MWHS-3 Leaders

U.S. Marines with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron (HMLA) 267, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd

During Exercise Steel Knight 25, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing executed Distributed Aviation Operations across the western United States, rehearsing how Marine aviation sustains combat power, maneuvers forces, and supports the Marine Air-Ground Task Force in a contested maritime environment, Dec. 1-13, 2025. To enable these operations, the wing employed a networked hub, spoke and node framework that allowed aviation units to operate from dispersed, expeditionary locations while remaining connected through resilient all-domain command and control. 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.

Marines with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron (VMGR) 352, Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, conducted an air-delivered ground refueling as part of exercise Steel Knight 25 at Southern California Logistics Airport, Victorville, California, Dec. 12, 2025. 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.

In the complex battlespace of the modern fight, where aviation, artillery, and maneuver forces converge, Staff Sgt. Zackery O'Neal stands as one of the Marine Corps’ integrators of firepower. As a Joint Fires and Effects Integrator and a billeted Joint Terminal Air Controller Evaluator with Fire Support Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, O'Neal plays a central role in ensuring Marine aviators receive timely, accurate, and decisive fires in support of ground operations. 

In support of Exercise Steel Knight 25, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing partnered with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force to conduct a joint, simulated maritime strike Dec. 10, 2025, demonstrating the Marine Corps’ ability to project aviation power across the contested maritime domain. 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.

Throughout Exercise Steel Knight 25, H-1 attack helicopters with Marine Light Attack Helicopter