Balikatan 25: 3d LCT Departs for MKTSO

Video by Cpl. Malia Sparks

3d Marine Division

April 22, 2025 | 6:03

U.S. Marines and Sailors with 3d Littoral Combat Team, 3d Marine Littoral Regiment, 3d Marine Division, and Philippine Marines with Marine Battalion Landing Team 10, depart for the Maritime Key Terrain Security Operations event during Exercise Balikatan 25 from Northern Luzon to an island in the Batanes island chain, April 22-24, 2025. The MKTSO event experiments with the Littoral Reconnaissance Team concept by deploying low-signature, light-weight formations to the Batanes island chain to rehearse Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations, test sensing capabilities, and simulate securing and defending key maritime terrain. Balikatan is a longstanding annual exercise between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and U.S. military designed to strengthen our ironclad alliance, improve our capable combined force, and demonstrate our commitment to regional security and stability. (U.S. Marine Corps video by Cpl. Malia Sparks)