Train As We Fight: Integrated Expeditionary Strike Group Exercise Completed
23 March 2026
Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Va. -- Expeditionary Strike Group TWO (ESG-2) completed the Navy Warfare Development Center’s (NWDC) Expeditionary Strike Group 360 (ESG-360) exercise for amphibious force leaders, March 20, 2026.
Joined by staff members from Amphibious Squadron FOUR and Amphibious Squadron SIX, the war game kicked off in November 2025 and took over four months to complete.
“The Navy Warfare Development Center is a proven leader in strengthening warfighters through tailored exercises,” said U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Neil Koprowski, ESG-2 Commander. “ESG-360 offers rigorous, innovative wargaming, training our Sailors and Marines to be a flexible, ready, and capable forward presence that is unmatched at sea, in the air and on shore, advancing the Navy-Marine Corps team’s position to remain America’s unmatched enduring advantage.”
The scenario-based exercise mirrored real-world threats and required participants to collaborate, plan and rapidly respond in a contested environment. The virtual exercise model enhances interoperability and tests the Navy and Marine Corps operational planning and decision-making processes.
“As the functional warfighting development center for the operational level of war (OLW), NWDC is uniquely positioned to deliver tactical and operational level war games that increase warfighter lethality and readiness,” said John Miller, NWDC War Game Director. “Each war game is painstakingly designed to meet the training and analytical demands of the participating fleet or strike group commander through the Fleet 360 and Strike Group 360 series.”
ESG-360 serves as a milestone toward ESG-2’s Maritime Command Element (MCE) certification, which recognizes a unit’s ability to operate globally with streamlined command and control. This aligns with ESG-2’s operational transition to force employment.
“ESG-2 approached the dedicated team at NWDC to design this wargame to shift our mindset from force generation to warfighting,” said U.S. Navy Cmdr. Rich Rawls, ESG-2 intelligence director. “This wargame is a key tenet in our certification, demonstrating we are part of the battle-ready fleet.”
The three-phase ESG-360 provided critical feedback to enhance ESG-2’s ability to plan and direct amphibious operations, which provides geographic combatant commanders a more flexible, agile force for aggregated or dis-aggregated operations across the globe.
“ESG-360 sharpened our ability to synchronize war-fighting functions and confirmed the strength of our integrated Navy-Marine Corps team—a unified force ready for operations across the full spectrum of conflict,” said U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Shane Phillips ESG-2’s future operations officer.
The U.S. Navy’s east coast lead for amphibious operations and expertise, ESG-2 provides timely, operational, amphibious expertise in support of national tasking to sustain maritime security and defense of the nation.
A leader in rapid development of naval warfighting solutions, NWDC develops and integrates innovative solutions to complex naval warfare challenges to enhance current and future warfighting capabilities.