www.campLeJeUneGLobe.com
VoluMe 76, edition 15
Gl be The
servinG camp LeJeUne and sUrroUndinG areas since 1944
naval hospital
Us service members train with togolese navy, Gendarmerie | 6a
Inpatient Mental Health Clinic reopens| 7a THurSdAY, apriL 17, 2014
www.LeJeUne.marines.miL YUma, arizona
camp Lejeune marines provide support at wti Lance cpL. James marchetti
Marine Corps Air Station Yuma
The commencement of spring season brings the Weapon and Tactics Instructor Course conducted aboard Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz. From the rampant roaring of engines in the sky, the plethora of Marines flooding to and from the main gate and the whispers of artillery and ordnance detonations that can be heard from the outskirts of the Yuma county, this twomonth training exercise exhibits an obvious upsurge of operations and personnel to support with its demanding training curriculum. The biannual course will graduate anywhere from 200 to 250 students, comprised of pilots and aircrew, and certify them as distinguished, qualified mentors in the fields of weapons and tactics. In support of the expanded operations, 4,000 Marines gathered from Marine Corps installations nationwide, will reside in forward operating bases throughout the 2.8 million acres of training ranges on MCAS Yuma to assist in WTI’s training operations. Ground element capabilities, such as infantry and artillery units, are integrated into the mix to deliver pilots with lifelike combative scenarios and a thorough understanding on how to execute effectively collaborated maneuver tactics - the Marine Corps bread and butter. In order for the station to sustain the amped-up operational tempo of WTI’s two-month duration, a group of service members must rise to the task of providing life support for the participating Marines and their resident FOBs. Traveling all the way from
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, 152 Marines with the 8th Engineer Support Battalion joined MAWTS-1 as a vital logistical element. Detached, yet undeniably vital to the razzle-dazzle that is a signature of WTI training, these Marines of 8th ESB serve as the wheels driving the operations forward. “Without them out there providing that capability, WTI wouldn’t be able to happen. They wouldn’t be able to get that realistic training that the ground units are providing. And with that, those Marines require life support. What we do is provide that life support for them,” said Capt. Scott Graneiro, the officer-in-charge of the 8th ESB detachment for WTI. Assets vary anywhere from food services to landing support specialists. These assets were formed into a detachment of Marines to demonstrate the capabilities of the 2nd Marine Logistics Group, the commanding unit of 8th ESB and headquartered out of Camp Lejeune. 8th ESB entered WTI with a systematic approach to meet needs beyond the scope of an engineer unit. “What makes 2nd MLG, and the Marine Corps in general, so unique is that we’re able to task-organize ourselves based on the mission we’re accomplishing,” said Graneiro. “A lot of the Marines tasked with us come from all throughout MLG.” “That’s what makes this unit really unique. We’ve only been together for a month, and it’s very impressive to see all these Marines come together and build this cohesive unit and provide this kind of support on a daily basis.” Granerio explained that Cannon acted as the main hub in his unit’s wheel of operations. The unit would muster a majority of its Marines there, set up headquar-
photo by Lance cpl. James marchetti
marines with the 8th engineer support battalion, participated in an external aerial lift exercise at the Auxiliary 2 landing field aboard Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., recently. The exercise, an exponent of the weapons and tactics instructors course aboard mcas Yuma, displayed the capabilities of joint collaboration between the aviation and logistical combat element of the marine air-Ground task Force. ters and receive the bulk of its supplies to be shipped out wherever necessity demands. This life support would then be convoyed 100 miles northwest out to their combat logistical support in Syphon 8 to kindle the fire of ground side training operations. On top of coordinating the who, what, where and when in their resupplying efforts, the Marines of 8th ESB are tasked with getting the necessities from point A to point B. Sgt. Adam Burkhart, a motor transportation operator with 8th ESB, described
although there is a great amount of responsibility associated with coordinating and executing these convoys, the task improves the Marines of his unit. “The organization aspect everything from the accountability to the movement - is pretty much all the same as being in a combat zone,” said Burkhart. Possibly the most impressive capability displayed by the 8th ESB in WTI was its ability to integrate its logistical prowess with the might of aviation. Landing support special-
ists, combined with the ESB from 2nd MLG’s Combat Logistics Regiment 27, were utilized in order to coordinate external aerial lifts and drop-offs - a tactic proven to be efficient and favorable in a theatre of combat. “In Afghanistan, we have many patrol bases throughout the areas of operations, and to provide logistical support to those guys, convoys need to be pushed out,” explained Graneiro. “Marines are in vehicles on the roads, and the biggest threat for Marines out there is IEDs. What our he-
licopter support team and aerial delivery do is provide another means of resupply to those forward patrol bases throughout the areas. That prevents Marines from actually having to be in vehicles and driving and possibly hitting IEDs along the route.” Though they will not be receiving a certificate warranting them as WTI instructors before their departure at the end of April, the Marines of 8th ESB have used their time in Yuma to sharpen their skills and prepare for conflict whenever it rises.
