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thedrifter
10-09-09, 09:06 AM
H&HS service members train to defend station

10/9/2009 By Lance Cpl. Claudio A. Martinez , Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni

Every 120 days, Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron Marines and sailors train in the basics of Auxiliary Security Force techniques by the Provost Marshal’s Office here.

PMO trainers prepare the service members to be ready at a moment’s notice in the event they are ever called on to defend the station.

Approximately 20 H&HS service members participated in the latest ASF exercise at the PMO building here Sept. 29.

Participating service members trained in the use of deadly force, mechanical arm control and riot control techniques, and were level 1 Oleoresin Capsicum certified.

“A lot of people are ‘voluntold’ for this detail, and as soon as they come to us, they do have negativity, and we have to let them know it‘s not all bad,” said Gunnery Sgt. Jeff Langella, PMO training chief. “ASF is not a bad deal at all, because it’s stuff that they’ll never experience (otherwise).”

The H&HS service members spent the morning with PMO trainers reviewing the proper use of deadly force and the situations when deadly force is authorized.

Afterwards, the Marines and sailors gathered on the grassy field next to the skate park here and struggled with the mechanics of arm locks and takedowns.

Langella said he wanted the service members to understand the concept of “minimum effort, maximum results” and how to use it when necessary.

Once the service members covered the mechanical arm control techniques, they armed themselves with four-foot plastic shields, batons, helmets and shin guards to review the basics of riot control.

The Marines and sailors lined up in flanks, shield to shield and thigh to thigh, resembling the Spartan soldiers of old as they covered the fundamentals of riot control.

“The service members have to learn how to function as a team,” said Langella.

“When one person falls down, everybody else has to fill that gap.”

As the day’s training was coming to an end, the service members were faced with the most difficult part of the training.

The Marines and sailors were required to be level 1 OC certified by being sprayed in the face with OC then running through a short obstacle course as their eyes and skin burned from the chemical.

Langella explained sometimes a team member can get lost and separated in a crowd during a riot and can face being sprayed with OC.

“Your mind can control all of it,” said Langella. “If you can tell yourself and you tell your nervous system, ‘Hey, this hurts. I understand it hurts, but I got a job at hand. I got to refocus,’ and if they stay focused on that, just to get through the techniques, then they get the relief at that point.”

Pads were brought out and a grassy section was squared off and doused with OC spray as the obstacle course was prepared.

One by one, Marines and sailors sprinted around the skate park and rolled around the OC sprayed grass contaminating their skin and clothes.

Afterwards, the service members nervously stood before the PMO trainers sweating and breathing hard, with anticipation of the pain to come.

Screams and grunts could be heard as each service member was sprayed in the eyes with the burning liquid.

In pain and half blinded, the Marines and sailors ran through the course, beating pads down to the point of exhaustion.

“It was difficult to control myself,” said Cpl. Jon-Luke Mcadams, a food service specialist here.

“Having (OC) in my eyes — you can’t see. You got to open them; you don’t want to open them. The other difficult part is moving.”

Mcadams said after undergoing the training he feels confident he’d be able to defend the station.

Other service members shared his feelings of confidence.

“Before I got into this training, I didn’t know anything, like how to take down people, how to take down your enemy and how to do that riot control,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Steven Martin, a cryogenics machinist mate.

“It was a real good learning experience. I got through, and I feel proud of myself.”

Ellie