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thedrifter
07-07-05, 06:20 PM
On the fast track to blast mastery
Submitted by: MCB Camp Pendleton
Story by Lance Cpl. Stephen Holt

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/200577161127/$file/aimlow.jpg

Pfc. Bryan A. Messman, 20, a combat engineer with 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, Company B, aims in on a Claymore mine under the watchful eye of Cpl. Justin A. Tatum. Company B spent June 28-29 on a basic demolition exercise to help the new Marines learn the "tricks of the trade" from combat veterans. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Stephen Holt.

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (July 7, 2005) -- Three "fire in the hole" an-nouncements ring out moments before hot shrapnel and parts of an iron I-beam rain down after the detonation of the Marine Corps' mainstay explosive -- C-4.

It's the smoking gun that combat engineers -- in this case, Company B, 1st Combat Engineer Battalion -- are doing what they do best.

The basic demolition training took place June 28-29 at Range 219.

"We want to bring the new Marines to a level sufficient to go to Iraq," said Staff Sgt. Eric G. Zolnikov, guide for 2nd Platoon, Company B.

The company is at a time of transition. Senior Marines with combat experience are reaching their end of active service while 11 new Marines from the combat engineer school have arrived in the past two weeks to fill the void.

The senior Marines shared their experience and expertise with the junior Marines to make the transition as smooth as possible.

"A lot of these guys don't know a lot about what we do," said Elisha R. Parker, a veteran of two Operation Iraqi Freedom Deployments. "They just get the real basics (at the school). It's good training (here) because they're all going to deploy."

The training covered different types of explosives and fuses. It included an introduction to expedient/improvised demolition -- or makeshift explosives. It's the first chance for the fledgling engineers to fashion their own explosives, Zolnikov said.

The jaw-dropping, split-second blast belies the time-consuming preparation that goes into an explosion.

Marines use math to calculate how much explosive is needed.

Once the equations were com-puted, the Marines exercised their creativity. Each demo team ap-proached similar obstacles with different ideas of how to get the job done.

Some opted for strategic placement of minimal explosives; others preferred massive amounts of ex-plosives to overpower the obstacle. Each idea got the job done.

Fashioning improvised explosives also provided a creative outlet. Some teams packed ammunition cans with brass casings and C-4 to improvise a claymore mine. Others lined two fence posts with C-4 to create a hasty Bangalore torpedo used to breach barbed-wire fences.

Each Marine must know his stuff -- because there may be only eight to nine engineers per company come deployment time, Zolnikov said.

Company B expects to de- ploy late this year or early next year. Meantime, they're scheduled for a weeklong field exercise in late July.

Ellie