10
The Jet Stream
Around The Corps
Friday, February 14, 2014
corps Bits
Artillery Relocation Training Program 13-4 begins AICHI, Japan - They traveled the frozen land, looking for suitable places to set their howitzers. Each time, a group of them went ahead and scouted the areas. Once the rest of the unit arrived, the Marines with 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, performed reconnaissance, security, occupy, position procedures before firing their M777A2 150 mm lightweight howitzers Jan. 20–22 to officially start Artillery Relocation Training Program 13-4 in the North Fuji Maneuver Area. ARTP is a training exercise designed to enhance the readiness and proficiency of the regiment through live-fire training on various ranges. The regiment is with 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force. Each time the regiment’s batteries travel to a new area, they send out an advanced party to conduct RSOP. This advanced party consists of a survey team, a security team and two-man teams from each howitzer within the battery. The RSOP process begins when the advanced party reaches its destination. Once there, the Marines secure the area. “As soon as we get there, we have already (completed) the reconnaissance part, and have (begun) the security part,” said Staff Sgt. Craig F. Provins, a platoon sergeant with Battery A, 1st Bn., 12th Marine Regiment, currently assigned to 3rd Bn., 12th Marine Regiment, under the unit deployment program. Once the Marines secure the area, the twoman teams occupy the areas where the guns will be and place markers indicating the general direction the howitzers should be facing. Then, as the rest of the battery arrives, the teams position the howitzers, so that they can be emplaced. Once the Marines emplaced the howitzers, they prepared them for firing and waited for fire missions from the fire direction center. Waiting for missions so the Marines can fire is one the most time consuming parts of this training, according to Sgt. Shamar M. Jackson, an artilleryman with the unit. Some days several hours can pass before a single fire mission and other days it seems like the fire missions come nonstop. On the final day, the Marines received a fire mission to expend all remaining ammunition, allowing the Marines on the gun line one last volley to the target area before heading home.
Two reconnaissance Marines from 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, lie in the prone position while conducting marksmanship training at Kaneohe Bay Range Training Facility, Feb. 4.
Recon Marines aim for stealth, precision
Lance Cpl. Suzanna Lapi Marine Corps Base Hawaii
MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII - Reconnaissance Marines from 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, based in Okinawa, Japan, are conducting marksmanship training at Kaneohe Bay Range Training Facility from Feb. 4 through 9 as a part of Exercise Sandfisher, an amphibious training exercise running through March 14. Gunnery Sgt. Jeremiah Dare, the Bravo Company operations chief for 3rd Recon Bn., and a native of New Braunfels, Texas, said the purpose for the training is to enhance weapons confidence and capability while engaging the enemy in combat. “A reconnaissance team is a six-man team that must remain clandestine during missions,” Dare said. “They must remain unseen. If they are compromised and receive contact, those six members need to move and shoot well in order to defend themselves. They
need a higher set of skills to get out of a situation because they don’t have the numbers (in personnel) to help get them out.” Even as the rain poured, the reconnaissance Marines continued shooting and developing their marksmanship skills, beginning with dry firing and moving to live-fire drills. Dare explained the training covered basic fundamentals to enhanced marksmanship on short, mid and long-distance ranges with the 27 infantry automatic rifle, M249 squad automatic weapon, M4 carbine and .45-caliber pistol. “Since there’s not a moment in combat that isn’t stressful, we perform stress drills,” Dare said. “They shoot with an elevated heartbeat, like after a 100-yard sprint or by creating competition, to force them to shoot within a speed that is uncomfortable so they get to a point where any speed is comfortable.” Lance Cpl. Oliver Love, an assistant radio telephone opera-
tor with the jump team, Bravo Co., 3rd Recon Bn., and a native of Canandaigua, N.Y., said the training is very important and this is the first time since infantry school that he has been able to shoot an M27 infantry automatic rifle. “Being able to shoot again is a good opportunity for all of us,” Love said. “It’s really important that I hone in on my skills shooting an IAR if they want me to carry it with our team. I really appreciate the weapon system. It’s very accurate and an important addition to our capabilities.” Sgt. David Tanney, the jump team leader with Bravo Co., 3rd Recon Bn., and a native of Bellefonte, Pa., explained the training’s progression and importance. “At first, Gunny Dare went over battle sight zeroing the rifle combat optic,” Tanney said. “It’s something that Marines should pay more attention to, instead of going through the (motions). The whole purpose
of initial shooting is to get familiarized with the rifle combat optic and zero it correctly.” Tanney went on to explain how this training can positively impact their futures. “If we are sent on a real-world mission, we have to be able to defend ourselves,” Tanney said. “The more practice we have now, the better off we’ll be. This is the first shooting package we’ve done as a team, so it’s good to see how everyone performs.” Love discussed different aspects of marksmanship training, including how it benefits his team. “Having two fully automatic weapons in our team allows us to lay down a lot more fire power if we were to get compromised, which allows us to survive,” Love said. “I believe that every combat-related military occupational specialty should shoot regularly to develop critical skills. The training is a refreshment, and helps us get back into the swing of things.”
1st MEB leads in commanding the amphibious battlefield CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - Over the past decade, the Marine Corps pulled away from its naval traditions to conducting sustained operations ashore for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. As the war in Afghanistan draws to a close, the Corps is focusing on transitioning back to its amphibious heritage. Marines with 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade participated in a combat operations center exercise aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., Feb. 5, demonstrating the Marine Corps’ transition back to our naval heritage. The COCEX creates a realistic environment for Marines to establish a combat operations center, which is an important part of conducting amphibious landings and securing a center of operations to conduct the assigned missions. Staff Sgt. David Fiocco, the 1st Law Enforcement Battalion detachment staff non-commissioned officer, says the Marines of 1st LEB play a unique role in the exercise. “We take guys who are mechanics, cooks and radio operators and we train them to be able to stand posts, conduct patrols, and detain prisoners in the event of an amphibious landing,” said Fiocco. 1st Lt. Yinan Yang, an officer with 9th Communication Battalion, says the COCEX prepares Marines to establish necessary communication in a deployed environment. Communication plays such vital role on today’s modern battlefield. Being able to coordinate with subordinate units throughout assigned battle space and pass on instructions from battle-space commanders is vital, explained Yang. Yang says the ability for Marines to move into an uninhabited area and construct a COC is the key to maintaining command and control forward deployed. “This is all about getting back to our roots,” said Yang. “Instead of fighting from bases that have already been established, we are going from ship to shore and we are setting up our own base and ultimately the battlefield.”
Corps Shot Lance Cpl. Cesar N. Contreras
Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center, Ca Marines from Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division assault a high elevation landing zone from a CH-47 helicopter, for the final sixday field exercise for Mountain Exercise winter training package at MCMWTC Bridgeport, Calif., Jan. 31.