CAMP LEJEUNE, North Carolina -- The sound of grinding treads and
rumbling engines roll across the open field. The Marines have arrived. Once in
position combat engineers file out the rear of the vehicles while heavy
breaching vehicles plow through barriers in the path to their objective.
Marines with 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 2nd Marine
Division supported 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion and 2nd Tank Battalion during
an obstacle-breaching exercise on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North
Carolina, May 18-21, 2015.
“It builds camaraderie and it helps other units know what we
can and can’t do,” said Cpl. Joshua Law, an assault amphibious vehicle crew
chief with 2nd AA Bn. “What some units can’t do, we can do with ease. We were
supporting them and it was fun, lots of fun.”
The mission of 2nd AA Bn. is to land the ground forces and
their equipment during amphibious operations, and to conduct mechanized
operations and related combat support missions. The battalion provided
transportation for combat engineers and additional firepower for security
during obstacle-clearing operations conducted by engineers and tanks.
The battalion regularly attaches companies to other units on
deployments, and obstacle breaching is just one type of operation they may
encounter overseas. Training exercises such as this serve to strengthen the
battalion and II Marine Expeditionary Force.
A combined attack of AAVs and engineers moving on foot took
a force of Marines, who portrayed enemy combatants, by surprise before they
could complete their defenses. The attack served as an experience for the
Marines to draw on in order to improve their abilities for future operations.
Real-world scenarios like this allow Marines to apply training in various
situations more effectively.
“There are obstacles that the enemy puts out at any given
time, and we’ve got to overcome that and not be put into choke points where we
could get ambushed and become ineffective,” said. Cpl. Charles Baker, an
assault amphibious vehicle crewman and a native of Wichita, Kansas. “It shows
what each section is capable of when everybody gets together, and it gives
everybody more appreciation for the different sections.”
Maintaining the readiness of amphibious units, even during
non-amphibious operations, is vital to the expeditionary nature of the Marine
Corps, as shown by the battalion’s participation in land combat operations in
Iraq and Afghanistan.
“It’s really important to know [which] vehicles are able to
accomplish what and to be able to overcome obstacles,” Baker said. “It kind of
gives everybody more knowledge and more experience when it comes to doing the
basics. We’re just training like we fight.”