Insurgents beware; Marines are ready
March 22, 2008 - 12:00AM
MOLLY DEWITT
DAILY NEWS STAFF

Observe, profile and track - that's what Combat Hunter training is designed to teach Marines. Combat Hunter was developed to enhance Marines' overall awareness of human and physical surroundings.



The training should aid Marines in identifying friend from foe, thus reducing civilian casualties, a press release said. "Combat Hunter is a way of proactively being able to identify the insurgents and the enemy hiding within and among the civilian population in the current theaters where Marines are," said Greg, a consultant with the Department of Defense who asked that his last name not be used for safety reasons.



The School of Infantry East and Advanced Infantry Training Battalion completed a final examination in Combat Hunter training Friday after participating in a weeklong condensed course. Fifty-five Marines and 18 role players took part in the exam. The usual length for the course is two weeks, with one week devoted to tracking and one week devoted to observation and profiling. The profiling element educates Marines in what to look for in their surroundings, and the tracking element shows Marines how to effectively follow a possible enemy, SOI Operations Officer Maj. Mark Thieme said.



The goal of the exam was for the Marines to identify anomalies and to react to them accordingly."Part of this is an observation exercise. Marines observe the actions of role players and, based on how they're acting, determine who's a good guy and who's a bad guy," said Capt. Adam Hecht, commanding officer of the infantry training battalion, Bravo Company. The training program is a recent addition to the Marine Corps.



Training aboard Camp Lejeune began in January. "We're faced with irregular and asymmetrical warfare, and the insurgency wrote the book on that. The greatest thing is that the Marine Corps is able to adopt the tactics, techniques, and procedures of the enemy and turn around and use it against them," Greg said. The observation element of combat hunter trains Marines to look at things more closely and be more aware of their surroundings, establishing a baseline from which to work. "Baseline is everything; you've got to get to know your area," said David Kitchings, a law enforcement professional with the DoD. A key element in the training is communication. "Communication is valuable in and amongst the units. Providing communication of what they're seeing to other units is invaluable," Hecht said.



Another important aspect is tactical patience, slowing down and letting the situation develop more, Hecht said. During the course, Marines are taught to become more acutely aware and to interpret behaviors, identifying things that are attempting to be concealed, Thieme said. The training, which immerses Marines in an environment they'll see when they're deployed, is being given to infantry units first for two reasons: Infantrymen are exposed to the greatest risk, and they unleash the greatest amount of firepower, potentially causing the greatest amount of damage, Thieme said. "We don't want Marines to be paranoid, we want them to be alert," he said.



One of the benefits of the Combat Hunter program is that its teachings are universal. "One of the most important pieces of this program - this is something that you can use anywhere in the world," Hecht said. "Criminals are criminals. No matter where they are, they're going to act like criminals," he said. Lance Cpl. Michael Henderson of the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment has previously deployed to Iraq and believes the training to be useful.



"I think it's an effective course. It's very relevant to what we do out there," Henderson said. "I think every Marine who is bound to go to Iraq should go through this course." Sgt. Dennis Derr, who has deployed to Iraq three times, said he understands the value of this new training. "I think it's very helpful," he said. "It's not just a gunfight every day. You need to be able to profile people."



Contact Molly DeWitt at mdewitt@freedomenc.com, or 910-353-1171, ext. 8457.

Ellie