Press Releases


1ST LIGHT ARMORED RECONNASSIANCE BATTALION TO TRAIN WITH NEW ZEALAND DEFENCE FORCE
1 Oct 2019

1ST LIGHT ARMORED RECONNASSIANCE BATTALION TO TRAIN WITH NEW ZEALAND DEFENCE FORCE

 

Camp Pendleton, Calif. – U.S. Marines and Sailors with the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance (LAR) Battalion, and soldiers with the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) are participating in Exercise Sari Bair, which is set to take place near Waiouru Military Camp from October 8, 2019 through October 12, 2019.  

 

Exercise Sari Bair is a bilateral training exercise with the NZDF that aims to enhance warfighting skill sets and continue to build mil-to-mil relationships and interoperability. This exercise will set the building blocks for future training events to enhance our efforts in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command area of operations.

 

Marines and NZDF personnel will conduct cold weather training, subject-matter-expert exchanges, and maneuver training with light armored vehicles. The operational prelude to Exercise Sari Bair, known as Phantom Major, will focus on maneuver, non-live-fire training. Following the successful completion of Phantom Major, U.S. Marines and NZDF personnel will execute Exercise Sari Bair, which will focus on maneuver live-fire events. 

 

The name “Sari Bair” refers to the “Battle of Sari Bair,” which was the August Offensive during WWI in 1915 to seize control of the Gallipoli Peninsula from the Ottoman Empire. New Zealand was one of the attacking forces for the battle.  

 

These continued bilateral engagements are designed to strengthen and enhance relationships among the United States and New Zealand in the South Pacific region. Sari Bair enhances our combined crises response skills and ensures we maintain a flexible and effective maritime force in readiness.

 

Video package and video B-Roll imagery from the exercise will be released by the 1st Marine Division Communication Strategy & Operations (COMMSTRAT) officer and made available for media use. This imagery can be found on the 1st Marine Division page at https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/1MD.

 

For additional queries, please contact the 1st Marine Division press officer 1stLt. Cameron Edinburgh at (760) 725-1129 or email cameron.edinburgh@usmc.mil.

 

-USMC-


1st Marine Division