07/11/2026
The Marine Corps’ last serving amphibious assault vehicles, beastly machines affectionately known to Marines as “tracks,” recently completed a final field exercise ahead of their planned retirement, Corps officials said this week.
The 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion, the last Marine unit still operating the officially retired vehicles, took part in Exercise Sea Breeze 26 last month in Romania. The event marked the final Marine Corps operations with the vehicle, which is often referred to by its acronym, AAV, a Marine Corps news release says.
The battalion’s AAV’s will next be permanently retired and transferred to foreign partners, said Capt. Steven J. Keenan, a Marine Corps spokesman.
Lt. Col. Nishan Campbell, commander of the 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion, said he has spent his entire Marine Corps career as an “Amtracker,” serving in amphibious assault vehicle billets. He said life among AAVs required a mindset fundamental in Marine culture: ‘embracing the suck.’
