 Exercise Don Blitz 2011 wraps up as the first Marine Expeditionary Brigade and sailors of Expeditionary Strike Group 3 train together for a large-scale amphibious assault on beaches of Southern California. This exercise is important simply because this amphibious capability is important. It provides our government, our leaders, operational flexibility. It's also important because there's only so much simulation that we can do. At some point we have to get on these ships and conduct the exercises from the ship. There's absolutely no substitute. These exercises keep Marines prepared to deploy quickly by sea on short notice to any place in the world for a wide range of contingencies from humanitarian aid and disaster relief to conflicts. With the focus over the past 10 years on the global war on terror, some of this training has given way to preparedness for ground combat. These skills have atrophied. We haven't been doing this for at least a decade. So in that regard we're again revitalizing capabilities that really are core to the Marine Corps but we haven't had a chance to work on because of the sustained ground combat operations on shore. So it really is making sure that we can do what we advertise we can do. We can meet the expectations that have been leveled around the Marine Corps and we can respond in the event of the crisis and not have to do a whole lot of discovery learning while we're mobilizing and getting out the door and moving into an objective area. Don Blitz tested the Corps on multiple levels. The most visible part was the actual assault, where Marines conducted amphibious assault vehicle and landing craft air cushion landings. Back on the U.S.'s bottom of shard, senior staff from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade and Expeditionary Strike Group 3 learned how to coordinate their efforts to make the entire exercise a success. Well, I'll tell you, if you could have sat inside and saw the relationship, the workings between the MEV and ESG-3, you can see that it moves us closer to the single team. This is by far the best relationship, the best personal relationship, the best functioning relationship I've seen in my career with the Navy staff. We've been working at this hard for a long time, something that hasn't happened overnight, but this is another progressive step as we really work to become an integrated, fully capable team. As the Marine Corps continues to evolve to meet the new challenges of the 21st century, it is exercises like Don Blitz that will keep them prepared for any mission, threat, and operating environment. Reporting from the U.S.'s bottom of shard, I'm Corporal Benjamin.