The US Navy and the Republic of Korea (ROK) Navy have conducted a maritime counter special operations forces exercise (MCSOFEX) in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, and its surrounding waters and airspace. The exercise ran from November 17 to 20.
This year’s second iteration of MCSOFEX involved four days of enhanced bilateral training focused on naval interoperability and collaboration to address shared maritime security challenges in the Indo-Pacific. The drill follows the recent trilateral “Freedom Edge” exercise between the US, Japan, and ROK navies.
Participating US assets included the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey, one MH-60R Seahawk helicopter, two AH-64E Apache helicopters, and a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.
During the exercise, participating units conducted a range of training activities at sea and ashore, including in-port academics, a pre-sail conference, and liaison officer exchanges.
Operational drills included anti-submarine warfare training, anti-air warfare training, joint maritime interdiction operations, and dynamic formation sailing.
Captain Dave Huljack, commodore of Destroyer Squadron 15, stated, “MCSOFEX is just a part of our continuous exercises with our ROK counterparts. Through exercises like MCSOFEX, Freedom Edge, Ulchi Freedom Shield, and numerous others, we continue to enhance our shared interoperability between the US and ROK navies and our allies and partners to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
