PDA

View Full Version : Students prepare for the real Corps



thedrifter
05-09-03, 11:46 AM
Students prepare for the real Corps

Cpl. Kristin S. Gambrell
Combat Correspondent

Through the darkness, the echoes of machine guns’ rhythmic bursts could be heard, and flashes of light from the artillery explosions lit up the sky. Despite these threats of danger, the Marines methodically moved through the minefield.

Thirty students from the Marine Corps Engineer School conducted a field exercise to test their engineering skills and knowledge regarding mine clearing and security operations April 10 at Engineer Training Area 1.

The exercise served as practical application of academics taught throughout the six-week course. During the course the students learn proper mine placement, probing techniques and explosive obstacle breaching.

“More than 60 countries in the world have land mines in the ground waiting for unsuspecting or unprepared victims,” said Gunnery Sgt. John J. Wood, demolition range supervisor, Marine Corps Engineer School.

“These hidden threats are so effective, the expected losses in a minefield breach are near 20 percent,” Wood said. “The exercise is used to give entry level combat engineers a physical experience that reinforces fundamentals and concepts of one of the most dangerous jobs in combat, breaching a minefield.”

The exercise starts as soon as the Marines arrive the morning of training day 31. They receive guidance for the maneuver from the instructor, who acts as the students’ platoon commander throughout the evaluation.

After nightfall the instructors initiate the assault and students begin to encounter wire obstacles and traps through a wooded area.
The first part of the course usually takes the students an hour and a half, said Gunnery Sgt. William E. McPherson, demolition instructor, Marine Corps Engineer School. The students maneuver through 50 yards of wire obstacles and booby traps, bringing them to a tank ditch with a simulated minefield on the other side.
Once all of the squads reach the tank ditch, the class leader then orders the breaching teams to enter and clear the minefield.

The breach team members - consisting of three Marines from each squad, have specific tasks - one to probe, one to mark and one to carry the bangalore torpedo, a fabricated explosive used to clear wire obstacles and detonate buried mines.

The remaining Marines provide security while the breach team is in the minefield. Once the mines have been cleared, the squads then assault through the obstacle, completing the exercise.
“The course was challenging,” said Pfc. Derek A. Kenney, student at the Marine Corps Engineer School. “We put into play all we have been taught.”

Exercises like this give the students the opportunity to show instructors how well they learned skills taught throughout the six-week course.

“The Marines executed all the tasks at hand in the fashion in which they had been taught,” said Wood.


http://militarynews.com/globe/Web%20Art/students-prepare.jpg

Cpl. Kristin S. Gambrell


Sempers,

Roger