thedrifter
10-05-04, 07:01 AM
'America's Battalion' trains to win small wars
Submitted by: MCB Hawaii
Story Identification #: 20041040303
Story by Pfc. Rich Mattingly
CAMP ELLIOTT, SAN DIEGO, Calif. (Sept. 16, 2004) -- The Marines are alert and edgy, their lumbering 7-ton truck bristling with weapons as it winds its way through the dusty convoy course at Camp Elliott. The path is clear for now. Suddenly, the whole sky seems to burn, and the road is obscured in a cloud of dust, debris and the acrid smell of burning sulfur. Theyfve been hit.
As 3rd Battalion, Third Marine Regiment continues its high-speed training with special effects support from Segall Studios in San Diego; they are getting a taste of the convoy operations and Security and Support Operations (or gSmall Warsh) missions. These are the possible missions they will soon undertake as part of a contingency deployment.
gThis training is the culmination of the SASO exercises wefve been practicing,h said Capt. Skyler Mallicoat, commanding officer, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment. gThe scenario is that wefre going into an Afghani town and supporting voting operation there during an election.h
The mock Afghan town the Marines are operating in and around, is the brainchild of Segall Studiofs production design team and Ken Kirven, construction coordinator.
Ringed by contradictions like aircraft doing touch and gofs at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and the occasional civilian on horseback, the gtownh in question nevertheless looks, smells and feels like a remote village in the Afghan hills.
gWe specialize in realism,h said Kirven, ggesturing to the adobe walls, brightly painted with Pashtun and Arabic phrases and signs, and the marketplace filled with bags of grain and trinkets for sale.
No detail is overlooked to provide Marines training here with an experience as close to being there as possible.
Kirven, who is dedicated to making a difference with his construction, was working late into the evening to complete the entire village before the field exercise began. Miraculously, the entire multiple street village was put up by a handful of his men in less than a week.
gWe could be working on movies right now, but working with the Marines is far more fulfilling,h said Kirven, as he placed another retaining wall onto a hut. gYou can make a movie for a target audience, or you can do something to help out the troops and give them training that will keep them alive.h
And the Marines of Americafs Battalion are bent not only on staying alive, but accomplishing the mission at hand. Through the different scenarios, each platoon took different tactical approaches to entering and securing the village and keeping the peace once they were there.
gWefre watching the Marines to see how they interact with the heads of households as well as their individual tactics, techniques and procedures for dealing with the scenarios we throw at them,h said Stewart Brown, observer and controller for 3/3fs training here.
gThis is not a pass/fail exercise. This is just another stop along their training and hopefully they can pick up some extra tools,h Brown continued.
According to the g3-blockh theory of war fighting, Marines must be ready and capable of handling humanitarian assistance on one block of a city, peacekeeping on the next, and full-on urban fighting on the third.
gWefre trying to slow Marines down a little bit out here,h said Brown, gA lot of them come into this with a ethird-blockf mentality. The worst thing you can do is go in, be too forceful and find nothing and then have to apologize for your actions. These Marines need to remember that an individualfs actions can send an entire village to the Taliban recruiting office.h
The Marines of 3/3 donft plan on letting that happen. Instead, they are becoming increasingly confident they know how to properly proportion their use of force for any and all manner of situations they may face. Americafs Battalion is ready for anything.
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200410403321/$file/afghaniwomanlow.jpg
With role-players acting the part of Iraqi villagers shouting threats and anti-American slogans, devil dogs from America's Battalion, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, rush to cordon and search a building during simulated street fighting at Segall Studios in San Diego. The Marines were afforded the opportunity to test their training in a ¡real life¡ environment complete with improvised explosive devices, rocket-propelled grenades and a restless populace. Photo by: Pfc. Rich Mattingly
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/FDD5F44EF92BA4F285256F230018B9A9?opendocument
Ellie
Submitted by: MCB Hawaii
Story Identification #: 20041040303
Story by Pfc. Rich Mattingly
CAMP ELLIOTT, SAN DIEGO, Calif. (Sept. 16, 2004) -- The Marines are alert and edgy, their lumbering 7-ton truck bristling with weapons as it winds its way through the dusty convoy course at Camp Elliott. The path is clear for now. Suddenly, the whole sky seems to burn, and the road is obscured in a cloud of dust, debris and the acrid smell of burning sulfur. Theyfve been hit.
As 3rd Battalion, Third Marine Regiment continues its high-speed training with special effects support from Segall Studios in San Diego; they are getting a taste of the convoy operations and Security and Support Operations (or gSmall Warsh) missions. These are the possible missions they will soon undertake as part of a contingency deployment.
gThis training is the culmination of the SASO exercises wefve been practicing,h said Capt. Skyler Mallicoat, commanding officer, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment. gThe scenario is that wefre going into an Afghani town and supporting voting operation there during an election.h
The mock Afghan town the Marines are operating in and around, is the brainchild of Segall Studiofs production design team and Ken Kirven, construction coordinator.
Ringed by contradictions like aircraft doing touch and gofs at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and the occasional civilian on horseback, the gtownh in question nevertheless looks, smells and feels like a remote village in the Afghan hills.
gWe specialize in realism,h said Kirven, ggesturing to the adobe walls, brightly painted with Pashtun and Arabic phrases and signs, and the marketplace filled with bags of grain and trinkets for sale.
No detail is overlooked to provide Marines training here with an experience as close to being there as possible.
Kirven, who is dedicated to making a difference with his construction, was working late into the evening to complete the entire village before the field exercise began. Miraculously, the entire multiple street village was put up by a handful of his men in less than a week.
gWe could be working on movies right now, but working with the Marines is far more fulfilling,h said Kirven, as he placed another retaining wall onto a hut. gYou can make a movie for a target audience, or you can do something to help out the troops and give them training that will keep them alive.h
And the Marines of Americafs Battalion are bent not only on staying alive, but accomplishing the mission at hand. Through the different scenarios, each platoon took different tactical approaches to entering and securing the village and keeping the peace once they were there.
gWefre watching the Marines to see how they interact with the heads of households as well as their individual tactics, techniques and procedures for dealing with the scenarios we throw at them,h said Stewart Brown, observer and controller for 3/3fs training here.
gThis is not a pass/fail exercise. This is just another stop along their training and hopefully they can pick up some extra tools,h Brown continued.
According to the g3-blockh theory of war fighting, Marines must be ready and capable of handling humanitarian assistance on one block of a city, peacekeeping on the next, and full-on urban fighting on the third.
gWefre trying to slow Marines down a little bit out here,h said Brown, gA lot of them come into this with a ethird-blockf mentality. The worst thing you can do is go in, be too forceful and find nothing and then have to apologize for your actions. These Marines need to remember that an individualfs actions can send an entire village to the Taliban recruiting office.h
The Marines of 3/3 donft plan on letting that happen. Instead, they are becoming increasingly confident they know how to properly proportion their use of force for any and all manner of situations they may face. Americafs Battalion is ready for anything.
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200410403321/$file/afghaniwomanlow.jpg
With role-players acting the part of Iraqi villagers shouting threats and anti-American slogans, devil dogs from America's Battalion, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, rush to cordon and search a building during simulated street fighting at Segall Studios in San Diego. The Marines were afforded the opportunity to test their training in a ¡real life¡ environment complete with improvised explosive devices, rocket-propelled grenades and a restless populace. Photo by: Pfc. Rich Mattingly
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/FDD5F44EF92BA4F285256F230018B9A9?opendocument
Ellie