Expeditionary· Civil Aid and Humanitarian Operations
STEEL PIKE I
The largest peacetime amphibious exercise ever conducted, and the occasion of a historic first for Marine aviation.
Some 28,000 Marines of the 2nd Marine Division and 84 Navy ships, under Vice Admiral John S. McCain Jr., crossed the Atlantic in wartime convoy conditions to land on the coast of Spain near Huelva, in a massive rehearsal of the Corps' ability to project an assault force across great distances. The 8th Marines made the first all-helicopter regimental landing in Marine Corps history, every man, vehicle, and supply lifted ashore by helicopter, linking up with the traditionally surface-landed force. The exercise proved the concept of vertical envelopment on a grand scale. It also came at real cost: in the opening hour two helicopters collided in mid-air, killing nine Marines and injuring thirteen, and a tenth Marine was killed in a separate accident ashore. About ten Marines died in the maneuver.
Record no. 875