Band spends week fine-tuning gunplay
MCRD San Diego
Story by: Sgt. Ashley Unfried

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO(Feb. 3, 2006) -- Marine Band San Diego completed Ground Security Force training Jan. 23-27 at Weapons and Field Training Battalion, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Depot Marines must attend this five-day weapons and nuclear, biological and chemical training exercise for GSF duties.

Once successfully trained, they are then used for vehicle inspections or crowd control when the depot is opened to civilians for events such as Family Day on Thursdays and the annual Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon.

In recent years, the band has only done annual related training such as rifle qualification and the Basic Skills Test.

This training is important for all units, according Staff Sgt. Mark Reheard, a trumpet player with Marine Band San Diego.

“It helps to motivate the unit,” said Reheard about the training.

The week of classes concluded with shotgun training, pistol qualification, indoor simulated marksmanship training on the M-240G medium machine gun, vehicle inspection training and suspect control training.

Staff Sgt. Brian Fernandez, military police training chief, presented classes on suspect control. Marines received scenarios and learned how to apprehend a suspect and how to apply non-lethal maneuvers.

“They don’t regularly get this training,” said Fernandez.

“The coolest was watching everybody inflict pain (on each other) and still enjoy it,” said Staff Sgt. Charles Harbison, a bass player with the band.

The main focus of the training was weapons handling.

“Hands-on with the weapons is vital,” said Sgt. Hugh Wurts, a trumpet player with the band.

Though they weren’t able to fire an actual M-240G, the Marines went through drills in the ISMT. For most Marines, this was the first time handling a crew-served weapon since Marine Combat Training.

Timid at first, the Marines quickly retained and applied the fundamentals for all weapons they used, according to Sgt. Matthew Maruster, combat readiness training instructor, Headquarters and Service Bn.

“They surprised me,” said Maruster.

The band was also the first group to train using the new GSF training package. The most noticeable change is the omission of oleoresin capsicum, or OC, spray and the gas chamber.

The Marines assigned to riot control will receive this training for crowd control when the depot hosts the Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon.

The GSF-trained Marines can be seen on duty on Thursdays and Fridays as well as anytime the depot opens its gates to civilian events.