Bold Alligator 2012 (BA12) was the second annual joint and multinational amphibious assault exercise sponsored by the
U.S. Fleet Forces Command and the
U.S. Marine Forces Command. Held from 30 January to 12 February 2012, Bold Alligator 2012 was the largest amphibious assault exercise held on the east coast of the United States since 2002. Its objective was the revitalization of U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps amphibious expeditionary tactics, techniques, and procedures, as well as the reinvigoration of combined Navy and Marine Corps operations from the sea. This live and synthetic, scenario-driven, simulation-supported exercise focused on the six core capabilities set forth in the
current U.S. maritime strategy - forward presence, deterrence, sea control, power projection, maritime security, and humanitarian assistance/disaster response. Bold Alligator 2012 served as a key pre-deployment training exercises for Expeditionary Strike Group Two, the
2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, and
Carrier Strike Group Twelve. Additionally, nine countries participated in this exercise, providing maritime, land, and air units or observers from Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Bold Alligator 2012 was held ashore and afloat, in and off the coasts of Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida, and it culminated in three large-scale operations - an amphibious assault at
Camp Lejeune; an aerial assault from the sea into
Fort Pickett; and an amphibious raid on
Joint Expeditionary Base East. During this month-long underway period, Carrier Air Wing completed 3,830 flight hours, made 2,052 arrested landings, and received a 96 percent sortie completion rate. This included a single-day total of 107 sorties flown on 6 February 2012 during the amphibious assault phase of Bold Alligator 2012. ==References==