Multiple military and federal agencies continued searching Sunday for a United States Marine who went missing during an integrated training exercise off the coast of southern California, with the operation covering approximately 2,400 square miles of ocean involving three surface ships and 12 aircraft from four branches of the armed services.
The Marine was reported missing from the USS Anchorage shortly after midnight Thursday morning during exercises involving the Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group and the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit. The search began immediately and initially proceeded as a rescue operation before the Navy transitioned to a search-and-recovery effort on Friday evening. The Marine’s identity was being withheld pending notification of family members.
The scope of the search
The size of the search area reflects the complexity of locating a person in open ocean conditions, where currents, sea state, and elapsed time since the disappearance dramatically affect where a person or remains might be found. Assets from the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Air Force have all been deployed, with both aerial and surface elements working the area.
Three surface ships and 12 aircraft represent a substantial commitment of military resources to the recovery effort, underscoring the seriousness with which the military approaches situations involving missing service members regardless of the circumstances.
The Navy expressed condolences to the family and all those affected by the Marine’s disappearance, describing the situation as a difficult time for everyone connected to the service member. No additional details about the circumstances of the disappearance were provided in official statements beyond confirmation of the training exercise context.
The second such search in six weeks
The missing Marine represents at least the second time in roughly six weeks that the United States military has conducted a significant search operation for missing members during or shortly after training exercises. An earlier search involving Army soldiers who disappeared during exercises in Morocco required a multinational operation that deployed air, naval, and artificial intelligence assets before concluding with the recovery of remains in May.
The proximity of the two incidents has not prompted any official statement from military leadership about patterns or systemic concerns, but the combination has drawn attention to the inherent risks of the training environments in which American service members regularly operate.
Context for the exercise
Amphibious ready groups and marine expeditionary units conduct integrated training operations to prepare for the full range of missions they might be called upon to execute in deployed environments. These exercises typically involve movement between ships and shore, operations in varied sea conditions, and the coordination of large numbers of personnel across multiple platforms.
The Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group is based out of San Diego and regularly conducts training in the waters off the California coast. The 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, also based in the San Diego area, participates in these exercises as part of its regular preparation cycle. Training exercises of this type involve calculated risk management, but the ocean environment presents variables that cannot always be fully controlled.
The search was continuing as of Sunday afternoon, with no update on whether additional information had been recovered or identified in the areas already covered. The Navy did not provide a timeline for how long the search operation would continue.
