U.S. Forces Combine Approaches During Joint Airfield Damage Repair Training

MARINE CORPS TRAINING AREA BELLOWS, Hawaii — Joint Airfield Damage Repair training brought together U.S. Soldiers, U.S. Marines and U.S. Airmen at Marin… MARINE CORPS TRAINING AREA BELLOWS, Hawaii — Joint Airfield Damage Repair training brought together U.S. Soldiers, U.S. Marines and U.S. Airmen at Marine Corps Training Area Bellows, Hawaii, Sept. 14-18, 2026, to strengthen the joint force’s ability to assess and repair damaged airfields throughout the Indo-Pacific. Soldiers from the 523rd Engineer Support Company and 70th Clearance Company trained alongside Marines from Marine Wing Support Squadron 174 and Airmen from the 647th Civil Engineer Squadron throughout the weeklong exercise. Joint teams assessed and marked simulated damage across the airfield before working to repair simulated craters and restore the damaged surfaces.

While each service brought its own procedures, equipment and experience to the mission, the training provided an opportunity to put those approaches side by side, share expertise and work toward a more integrated approach to airfield damage repair. “We spent around two to three months coordinating over a series of joint exercises, as well as rehearsals and training meetings, to ensure that all partners got something out of this culminating exercise and were able to kind of marry their separate concepts of how to do airfield damage repair together,” said 2nd Lt. Alok Barua, 1st Platoon, 523rd Engineer