"The Pride of the Pacific": The 11th MEU Storms the Golden Gate During Fleet Week

Marines man USS Makin Island's rail as the amphibious assault ship sails into San Francisco Bay, Oct. 6, 2010. The Marines were part of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's special-purpose Marine air-ground task force, which was the first amphibious landing force to embark Makin Island. The ship left San Diego Oct. 1 to participate in San Francisco's 2010 Fleet Week. The unit showcased the Marine Corps' men and women, its aircraft and equipment, and its ability to conduct missions that span the overlapping spectrums of peace and combat, from disaster relief to war.

A CH-46E Sea Knight with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 364, the "Purple Foxes," takes off Oct. 3, 2010, from the flight deck of USS Makin Island. The Purple Foxes were part of the 11th MEU's special-purpose Marine air-ground task force, which was the first amphibious landing force to embark Makin Island. The ship set sail for San Francisco on Oct. 1 to participate in the city's 2010 Fleet Week.

A young Healdsburg, Calif., native checks out a GAU-19, an electronically driven Gatling gun, on board USS Makin Island, Oct. 9, 2010. The gun was on a UH-1Y Venom helicopter with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367, “Scarface.” The display was part of San Francisco Fleet Week 2010.

LCpl Arturo Baca, a 22-year-old administrative clerk from Dallas, colors a picture with Anthony, 2, in a San Francisco General Hospital and Medical Center waiting room Oct. 9, 2010. Marines and sailors with the 11th MEU visited patients throughout the hospital and passed out stickers and coloring books to the children. The visit was a way to bring Fleet Week San Francisco to those who couldn't make the trip.

Attendees at San Francisco Fleet Week 2010 receive an up-close look at the aviation assets attached to the 11th MEU aboard USS Makin Island, Oct. 9, 2010.

Marines and sailors with the 11th MEU and USS Makin Island listen as a firefighter with the San Francisco Fire Department describes the various tools and their functions found in a rescue environment in San Francisco, Oct. 8, 2010. The unit visited the fire department to receive search-and-rescue training. The 11th MEU was the first amphibious landing force to embark Makin Island, which set sail for San Francisco Oct. 1 to participate in the city's 2010 Fleet Week.

SSgt Amos Good (right), a platoon sergeant with 2d Battalion, Seventh Marine Regiment, greets LCpl Aaron McNally, a rifleman with 2d Bn, 6th Marines, at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, Oct. 7, 2010. Amos and nine other 2/7 leathernecks and USS Makin Island sailors visited wounded Marines at the hospital as a way to bring Fleet Week San Francisco to military personnel who couldn't make the trip. McNally, a Clear Field, Utah, native, sustained wounds from an improvised explosive device while deployed with 2/6 in Afghanistan.

First Marine Division Band member LCpl Dalton Lee plays at a Huntington Park, San Francisco concert Oct. 9, 2010. The public concert, which was attended by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, was part of San Francisco Fleet Week 2010, a weeklong celebration of the naval services hosted by the city of San Francisco.

Paul Stamas, 8, from Sacramento, Calif., attempts to play GySgt Joel Daniel's bagpipes before the First Marine Division Band's Huntington Park concert in San Francisco, Oct. 9, 2010. The public concert, which was attended by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, was part of San Francisco Fleet Week 2010. Daniel is the band's enlisted conductor and a Los Angeles native.

MGySgt Wilbert Haverly, the 11th MEU’s operations chief, swings in a softball tournament that pitted the unit's Marines against sailors of USS Makin Island and the city's police and fire departments at Moscone Athletic Field, Oct. 8, 2010. The event was part of San Francisco Fleet Week 2010, a weeklong celebration of the naval services hosted by the city of San Francisco.