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thedrifter
01-26-06, 09:02 AM
Back to basics
January 26,2006
BY CHRIS MAZZOLINI
DAILY NEWS STAFF

Welcome to the imaginary land of training scenarios.

An unnamed country, ruled by an ethnic minority, has begun a horrific ethnic-cleansing program against the majority population. Negotiations have commenced, but they are not going well. “Impact City,” one of the last strongholds of the ruling elite, is nervous with the anticipation of violence.

You don’t need to be a skilled ambassador or a geopolitical expert to figure out what happens next. When such fables unfold around Camp Lejeune, there’s only one possible solution.

Send in the Marines.

That’s the scenario the big guns of 10th Marine Regiment are facing this week as they conduct an exercise — dubbed “Firestorm” — to help themselves jell again as an artillery regiment.

The bottom line is that the current struggles in Iraq and Afghanistan have turned many artillery leathernecks into grunts. Instead of providing support to infantry combat operations, 10th Marines has been conducting some of those operations themselves.

Many of the artillery Marines served as security at Camp Blue Diamond or Abu Ghraib. Others served as the personal security detachment for the 2nd Marine Division general.

It’s all part of being a Marine, the mantra “every Marine a rifleman” in full bloom.

“A lot of these guys got back from their last rotation in Iraq,” said Lt. Col. Timothy Parker, the regiment’s operations officer. “I went over to Iraq as a provisional infantryman, and I understand completely. That’s what the needed at the time.

“This is a chance to get back to work and train people who have an artillery MOS what this business is and how to properly conduct it.”

Firestorm is only the second live-fire drill the regiment has conducted since a large number returned from Iraq in April. It’s the sixth time they’ve been in the field training, but four of those drills were dry runs without live munitions.

Even though guns are firing, the rest of the process is just as important as the actual impact. The forward observers, the artillery Marines usually stationed with infantry units so that they can coordinate artillery support when it’s needed, act as the infantry units themselves and call in strikes according to the scenario.

Those missions are passed up and down the channels, every stage tested and reviewed, until eventually howitzers fire, the earth shakes and smoke begins to rise.

Its all about being thorough, said Capt. Rene Torres with 10th Marines. “We go through every position crawling again until we can start running.”

‘We’re going to fire’

Firestorm is a drill spread out across many miles. The four guns of Alpha Battery, for example, are positioned approximately six miles from the impact zone. There are seven batteries of four 155mm howitzers positioned about the ranges, all surrounding “Impact City.”

Down where the actual batteries are located, there appears to be a lot of downtime. Missions come down into the fire direction center, which passes the needed information down to the actual Marines manning the howitzers.

That’s when things start happening.

“As soon as they start moving like little ants, that’s when we’re going to fire,” said Gunnery Sgt. Michael E. Jones with Alpha Battery.

The radio calls out specs and numbers, some of which indicate the kind of shell to be fired, or the type of powder. Some Marines turn and aim the gun; others jam the shell into the chamber. There’s a lot of shouting and movement until one Marine pulls a cord and the howitzer slams back, propelling the shell deep into the sky.

On Luckey’s Mound, radio operators and forward observers sit and watch down range as the shells impact. Large bursts of black smoke swell into the air followed by time-delayed concussions.

Pfc. Samuel Bass, one of the radio operators on the hill, said he’s glad to be doing artillery training.

“I love this training,” he said. “Up here on the hill, time goes a bit slow. But you get to see the end product of all the work.”

Different jobs

Bass spent seven months between September 2004 and April 2005 at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq working as base security. It was his first deployment for something other than artillery.

While it wasn’t much of a change for him because radio Marines roll with the infantry anyway, it was a bit of an adjustment.

“The difference was being part of the squad, not detached and doing your own thing,” he said.

He said it helped him develop a “grunt mindset” and he was proud of what his unit accomplished while in Iraq.

“We didn’t lose a single man over there (even though) we got hit several times,” he said.

Parker said many infantry skills are needed by artillery units. For example, artillery units provide their own security for their guns and must be able to effectively load the howitzers on trucks and safely move them to another position by convoy.

“I think most of the Marines went over with the feeling they were up to the challenge,” Parker said. “Many of the skill sets are there, just not to the level of expertise of the infantry.”

Gunny Jones said he got to deploy to Iraq in an artillery role, but still had to conduct plenty of infantry-style missions.

“It keeps you focused, keeps you on your toes,” he said. “It kept everything very interesting.”

Contact staff writer Chris Mazzolini at cmazzolini@freedomenc.com or at 353-1171, Ext. 229.

Ellie