After more than a half-century of global service, the U.S. Marine Corps has officially retired the assault amphibious vehicle, marking the end of an 80-year tradition of tracked amphibious landing vehicles. To honor the legacy and service of the historic vehicle, the 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion hosted a sundown and redesignation ceremony as the Reserve force transitions to a new era of littoral warfare and modernized combat platforms. The sundown ceremony was hosted on August 9, 2026 in Jacksonville, Florida and served as a formal farewell to the AAV-P7/A1. The events signaled the battalion's operational shift toward the newer amphibious combat vehicle and advanced small-craft platforms—such as the multi-mission reconnaissance
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Sgt. Lelo “Steven” Toko’s path to 4th Reconnaissance Battalion began in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.Sgt. Toko’s father sought political asylum in the United States in 1996, while Sgt. Toko remained in the Congo with his mother and two siblings during two wars that swept through the country. With U.S. diplomatic facilities closed because of the conflict, the family’s journey to the United States was delayed until 1999, when they traveled through Cameroon and finally reunited with Sgt. Toko’s father. The family settled in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Sgt. Toko later completed trade school in Virginia.“Reuniting with my father was a surreal moment because we weren’t sure we would survive the wars,” Sgt. Toko said. “We lost so
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U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Jonathan Hastings, a water purification specialist with 6th Engineer Support Battalion, 4th Marine Logistics Group, Marine Forces Reserve, is currently participating in exercise Northern Strike 26-2. Hastings is a native of Michigan.Northern Strike is an Army sponsored, multi-component, multi-national exercise designed to build readiness and enhance interoperability to fight and win. Northern Strike 26-2, Michigan’s largest and longest joint readiness exercise, is held from August 1 to August 15, 2026, at the National All-Domain Warfighting Center. This year’s exercise will feature around 9,000 participants.Hastings currently lives in Mason, Michigan. However, his connection to the Marine Corps began long before
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Marines with 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, conducted Mountain Training Exercise (MTX) 26-3 from July 4-18, 2026. The two-week annual training period focused on teaching Marines the skills required to survive, maneuver and operate in high-altitude, mountainous terrain.
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U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Leonard F. Anderson IV, commander of Marine Forces Reserve and Marine Forces South, hosted NASCAR team owner and Toys for Tots partner Richard Childress as the guest of honor during an Evening Parade at the Corps’ oldest active post, June 26, 2026.Evening Parades are held almost every Friday during the months of May through August. These ceremonies exemplify the pride, professionalism, and esprit de corps of the Marine Corps, represented by the infantry Marines at the “Oldest Post of the Corps.”During the event, the legacy of the Marine Corps is featured through performances by the Silent Drill Platoon and the “Commandant’s Own” U.S. Marine Band, showcasing the pride, precision and discipline within the Marine
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For the first time in its history, the Marine Corps Reserve is actively deploying multi-domain collection assets during the Information & Intelligence Integration Course (I3C), marking a significant technological milestone for Integrated Training Exercise (ITX) 3-26 at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms.
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At an age when many people enjoy retirement, U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. David Westerberg chose a different path. After a successful 38-year career as a dentist in Southern California, he decided retirement was not for him. Instead, he answered the call to serve and commissioned as a U.S. Navy officer in 2022 at the age of 64.
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Many strive for greatness, and some achieve it. But few go beyond greatness, redefining the limits of human potential. Of the 8.3 billion people on earth, only 781 people have traveled to space, a fraction so small it represents far less than 1% of the global population.One of those few is retired U.S. Marine Corps Col. Randy “Komrade” Bresnik. On June 9, 2026, NASA announced Bresnik’s selection as the commander of the Artemis III mission. His extensive experience in the Marine Corps and previous spaceflights have prepared him for the high-tempo mission, scheduled for launch in 2027.Growing up in Santa Monica, California, Bresnik received a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps scholarship to The Citadel, where he commissioned into the
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When the Marine Corps Cyberspace Operations Group needed an immediate surge of capability, they turned to Force Headquarters Group, Marine Forces Reserve. On March 26, 2026, the response from 6th Communication Battalion was fast: orders were drafted and approved within 36 hours, and a team of Reserve component defensive cyberspace operations Marines arrived on station ready to work.Initial support was extended to provide 60 days of surge capability. The speed of that response came down to preparation. In addition to technical expertise, the Marines who showed up were medically and administratively ready before the opportunity arose, and that readiness enabled their rapid employment.
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Nearly six decades after his aircraft went down over the South China Sea, Maj. Everett McPherson’s courage in the skies has finally been recognized. In a ceremony filled with solemn reflection and pride, the Marine Corps posthumously awarded McPherson the Distinguished Flying Cross, one of the nation’s highest decorations for heroism in aerial flight.The ceremony brought together Marines, veterans and McPherson’s family, including his brothers Raymond and Allan, and his sisters Mary Lou, Fay and Kay, to honor a Marine who gave everything in service to his country and his comrades.“Combat pilots are by definition courageous,” said Lt. Gen. Leonard F. Anderson IV, commander of Marine Forces Reserve and Marine Forces South. “But only the most
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Gunnery Sgt. Bobby G. Philips Jr., a Marine in the Reserve previously honored for his civilian heroism, was meritoriously promoted to the rank of gunnery sergeant in a ceremony on April 2, 2026. The event was held at the Beirut Memorial, in front of the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor statue.In January 2024, he was awarded the Columbia-Richland Fire Department Medal of Honor for his life-saving actions during a three-alarm apartment fire on May 26, 2023. While serving as a fire captain, Philips and his team at Rescue 1 responded to the major fire. After rescuing a woman and her dog, he was instrumental in saving two fellow firefighters who were trapped when the building collapsed.
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At minus 45 degrees Fahrenheit, even fuel begins to freeze. During Arctic Edge 2026, the extreme cold caused the JP-8 fuel inside several Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement vehicles to thicken into a jelly-like consistency, threatening to halt operations in the motor pool. For U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Christopher Duran, an automotive maintenance technician with Combat Logistics Regiment 453, the problem became a test of ingenuity. Drawing on his experience as a heavy-duty diesel mechanic, Duran developed creative solutions that helped keep Marine Corps vehicles running in Alaska’s unforgiving Arctic conditions.
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Marines from across the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia moved between medical screening stations, administrative tables and informational briefings as they checked in for an Individual Ready Reserve mega-muster in Arlington, Virginia, March 5 –10, 2026. Staff from the Marine Corps Individual Reserve Support Activity guided Marines through readiness updates and available resources throughout the event.U.S. Marines assigned to the Individual Ready Reserve gathered for the multi-day muster to update records, receive information on benefits and opportunities within the Marine Corps Reserve and ensure they remain ready to serve if called upon during a national emergency.The Marine Corps remains the only branch of the U.S. military
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U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Justin A. Napier, a trombone instrumentalist with the Marine Forces Reserve Band, was recognized and awarded as the 2025 Marine Corps Musician of the Year.
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T-minus 3, 2, 1 … We have liftoff! The ground rumbled as the engines roared to life. Smoke and flames erupted out of the bottom as it began to lift into the sky, ascending higher until it was finally out of sight. There are some kids who see a rocket take off and begin to dream of becoming astronauts; there are some kids who make that dream come true.Lt. Col. Katherine Spies graduated from the University of Southern California with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and later earned a master's degree in design engineering from Harvard University. She was sure that she would become an engineer and maybe a pilot in the future. She made that happen one step at a time, accomplishing every goal she set her mind to.Spies joined the
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