Following the recent removal of diplomatic workers from Sudan, the US Marines performed a training exercise to evacuate civilians from a besieged consulate, highlighting the increased collaboration between the Marines and special operations forces.
The US Marines have been practicing evacuating non-combatants from a besieged consulate, following the extraction of embassy staff from Sudan by US Navy SEALs earlier this month. The training exercise, which took place at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and on three Navy ships off the coast, demonstrated the growing partnership between the Marines and special operations forces. Col. Dennis Sampson, the commander of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), said the exercise would make the MEU more relevant as a “crisis response force” and would help reduce the time needed to provide support to special forces. The level of cooperation between the US State Department and special operations units is also increasing, according to Jonathan Berger, an adviser to Marine Corps Special Operations Command.
