USS Peleliu and Germantown in Subic Bay for Amphibious Landing Exercise 15

The USS Peleliu (LHA 5), an amphibious assault ship, and the USS Germantown (LSD 42), an amphibious dock landing ship of the U.S. 7th Fleet, arrived in Subic Bay Freeport today (Sept. 27) to participate in this year’s Amphibious Landing Exercise 15.

PHIBLEX 15, a bilateral annual military exercise, will take place throughout Luzon and Palawan from September 29 to October 10. During the exercise, the Peleliu and Germantown will support Philippine and U.S. troops in amphibious-operations training designed to strengthen military responses to regional issues, humanitarian disasters, and maritime-security needs within the Asia-Pacific region.

The USS Peleliu, commanded by Capt. Paul Spedero, is manned by more than 1,100 sailors. The USS Germantown, commanded by Capt. Marvin Thompson, is manned by more than 350 sailors. Both ships have elements from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is commanded by Col. Romin Dasmalchi and based out of Okinawa, Japan, and can have up to 2,200 Marines. (US Embassy Public Affairs)




PHOTOS:
[1] The primary mission of the USS Peleliu is to embark and deploy combat-ready Marines, along with their equipment and supplies needed to conduct a variety of missions including humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, and land them ashore by rotary-wing aircraft and amphibious craft. The USS Peleliu is named after the island in the Pacific where the historic World War II battle took place. The Battle of Peleliu was one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific with eight Marine Corps Medal of Honor recipients.

[2] An MH-60S Seahawk approaches the flight deck of the dock landing ship USS Germantown (LSD 42). The USS Germantown is the second ship to bear the name of the historical Pennsylvania district of Germantown, famous for being the site of an important battle of the American Revolution. The amphibious assault ship's mission is to project power ashore by transporting and launching amphibious craft and vehicles loaded with embarked Marines in support of amphibious operations.