MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Throughout Exercise Steel Knight 25, H-1 attack helicopters with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 267 and HMLA-367, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, delivered continuous close air support to Marines maneuvering across a geographically dispersed battlespace, reinforcing the wing’s role as the Marine Corps’ premier provider of offensive air support and integrated fires. Steel Knight is an annual exercise that strengthens the Navy–Marine Corps team’s ability to respond forward, integrate across domains and sustain Marine Air-Ground Task Force readiness.
From Camp Pendleton to San Clemente Island and Twentynine Palms, H-1 pilots executed repeated CAS missions in support of 1st Marine Division and joint force assets. These sorties showcased the Marines’ ability to locate, fix, and destroy enemy targets while coordinating with forward observers and joint terminal attack controllers (JTACs) across distributed training areas.
“It requires detailed integration with each mission in support of a common objective, integrating fires from both surface-to-surface and air-to-surface munitions,” said Staff Sgt. Zackery O’Neal, a joint fires and effects and JTAC evaluator with 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. We support each other in the integration, situational awareness and employment of targets. Close air support is one of the core components of offensive air support, one of the six functions of Marine aviation. CAS provides immediate, lethal fires to Marines on the ground, enabling freedom of maneuver, protecting friendly forces, and shaping the fight beyond the forward line of ground troops. During Steel Knight 25, CAS missions were woven throughout every phase of the exercise, demonstrating 3rd MAW’s ability to sustain fires from multiple distributed locations.
H-1 attack helicopters with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadrons flew repeated mission profiles, refining sensor-to-shooter timelines, executing dynamic targeting, and integrating with Marines on the ground conducting reconnaissance, security operations, and simulated assaults.
“CAS is how we ensure Marines on the deck can keep moving forward,” said Capt. Ezekiel Johnston, a UH-1Y Venom pilot and current operations officer with HMLA-367. “When the ground force hits resistance, our job is to put precise, overwhelming fires exactly where they need them. Steel Knight lets us rehearse that at scale, across multiple distributed locations, and under conditions meant to mirror a real fight.”
These missions required tightly integrated command and control, particularly as JTACs and forward observers pass targeting data across dispersed training areas in real time. Marines refined their ability to coordinate airspace, deconflict fires, and maintain a common operational picture, competencies essential for modern, multi-domain operations.
“This exercise allows us to work the way we would in a real conflict: dispersed, mobile, and under pressure,” O’Neal said. “We are talking to aircraft across a wide battlespace, pushing targeting data, and managing multiple fire missions at once. CAS isn’t just about dropping ordnance, it’s about decision advantage, tempo and keeping the initiative.”
The recurring H-1 missions also validated 3rd MAW’s ability to sustain aircraft from forward arming and refueling points at distributed nodes, enabling H-1s to return to the fight rapidly. This construct amplified 3rd MAW’s reach, survivability, and ability to maintain continuous pressure during simulated combat operations.
Throughout Steel Knight 25, CAS supported combined arms effects for infantry, reconnaissance and supporting arms elements participating in amphibious, maritime, and land-based operations. The ability to provide immediate, responsive fires from the air remains central to the Marine Corps’ way of fighting, and 3rd MAW demonstrated that capability across the full duration of the exercise.
“Steel Knight 25 allows 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing and I Marine Expeditionary Force to test emerging beyond-line-of-sight communications and targeting capabilities in support of distributed operations,” Johnston said. “The exercise emphasizes future fight conditions where Marines operate from dispersed maritime and littoral positions, generate and identify targets at the tactical edge, pass targeting data beyond line of sight, and integrate with higher headquarters and shooters to close the kill chain.”
As the exercise progressed into more complex scenarios, 3rd MAW’s CAS missions enabled offensive maneuver, kill-web targeting, and sustained pressure against simulated maritime threats. The repeated integration with the ground force underscored the essential role Marine aviation plays in shaping and winning the fight with the joint force.