Cannons conk 'enemy,' pave way for 2/1 at CAX

[thedrifter]

Cannons conk 'enemy,' pave way for 2/1 at CAX
Submitted by: MCB Camp Pendleton
Story Identification Number: 20031126134631
Story by Cpl. Matthew S. Richards



MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. -- The deafening thunder of cannons gave earth-shattering notice that "the kings of the battlefield" arrived in the desert to liquidate those pesky "Sumarians."

At stake, the mission and the well-being of a Camp Pendleton-based infantry unit, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment.

Third Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment delivered its eardrum-piercing fire on behalf of 2nd Bn. 1st Marine Regiment at the Combined Arms Exercise early this month at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif.

The CAX was part of regular training before deployment. "I don't want to say we're a training aid to the unit doing the CAX, but we kind of are," said Col. Michael P. Marletto, commanding officer of 11th Marines. He added that the exercise was mainly a dry run for the units to know their part in combat.

The exercise entailed an imaginary enemy, the invisible Sumarian soldiers, advancing and preparing to attack the Marines of 2/1. The M-198 155mm howitzers of 3rd Bn. 11th Marine Regiment were needed to take out Sumarian mortarmen and armored reserves guarding their infantry.

"The idea is to mass the battalion and take them out with one fell-swoop," said Lt. Col. Thomas J. Connally, commanding officer of 3rd Bn. 11 Marine Regiment.

The exercise not only prepped the units for combat, but also gave new Marines a taste of live firing. "We have a lot of new Marines in our battery," said Staff Sgt. Winfield S. Francis, a gun chief in Battery M, 3rd Bn. "This is the best training for all the new guys coming from school, because it is different out here."

War-seasoned artillerymen noted how previous training like this groomed them for Operation Iraqi Freedom. "Being out here definitely helped out a lot out there," said Cpl. Algin L. Mendez, an assistant gunner for Battery M. "We learned anything we come up against we can take it out."

The artillery Marines are facing a possible redeployment and their attitudes are varied.
"We get a lot of mixed word, either (Okinawa) or Iraq," Francis said. "There's a lot of mixed opinion about what the Marines want to do."

Some of the Marines are looking forward to heading back to Iraq should 3/11 be called upon, according to Sgt. Maj. Steven J. Lara, 11th Marines Sgt. Maj. Others like the idea of Okinawa because cold beer and hot showers are waiting at the end of the day. But wherever the artillerymen go, they know their place in the combat zone. "The infantry can't move without us," Francis said. "That's why we're the kings of the battlefield."



Cpl. Algin L. Mendez, assistant gunner for Battery M, 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, flinches as his team fires their M-198 155mm howitzers as a part of a recent Combined Arms Exercise at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif. Photo by: Cpl. Matthew S. Richards

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn20...D?opendocument


Sempers,

Roger

[Doc Crow]

I hated 29 Palms