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Volume 76, Edition 12
Gl be The
Serving Camp Lejeune and surrounding areas since 1944
2nd MLG Marines give back to local community | 6A
Thursday, March 27, 2014
www.lejeune.marines.mil
Landing support specialists test lift capabilities
Saving lives
2nd MLG donates blood | 4A
Artillery in the air
Cpl. Devin Nichols 2nd Marine Logistics Group
C
old winds brought a chill over the Marines with Combat Logistics Regiment 2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, as they waited in the muck and water saturated Davis Airfield, N.C., March 19. Landing support specialists with CLR-2 stood their ground and braced themselves against the downwash of the CH-53E Super Stallion. The engines provide the heaviest lift of any helicopter in the Marine Corps with a sling load capability of 36,000 pounds. On the ground, at the center of the gusts, is a battle to see and stand. “When the wind is blowing and those hooks start swinging around it’s an adrenaline rush every time,” said Cpl. Bradley W. Casterline, a team leader with Combat Logistics Battalion 2, CLR-2. The LS specialists were conducting a Helicopter Support Team exercise, assisting a Super Stallion from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 46 lift a M777 howitzer. “I enjoy doing (it),” said Lance Cpl. Eric M. Uribe, LS specialist with the unit. “I have never done it with the M777, and it’s good that we are doing this because it’s a lot better than normal training blocks.” When a helicopter approaches the HST, the inside and outside directors
Photo by Cpl. Devin Nichols
Landing support specialists with Combat Logistics Regiment 2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, connect cables to a CH-53E Super Stallion from Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 461, Marine Aircraft Group 29, Marine Corps Air Station New River, during a Helicopter Support Team exercise at Davis Airfield aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, March 19. give the helicopter signals to make sure it is positioned over the load perfectly. The static man makes sure no one gets shocked from the static electricity generated by the rotor blade. He grounds the bird with a static hook on the apex, allowing the rest of the team to work. The leg men ensure the cables don’t get caught on any of the gear according to Casterline. “Teamwork is a big part,” said Casterline. “It feels good looking over all of the (Marines) knowing that I’m trusted and keeping them safe.” Marines with 1st Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, supported 2nd MLG’s HST by bringing two M777s.
“It’s a (multi) million dollar piece of gear, so we make sure it’s our number one priority,” said Casterline. The Super Stallions have the heaviest lift capability of any helicopter in the US military. They have a sling load lift capacity of approximately 32,000 pounds. The M777 weighs roughly 7,000 pounds. “The best part about all of this is doing the actual lifts,” said Uribe. “My first time I was a little scared, but doing it over and over again just gets me excited.” Each team took turns with the HSTs, the ground finally calmed and the winds dissipated. The crew chief waved from above as the bird turned for home.
Photo by Cpl. Devin Nichols
Landing support specialists with Combat Logistics Regiment 2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, check the cables connecting to a M777 howitzer during a Helicopter Support Team exercise at Davis Airfield aboard Camp Lejeune, March 19.
BARDUFOSS, Norway
Arctic weather secondary to strong bonds, partnerships and alliances during CR14 Sgt. Tatum Vayavananda
U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa
Northern Norway’s harsh, unpredictable climate sets the scene for Cold Response 14, where nearly 16,000 service members have gathered above the Arctic Circle to conduct high-intensity training operations and extreme cold-weather survivability techniques. But the snowy, coastal mountainside that stages the multilateral exercise is built to integrate and promote a stronger concept than cold-weather training; the notion that, in an ever-shifting global security environment, there is strength in partnerships. Cold Response 14 brings together 16 nations that have been working as a team since the beginning of March to train in an area half the size of Connecticut on the tip of the Northern Hemisphere. But the exercise pushes the international force beyond the boundaries of merely working alongside each other. “The integration has actually worked well,” said Lt. Col. Joel F. Schmidt, the battalion commander of 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment. International cooperation has been integrated on a tactical level, to include a Swedish-led Multinational Brigade comprised of various countries; 2/2 Marines and Norwegians acting as a single company; simulated opposition forces augmented by British and French units; amphibious and maritime assets provided by a Dutch naval vessel; Norwegian, Cana-
Photo by Lance Cpl. Cesar N. Contreras
U.S. Marines with Company G, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division and Norwegian soldiers learn about each other’s .50 caliber machine guns prior to a live-fire range, March 6. dian and Swedish tanks moving through fjord-lined coastal roads and snow-covered countryside as a single platoon. Along with operating together at a tactical level, many lessons are exchanged that are not written in the training schedule, as international warriors come together to find similarities between them. “The Norwegian Army is small but very competent. Since we are small, we tend to
have fewer resources, so the combined arms, with air and ground together, are very similar to the Marine Corps,” said Norwegian Army Capt. Cato Antonsen, the company commander for a multinational mechanized infantry company for CDR-14. “It’s normal for us to do this, and it doesn’t take very much effort for us to integrate,” he added. As regional stability concerns turn into
globally-networked security interests, participating countries will take advantage of their strategic friendships and learn to fight together in any contingency, in any climate, anywhere because of access and partnerships for every clime and place. “(Integration) is a lot easier if you know the culture and have similar experiences,” said Antonsen. “We have to cooperate and do what each other are best at because we have different capacities; we want to achieve the same goals and we manage to do that in the same manner. We have small differences, but we are very similar,” he added. Throughout the exercise, the international bonds have only become stronger. The strong bonds bring technical, tactical and strategic proficiencies based on the sharing of experiences, culture and skills between all the nations. This is only possible because of the alliance that has been built by these participating nations. “Having one nation is no longer enough; coming together as many nations to do this training so we can learn how to operate together is why we’re here,” said Canadian Army Cpl. Dany Trodel, part of the Canadian contingent participating in Cold Response 14. “It’s important to the mission to know how the different troops work together,” said Trodel. “We learned a lot from the Norwegians, the Dutch have been rolling through, the Canadians and Swedes have showed us what see alliances 7A