MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, Calif. -- With its remote location and desert climate, Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow has provided an ideal place for deployment training for various units in the past. Elements of 9th Communication Battalion, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, are currently taking advantage by utilizing much of MCLB Barstow for training exercises.
The unit, based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., arrived in Barstow April 10 via tactical convoy.
“We planned for this event around four training exercises,” said Capt. Luis Mejia, commanding officer, Bravo Company, 9th Comm. Bn.
“We’re running a five-hour tactical convoy from [Pendleton] to Barstow,” he added. “Other events planned for the field evolution include a rifle and pistol range, a mock communications site and a field-expedient chow hall.”
MCLB Barstow was chosen for this experience primarily because of the convenience of all of its services and the features of the base’s terrain.
“With Barstow, we were offered uninhibited access to all of its training facilities,” Mejia explained. “It also helps mimic the conditions of a deployment t o Afghanistan.”
After reaching MCLB Barstow, Marines with 1st Marine Headquarters Group attached to 9th Comm. Bn. set up a field mess, the first of four planned training events. The Marines from 1st
MHG met with little or no problems with set up, despite the short period of lead time to prepare for the trip.
“We found out about the event two weeks before it was scheduled to go,” said Sgt. Alberto Moreno, the mess chief of 1st MHG. “We were able to have all the equipment prepared and food ordered before we left though.”
The Marines at the field mess work hard to sustain themselves and 9th Comm. Bn. Marines while participating in the exercise.
“We’re up at 3 a.m. to prepare for the Marines and close up shop approximately 9:30 p.m.,” Moreno explained. “But while the Marines are out training, we’re here at the mess, open all day.”
Early each morning, the Marines prepare for their daily tasks. While some work to build a communications site using tents and portable satellites, others make the hike to MCLB Barstow’s rifle and pistol ranges to train.
“The Marines step off from base and make their way to the rifle and pistol range in the morning on foot,” Mejia explained. “Once there, the Marines set up to qualify with the rifle for their annual requirements.”
“We have 39 personnel shooting while out here and nine Marines as combat marksmanship coaches,” said 2nd Lt. Katherine Kitchen, officer-in-charge of range operations for 9th Comm. Bn.
“We were able to provide our own coaches for the range, which helped us stay self-sufficient,” she added.
While Marines shoot at the range, they are also hard at work setting up a communications center, which allows them to utilize satellite and radio networks.
“What we’re doing is setting up a command element for (1st Marine Expeditionary Force), much like what you’d see while deployed,” said 2nd Lt. Richard Clay, communication site officer-in-charge.
“Overall it took us approximately 27 hours to finish with the infrastructure. On average, it takes a group of these Marines about 48 hours to finish a project like this,” he explained.
The exercise was a change of pace for the Marines, being away from their appointed base and out of contact with their regular routines.
“I think this exercise is great for the Marines,” said Mejia, who as the former communications officer of MCLB Barstow, was enjoying a homecoming of sorts. “It is good to get them out of their comfort zones and put them into an area like this; not a typical California one. And the Marines enjoy it. They like being in the field.”