moron air base, spain
marines land in morocco, demonstrate crisis response capability capt. david david
Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis response
In today’s security environment, the ability to quickly place military personnel on a location anywhere on the globe is at a premium. In order to stay ready for that task, the U.S. Marines of Special-Purpose Marine AirGround Task Force conducted a training mission in Tifnit, Morocco, recently. Their mission was executed in conjunction with African Lion 14, a combined-joint exercise between the Kingdom of Morocco and the U.S. that involves approximately 150 soldiers of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces, 350 U.S. service members and additional military personnel from European and African partner nations. The Marines flew approximately 500 nautical miles in MV-22B tiltrotor Ospreys from Moron Air Base, Spain, to their landing zone in Tifnit. Once they arrived, a platoon of Marines from Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, which is the ground combat element for SP-MAGTF Crisis Response, quickly established security of the area. “Our task was to provide assault support for the tactical insertion of the platoon from the GCE into a simulated U.S. compound in Morocco in order to safeguard U.S. citizens and government property,” said Capt. Kyle Stuart, the flight
lead for the African Lion 14 mission. This training focused on the primary mission for SP-MAGTF Crisis Response, which is to provide a highly responsive and mobile force in the defense of lives and defense of Department of State identified high-risk facilities. While the Marines are always ready for action, the success of a mission can often be determined by the amount of real-world planning and preparation conducted beforehand. For African Lion, there were a lot of details which needed to be established in order to make the mission go smoothly and safely. “We had a pilot in each aircraft that was able to participate in one of the planning conferences that took place in Morocco,” said Stuart. “I had a chance to actually walk the landing zone back in December.” Training opportunities like this are critical to maintaining and improving the tactics and skills of SP-MAGTF Crisis Response personnel. “If you look at African Lion, even though the distance wasn’t as far as some of our other flights, it was in fact a full mission. We had one KC-130 and two MV-22’s fully loaded with a GCE of Marines on board,” said Stuart. “This was a great chance for us to team up with the GCE and fully rehearse a full mission into a foreign country’s training compound in a confined area and then have to
execute a mission on the deck.” SP-MAGTF Crisis Response’s flight and insert also demonstrated the rapid-response capability to multinational observers from 14 different countries during the “Observer
Program” of African Lion 14. The countries included: Mauritania, Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey, Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany, Spain, Senegal, Poland, Turkey, Italy and France.
photo by Lance cpl. alexander hill
U.s. marines with special-purpose marine air-Ground task Force crisis response conduct landing zone security at tifnit military instillation, morocco, recently during exercise african Lion 14. sp-maGtF crisis response is a self-deployable, highly-mobile response force allocated to U.s. africa command to respond to missions in permissive and uncertain environments to protect U.s. citizens, interests and other designated persons.