with China looms, the Marine Corps is dusting off this island-hopping strategy. Last week, US Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit led a series of simulated small-island assaults in Japan, the Corps announced Thursday. [...] After the Marines seized the island's airfield, US troops quickly established a Forward Arming and Refueling Point. Additional force assets, such as Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters and C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft, then moved in to deliver extra firepower. An F-35B Lightning II fighter aircraft with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 is refueled at a Forward Arming and Refueling Point during simulated Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations at Ie Shima Training Facility, March 14, 2019.An F-35B Lightning II fighter aircraft with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 being refueled at a Forward Arming and Refueling Point during simulated Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations at Ie Shima Training Facility on March 14. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Dylan Hess Rocket artillery units brought in aboard the C-130Js carried out simulated long-range precision-fire missions while the stealth fighters conducted expeditionary strikes with precision-guided munitions. "This entire mission profile simulated the process of securing advanced footholds for follow-on forces to conduct further military operations, with rapid redeployment," the Corps said in a statement. The exercise was part of the Corps' efforts to refine the Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations concept, which is the modern version of the World War II-era island-hopping strategy. "It is critical for us to be able to project power in the context of China, and one of the traditional missions of the Marine Corps is seizing advanced bases," Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee last week. "If you look at the island chains and so forth in the Pacific as platforms from which we can project power, that would be a historical mission for the Marine Corps and one that is very relevant in a China scenario." Business Insider LINK https://www.businessinsider.com/us-marines-seize-small-island-to-train-for-a-possible-china-fight-2019-3?r=US&IR=T Message Thread: World War 11 island-hopping tactics back in action as US Marines practice for China war - margo March 22, 2019, 1:25 pm The Chinese army will piss all over them - Keith-264 March 22, 2019, 3:59 pm Re: The Chinese army will piss all over them - dovetailjoint March 22, 2019, 4:34 pm True, the US forces couldn't face down a grasshopper with a wet stick (nm). - Ed March 22, 2019, 8:06 pm   Searching