Marines Rehearse Land Raid at Fort Stewart

U.S. Marines with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit practiced a land raid during Realistic Urban Training in Georgia.

Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in Military

Photograph of a flat sandy training range with bare mock building facades and an amphibious combat vehicle at its edge under warm late-afternoon light. — Marines with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit rehearsed a land raid at Fort Stewart, Georgia, on November 7, clearing buildings and moving in Amphibious Combat Vehicles. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Marines with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit rehearsed a land raid at Fort Stewart, Georgia, on November 7. The rehearsal involved clearing buildings and moving in Amphibious Combat Vehicles during the unit's Realistic Urban Training.

Why it matters

The exercise is part of the training cycle Marine Expeditionary Units complete before they deploy. Fort Stewart provides training areas and mock urban sites that the Marines cannot use at their home base, Camp Lejeune.

A Marine Expeditionary Unit is a self-contained force of roughly 2,200 Marines and sailors, and the rehearsal was held on November 7. The extraction does not report results or evaluations from the training.

The players

26th Marine Expeditionary Unit

A self-contained U.S. Marine Corps force of roughly 2,200 Marines and sailors that conducts expeditionary operations from amphibious ships.

Fort Stewart

A large U.S. Army post near Savannah, Georgia, used for training by military units.

The details

Marines from Battalion Landing Team, 1st Battalion, 8th Marines, the ground combat element of the 26th MEU, cleared buildings and moved in Amphibious Combat Vehicles during the rehearsal. Realistic Urban Training combines the ground, aviation and logistics elements of the unit to practice integrated operations in cities.

November 7, 2026: The 26th MEU rehearsed the land raid at Fort Stewart.

Training Cycle

The 26th MEU's Realistic Urban Training follows the same model the 13th MEU completed on the West Coast before its own deployment. Later stages usually move the unit onto amphibious ships to train alongside the U.S. Navy as an Amphibious Ready Group.

The Marines' training at Fort Stewart is one stage in the pre-deployment cycle for the 26th MEU. The extraction does not describe any change to civilian access or local operations.

The takeaway

Pre-deployment training such as Realistic Urban Training shows how Marine Expeditionary Units prepare integrated ground, aviation and logistics elements for urban operations before they sail.