thedrifter
01-23-04, 06:50 AM
Marines sharpen skills in Arizona
Exercise to benefit helicopter pilots and support personnel
By Rick Rogers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
YUMA, Ariz. – More than 2,000 Marines, many of them from San Diego County, and 50 aircraft are at this winter retreat to learn how to survive their next dangerous mission to Iraq.
Desert Talon is an exercise to help helicopter pilots and support personnel protect themselves from increasingly unfriendly skies and roadside explosive devices while at the same time bringing aid and order to the Iraqi people.
The task may be daunting.
Since June, 10 military helicopters have been shot down – three so far this month alone – killing 49 troops. The increase in helicopter attacks mirrors what has been happening on the ground, especially in the area known as the Sunni Triangle, where soldiers are being killed almost daily.
About 20,000 Marines from Camp Pendleton and Miramar Marine Corps Air Station are deploying to Iraq for seven months starting in February.
While the Marine infantry trains at Camp Pendleton, aviation and support personnel are coming to Marine Corps Air Station Yuma to learn the latest tactics as well as Islamic culture.
For the Marines, who plan a kind of "hearts and minds" campaign in Iraq, one is as important as the other.
"The guerrillas are going to try to capture the hearts and minds of the people just like we are," said Maj. Tom Welborn of Yuma's Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1. "We need to get everyone on the same sheet of what we are trying to do and how we are going to do it."
2nd Lt. Jeff Stoner of Brigade Services Support Group 1 from Camp Pendleton said the biggest problem he faced during one exercise, in which Marines who were playing Iraqi guerrillas attacked and harassed the convoy, was controlling his 16 troops.
In some cases, his Marines were too aggressive. In other cases, they were not aggressive enough.
"What we are trying to push into the Marines' heads is to view every Iraqi as a possible threat, but not to treat them as the enemy," said Stoner, 23, from Berthoud, Colo. "We can't treat everyone like an enemy because we are going there to lend a helping hand."
A lesser problem is molding the support Marines into something closer to their infantry cousins in case they find themselves fending off attackers.
"Man, this is taking me back to basic training," said Lance Cpl. Kabakaba Maikel, 22. "We didn't do this stuff before we went to Iraq the first time. We are doing more MP-(military police) and grunt-type stuff. I think it is going to help us."
Added Lance Cpl. Clara Juarez, 22, a truck driver stationed at Camp Pendleton: "This training just makes me realize that you have to be aware of your surroundings. Anything can happen there at any time."
That is exactly the message Staff Sgt. Jerry Washington of Marine Wing Support Squadron 371, based in Yuma, wants to get across.
"The towns, people, little kids running up on your vehicle. Everything is different, and they have to be aware of it all," Washington said. "You only know who the bad guys are when they are shooting at you."
As the day progressed, Brigade Services Support Group 1 got better with each training scenario of the two-week exercise, which relies heavily on the lessons learned during the war by Army and Marine units. Yesterday's training including troop medical evacuation by air.
"The whole purpose of this is to get a sense of the broad spectrum of what you might be facing," Washington told a group of Marines. "You are going to be tired and frustrated, but you have to be aware at all times."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rick Rogers: (760) 476-8212; rick.rogers@uniontrib.com
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20040122-9999_1m22yuma.html
Sempers,
Roger
:marine:
Exercise to benefit helicopter pilots and support personnel
By Rick Rogers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
YUMA, Ariz. – More than 2,000 Marines, many of them from San Diego County, and 50 aircraft are at this winter retreat to learn how to survive their next dangerous mission to Iraq.
Desert Talon is an exercise to help helicopter pilots and support personnel protect themselves from increasingly unfriendly skies and roadside explosive devices while at the same time bringing aid and order to the Iraqi people.
The task may be daunting.
Since June, 10 military helicopters have been shot down – three so far this month alone – killing 49 troops. The increase in helicopter attacks mirrors what has been happening on the ground, especially in the area known as the Sunni Triangle, where soldiers are being killed almost daily.
About 20,000 Marines from Camp Pendleton and Miramar Marine Corps Air Station are deploying to Iraq for seven months starting in February.
While the Marine infantry trains at Camp Pendleton, aviation and support personnel are coming to Marine Corps Air Station Yuma to learn the latest tactics as well as Islamic culture.
For the Marines, who plan a kind of "hearts and minds" campaign in Iraq, one is as important as the other.
"The guerrillas are going to try to capture the hearts and minds of the people just like we are," said Maj. Tom Welborn of Yuma's Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1. "We need to get everyone on the same sheet of what we are trying to do and how we are going to do it."
2nd Lt. Jeff Stoner of Brigade Services Support Group 1 from Camp Pendleton said the biggest problem he faced during one exercise, in which Marines who were playing Iraqi guerrillas attacked and harassed the convoy, was controlling his 16 troops.
In some cases, his Marines were too aggressive. In other cases, they were not aggressive enough.
"What we are trying to push into the Marines' heads is to view every Iraqi as a possible threat, but not to treat them as the enemy," said Stoner, 23, from Berthoud, Colo. "We can't treat everyone like an enemy because we are going there to lend a helping hand."
A lesser problem is molding the support Marines into something closer to their infantry cousins in case they find themselves fending off attackers.
"Man, this is taking me back to basic training," said Lance Cpl. Kabakaba Maikel, 22. "We didn't do this stuff before we went to Iraq the first time. We are doing more MP-(military police) and grunt-type stuff. I think it is going to help us."
Added Lance Cpl. Clara Juarez, 22, a truck driver stationed at Camp Pendleton: "This training just makes me realize that you have to be aware of your surroundings. Anything can happen there at any time."
That is exactly the message Staff Sgt. Jerry Washington of Marine Wing Support Squadron 371, based in Yuma, wants to get across.
"The towns, people, little kids running up on your vehicle. Everything is different, and they have to be aware of it all," Washington said. "You only know who the bad guys are when they are shooting at you."
As the day progressed, Brigade Services Support Group 1 got better with each training scenario of the two-week exercise, which relies heavily on the lessons learned during the war by Army and Marine units. Yesterday's training including troop medical evacuation by air.
"The whole purpose of this is to get a sense of the broad spectrum of what you might be facing," Washington told a group of Marines. "You are going to be tired and frustrated, but you have to be aware at all times."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rick Rogers: (760) 476-8212; rick.rogers@uniontrib.com
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20040122-9999_1m22yuma.html
Sempers,
Roger
:marine: