thedrifter
08-13-07, 08:39 AM
On the training block
Support Marines should undergo block training before deploying — just like infantrymen do
By Ian Barwise - Special to the Times
Posted : August 20, 2007
As officers and staff noncommissioned officers, it is our responsibility to ensure that the Marines with which we are entrusted get the proper training they need to survive and operate in a combat environment.
Operating in a combat environment is the ultimate standard to which we should be training all Marines. Why, then, is there a huge disparity in the pre-deployment training an infantryman gets and the training an admin Marine gets?
Block training infrastructure already exists for combat arms units and is highly effective (e.g., Mojave Viper); however, there isn’t a Corps-wide, standardized block training package for non-combat arms Marines and units.
Before Operation Iraqi Freedom, there was an abundance of time to complete annual training, but that is not the case today. If you add pre-deployment training, career-level schools, driver training, MOS sustainment training, scheduled new-join arrival timelines and post- and pre-deployment leave to annual training time requirements, commanders have a serious time crunch on their hands when trying to get all of their Marines trained for a combat deployment.
So the question arises of how to intelligently balance all of the required training with the limited time available. New technological advancements in equipment, vehicles and weapons systems, and virtual training systems equal additional training time requirements, divided by the decreasing amount of time available to accomplish all the necessary training.
In light of this training time crunch, I propose that the Corps adopt a block training concept for headquarters and service companies and all supporting-arms Marines. Over a span of 30 to 45 days, those deploying Marines would accomplish all of the required annual and pre-deployment training requirements in one block, instead of shotgunning smaller groups of Marines to schools and ranges throughout the year.
The training would refresh supporting-arms Marines on basic infantry skills and tactics that they may not have trained on since The Basic School or Marine Combat Training. It would be tough, hard training and mandatory for officers and enlisted Marines assigned to deploying H&S units. And it would save lives because our Marines would be better-trained.
So Pfc. Schmuckatelly in H&S Company could expect that at about 90 days before his unit’s scheduled deployment date, he’ll go to the rifle range, run a physical fitness test for score, re-qualify at the swim tank and helo-dunker, attend the gas chamber, take the battle skills test, attend required professional military education lectures, get his will and power of attorney updated, get Humvee and/or 7-ton truck licensed and get all of the necessary pre-deployment security and stabilization operations training knocked out. Then, he would return to his unit for pre-deployment leave and final pre-deployment preparations.
The Marine would be “untouchable” during this time so that he could focus solely on the training.
One of the fundamental differences between infantry Marines and support Marines is the fact that infantrymen have built-in training time to their workdays, whereas support Marines are often expected to accomplish their MOS duties in the shop and get all of their required training accomplished at the same time. That’s not to say that infantry Marines don’t do the same thing, but you see it happen more often in the supporting-arms ranks.
As for Marine Corps Martial Arts Program training, all leathernecks who are instructor-qualified should be required to hold biweekly MCMAP training sessions at every unit. We need to use those instructors. And on each installation, we need to establish an after-working hours MCMAP training program at an existing facility or fitness center, implementing a rotational instructor schedule with appropriate supervision so the training stays on the level.
If we don’t change our approach to training non-combat arms Marines, we put them at unnecessary risk. We need to take a common-sense approach to training the “pogues, bakers and candlestick makers” like me.
Never before has the phrase “every Marine a rifleman” been more important to adhere to as in the present wars.
The writer is a staff sergeant with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit’s operations shop.
Ellie
Support Marines should undergo block training before deploying — just like infantrymen do
By Ian Barwise - Special to the Times
Posted : August 20, 2007
As officers and staff noncommissioned officers, it is our responsibility to ensure that the Marines with which we are entrusted get the proper training they need to survive and operate in a combat environment.
Operating in a combat environment is the ultimate standard to which we should be training all Marines. Why, then, is there a huge disparity in the pre-deployment training an infantryman gets and the training an admin Marine gets?
Block training infrastructure already exists for combat arms units and is highly effective (e.g., Mojave Viper); however, there isn’t a Corps-wide, standardized block training package for non-combat arms Marines and units.
Before Operation Iraqi Freedom, there was an abundance of time to complete annual training, but that is not the case today. If you add pre-deployment training, career-level schools, driver training, MOS sustainment training, scheduled new-join arrival timelines and post- and pre-deployment leave to annual training time requirements, commanders have a serious time crunch on their hands when trying to get all of their Marines trained for a combat deployment.
So the question arises of how to intelligently balance all of the required training with the limited time available. New technological advancements in equipment, vehicles and weapons systems, and virtual training systems equal additional training time requirements, divided by the decreasing amount of time available to accomplish all the necessary training.
In light of this training time crunch, I propose that the Corps adopt a block training concept for headquarters and service companies and all supporting-arms Marines. Over a span of 30 to 45 days, those deploying Marines would accomplish all of the required annual and pre-deployment training requirements in one block, instead of shotgunning smaller groups of Marines to schools and ranges throughout the year.
The training would refresh supporting-arms Marines on basic infantry skills and tactics that they may not have trained on since The Basic School or Marine Combat Training. It would be tough, hard training and mandatory for officers and enlisted Marines assigned to deploying H&S units. And it would save lives because our Marines would be better-trained.
So Pfc. Schmuckatelly in H&S Company could expect that at about 90 days before his unit’s scheduled deployment date, he’ll go to the rifle range, run a physical fitness test for score, re-qualify at the swim tank and helo-dunker, attend the gas chamber, take the battle skills test, attend required professional military education lectures, get his will and power of attorney updated, get Humvee and/or 7-ton truck licensed and get all of the necessary pre-deployment security and stabilization operations training knocked out. Then, he would return to his unit for pre-deployment leave and final pre-deployment preparations.
The Marine would be “untouchable” during this time so that he could focus solely on the training.
One of the fundamental differences between infantry Marines and support Marines is the fact that infantrymen have built-in training time to their workdays, whereas support Marines are often expected to accomplish their MOS duties in the shop and get all of their required training accomplished at the same time. That’s not to say that infantry Marines don’t do the same thing, but you see it happen more often in the supporting-arms ranks.
As for Marine Corps Martial Arts Program training, all leathernecks who are instructor-qualified should be required to hold biweekly MCMAP training sessions at every unit. We need to use those instructors. And on each installation, we need to establish an after-working hours MCMAP training program at an existing facility or fitness center, implementing a rotational instructor schedule with appropriate supervision so the training stays on the level.
If we don’t change our approach to training non-combat arms Marines, we put them at unnecessary risk. We need to take a common-sense approach to training the “pogues, bakers and candlestick makers” like me.
Never before has the phrase “every Marine a rifleman” been more important to adhere to as in the present wars.
The writer is a staff sergeant with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit’s operations shop.
Ellie