29/03/2026
Echo/Easy Company Marines during workups in the "backyard."
Here we have CAX 2000 and Steel Knight 2001. Thank you to for the photo submission.
What is CAX:
●The USMC Combined Arms Exercise (CAX), frequently conducted as part of the Integrated Training Exercise (ITX) at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, is a month-long, intensive, live-fire training, designed to validate Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) combat readiness. It combines ground, aviation, and logistics units for rigorous, large-scale operations in a desert environment (Kurkimilis, 2012).
What is Steel Knight:
●Exercise Steel Knight is an annual, large-scale training exercise conducted by the I Marine Expeditionary Force (I MEF) in California and Arizona, designed to enhance combat readiness and joint interoperability. The exercise focuses on maneuvering and live-fire, ensuring the Navy-Marine Corps team is prepared for, and can sustain operations in, contested environments against peer threats (Wu, 2012).
References:
Kurkimilis, L. (2012, September 21). Corps changes deployment training. Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms. https://www.29palms.marines.mil/Articles/Article/499236/corps-changes-deployment-training/
Wu, D. J. (2012, December 14). The original steel knights. Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms. https://www.29palms.marines.mil/Articles/Article/499282/the-original-steel-knights/
