Australia's top end puts US Marines through their paces

The United States Marines are currently conducting protection and evacuation training in Australia's Northern Territory amid tensions in the Indo-Pacific region, including the strengthening of military co-operation between the United States and Australia.

The marines conduct non-combatant evacuation exercises about once a year, according to Master Gunnery Sergeant Robert Robinson.

“We can always be called upon to do it and we never know when that time’s going to happen, so we have to be prepared when the time comes,” he told the ABC.

It is estimated that more than 2,000 marines will be based in Darwin until October, which may include the group stationed on Bathurst Island, one of the Tiwi Islands north of Darwin, where they have been training for evacuation missions.

14 June 2022