Forty Marines and sailors with Combat Logistic Battalion 11 and Battalion Landing Team 3/1 conducted close-quarters battle training at the Murai Urban Training Facility here Dec. 17-18, part of a 10-day training series.
Members of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit's logistics- and ground-combat elements attended marksmanship classes, conducted weapons drills and secured buildings.
Vehicle commander Sgt. Phillip Blackwell, who taught several classes, said, "Being proficient in these skills -- in case we do find ourselves in a combat zone -- is important."
Clad in body-armor and carrying small-arms weapons, the Marines and sailors divided into two- and four-man teams, secured rooms, and encountered simulated local aggressors.
"I learned how to clear rooms, how to recognize a weapon's malfunction and how to solve it," said Lance Cpl. Jeffery Hankins, a military policeman with the logistics-combat element. "Although I knew some of the information, it was good to get a refresher to help build muscle memory."
Blackwell, who serves with the ground-combat element's Weapons Company, said that in addition to building weapons proficiency and teaching tactics, the classes reminded the Marines that they are riflemen first.
The Camp Pendleton, Calif., unit deployed from San Diego Nov. 14 and arrived in Southeastern Asia Dec. 11 as part of a regularly scheduled deployment.