The Assault Amphibian

What is an Assault Amphibian? Well, in the Marine Corps...we are the operators and maintainers of amphibious assault vehicles (AAVs). The history of this community goes back to 1937 when a Florida man, Donald Roebling, designed an amphibious tractor for hurricane rescue operations. At the outbreak of WW2, the US Navy and Marine Corps looked to Roebling to develop vehicles that can bring troops from ship to shore and up onto the beach. The Landing Vehicle, Tracked (LVT-1), a.k.a "the Alligator", had a significant positive impact in the victories across the Pacific and the development of newer and more advanced models throughout the war (LVT-2, LVT-3, LVT-4, LVT(A) [an amphibious tank]).

Our current vehicle, the AAVP7A1 (also a communication and recovery variant) is almost 40 years old. In fact, I have had tractors with hulls stamped from the 1970s. It was known as the LVTP7 until the 90s. It has undergone some upgrades ("new" turret, comm systems, suspension) over the years. It has served in combat multiple times. Most recently, the AAV lifted a majority of the Marine Corps forces into Iraq in 2003. They were removed from Iraq in 2008 and replaced with MRAPs.

So, at Lejeune we train in AAVs...but in Afghanistan we fight in MRAPs or on foot. My platoon had about 2 months last year to turn in our AAVs and train for MRAPs before we went into Afghanistan. When we returned, we had to get back into AAVs.

The AAV was supposed to be replaced with the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV). If you have been watching the news recently, you probably heard that this project was canceled after 20 years or so. It was over bu get, way over due, and had many problems. Billions down the drain. I have seen this vehicle, it is pretty cool. But it totally relies on computers, which I don't like. It can go 30knots in the water, while ours go only 6 knots or so. It also has a stabilized weapons system, which ours does not. Now that the program is canceled, we hopefully we get some much needed upgrades on these 40 year old vehicles.

We Assault Amphibians are the keepers of waterborne ship-to-shore movement in the military. The Long War has kept Marines off ships for almost 10 years, with the exception of some of the expeditionary units which still deploy. It has even kept many of us off as well. However, across the Corps, we are the ones that have the most ship experience, knowledge of water operations, and actually practice amphibious assaults on a regular basis. So, this community is a key part in getting back to the "amphibious roots" of the Corps, which the Commandant is pushing very hard. We are the only vehicles capable of this in the entire US Military.