With Thanksgiving less than a week away, 1,300 Marines came ashore Saturday at Camp Pendleton, wrapping up a deployment to the Indo-Pacific that included the first overseas testing of a new personnel carrier. Big, billowy air-cushioned landing craft shuttled the Marines from the assault ship USS Boxer offshore to Red Beach, one of the most important amphibious training areas in the Marine Corps. The returning “devil dogs” represent about half of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, a crisis response force that was deeply involved in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Boxer is scheduled to sail into San Diego Bay on Sunday, finishing a deployment that got underway late due to mechanical problems. “I’m glad we made it home for Thanksgiving and the other holidays coming up,” said Lance Cpl. Eric Lyons. “I’m looking forward to seeing my family.” Sgt. Jackson Bauer, who was standing nearby, said, “It’s nice to be back on solid ground and to have a cell signal again.” Marine Sgt. Jackson Bauer and his father Jeff Bauer pose for a picture at Camp Pendleton as the 15th MEU returns from their deployment on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune) The Marines traveled far and wide aboard the Boxer, visiting such distant spots as the Philippines, India and Japan, mostly to conduct joint exercises with other countries. History unfolded in the Philippines and two other spots when the Marines tested their new Amphibious Combat Vehicle (ACV) for the first time outside U.S. waters. The eight-wheeled, ship-to-shore armored personnel carrier is capable of providing fire support while moving through the water. It was designed to replace the corps’ Assault Amphibious Vehicle (AAV), which dates to the 1970s. The Navy and Marines are anxious to see the end of the AAV. Just over two years ago, one of the AAVs broke down and sank near San Clemente Island, killing eight 15th MEU Marines and a sailor while they were traveling to the amphibious transport dock Somerset. A Navy LCAC, an air cushioned ship to shore landing craft, heads toward Las Flores Beach as it brings Marines of the 15th MEU, along with some family members that participated in a tiger cruise starting in Hawaii, from the USS Boxer, background, to the shore as the 15th MEU returns from their deployment at Camp Pendleton on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune) Commanding Officer of the 15th MEU, Marine Col. Sean Dynan, left, and Navy Capt. James Robinson watch as a Navy LCAC, an air cushioned ship to shore landing craft, takes off from Las Flores Beach as it heads back toward the USS Boxer to pick up more Marines and equipment as the 15th MEU returns to Camp Pendleton on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)Marines of the 15th MEU, along with family members that participated in a tiger cruise starting in Hawaii, come off a Navy LCAC after it transported them from the USS Boxer to the shore at Camp Pendleton as the 15th MEU returns from their deployment on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)Marines from the 15th MEU arrived were transported from the USS Boxer to Camp Pendleton on Saturday, ending a long deployment. Many were accompanied by family members who boarded the ship in Hawaii. (Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)Andrea Arndt, who joined her son, a Navy seaman, on a tiger cruise, carries her suitcase on her head. (Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)Marines of the 15th MEU, along with family members that participated in a tiger cruise starting in Hawaii, make their way across Las Flores Beach after a Navy LCAC, an air cushioned ship to shore landing craft, background, transported them from the USS Boxer to the shore at Camp Pendleton as the 15th MEU returns from their deployment on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)Marine Lance Cpl. Adrian Brown and his father Tim Brown hike toward waiting transportation while they make their way from Las Flores Beach to waiting transportation after a Navy LCAC transported them from the USS Boxer to the shore at Camp Pendleton as the 15th MEU returns from their deployment on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)Commanding Officer of the 15th MEU, Marine Col. Sean Dynan, left, and Navy Capt. James Robinson talk about the 15th MEU’s deployment and return at Camp Pendleton on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune)Show Caption1 of 8A Navy LCAC, an air cushioned ship to shore landing craft, heads toward Las Flores Beach as it brings Marines of the 15th MEU, along with some family members that participated in a tiger cruise starting in Hawaii, from the USS Boxer, background, to the shore as the 15th MEU returns from their deployment at Camp Pendleton on Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (Hayne Palmour IV / For The San Diego Union-Tribune) Expand Five military commanders who were found to bear some responsibility for the accident were issued letters of censure by Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro. The open-ocean ACV testing done in recent months drew generally high remarks Saturday from Col. Sean P. Dynan, commanding officer of the 15th MEU. “We had the opportunity to do live-fire afloat, operations ashore, and then an amphibious assault with the ACV,” Dynan told The San Diego Union-Tribune. “It went well. I think we learned a lot of the things we needed to learn to operate the vehicle, to operate as a team with the ship (commanding officer), the crew, and the ACV’s coming ashore.” Saturday’s homecoming ended a busy week for the local military. On Monday, the San Diego-based aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson deployed to the Indo-Pacific, where it will replace another San Diego carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is expected to reach San Diego Bay within the next two weeks. The Lincoln was in Malaysia on Saturday.