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thedrifter
10-18-05, 03:20 PM
Mojave Viper prepares leathernecks for Iraq
By John Hoellwarth
Marine Corps Times staff writer

The leathernecks of 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines, set up camp at simulated forward operating bases in the California desert Oct. 15, becoming the first unit in the Corps to undergo a new training package to better prepare them for the fight they'll face in Iraq.

The training - called Mojave Viper - adds urban-warfare training to the traditional Combined Arms Exercise while Marines go through the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms.

While CAX vets will recognize some similarities, the addition of urban-warfare training will also be apparent. Not to be confused with the door-kicking and room-clearing exercises known as Military Operations in Urban Terrain, lessons learned from Mojave Viper will lean more toward prepping everyone from fire-support teams to staff officers for dropping ordnance on urban environments with both ground and aviation assets.

"If you think you're ready for CAX, you're not ready for Mojave Viper," said Maj. Matthew Denney, operations officer for the Tactical Training and Exercise Control Group, which administers training at Twentynine Palms.

Mojave Viper lasts for 30 days, including six days of flexible use that Denney called "white space training." He said 13½ days are devoted to CAX training and 10½ are devoted to the urban-warfare additive that was the catalyst for renaming the exercise.

The group's efforts to keep the training relevant to participants have introduced the "thinking enemy" concept to the training. It means decision-makers will no longer be reacting to predictable and contrived scenarios, but instead will remain fluid throughout the exercise, acting on information fed to them by the training group in increments.

"Basically in the old days, you just got an order to do the helicopter assault course," Denney said. "Now, we'll get information, feed you a little bit at a time, and some of it will be time-sensitive."

In an interview with the Pentagon Channel, Commandant Gen. Mike Hagee made reference to the "thinking enemy" in Iraq.

"If we make a change in our tactics or our technology to counter what the enemy is doing with improvised explosive devices, based on current data, the enemy can respond to a change in our tactics within seven to 10 days and change their tactic," Hagee said.

The training group addresses these concerns by meeting with units returning from Iraq to gather fresh, first-hand information about how they can improve tactics for Mojave Viper.

The Iraq war's influence on Mojave Viper is obvious in its "improvised explosive device lane" and its "escalation of force range," Denney said.

Denney said that during the night, explosive ordnance disposal Marines from Twentynine Palms creep onto the IED lane and pepper the road with simulated roadside bombs, which can be "detonated" by remote control while convoys pass, unless the Marines employ the precautionary procedures taught during the exercise.

"Our goal is to provide training here that they will likely experience in theaters," said Col. Craig Tucker, TTECG commander.

The escalation of force training prepares Marines to react to vehicles that may approach them as they move in a convoy or guard an entry control point.

Denney said that, in this situation, it's not enough to simply follow procedures.

"We built a range where a vehicle approaches a checkpoint or a convoy," he said. "The target approaches and it has pop-up targets inside the vehicle, on the grill and the tires. The effects are assessed by actual hits on the targets, not just procedures."

Now that 1/3 has come all the way from Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, for Mojave Viper, all the Corps' infantry units can expect to visit Twentynine Palms to refresh their combined arms and urban-combat skills. Which, Denney said, already represents a box units are required to check prior to deployment.

Denney admits there are small kinks that need to be ironed out of the training. He said the group will make necessary adjustments based on 1/3's feedback.

"Range, targetry, instrumentation and support modifications are inevitable, just as are modifications based on enemy tactics changing," he said. "As we master the current procedures, we will gradually include new events like a live-fire cordon and knock, convoys through urban areas and the like."