Price Barracks, Belize -- Marines and sailors from Company F, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, conducted close target reconnaissance in the Belizean jungle April 24, summing up eight days of jungle warfare training.
The training took place as part of exercise Tradewinds 2010, a U.S. Southern Command-sponsored annual exercise that is conducted with Caribbean Basin partner nations, designed to improve cooperation with the partner nations in responding to regional security threats.
The Twenty-eight Marines and corpsmen moved through the jungle, silently and slowly, ensuring the mock enemy Belize Defense Force soldiers did not hear or spot them. Being spotted, heard, or captured would result in mission failure.
“Our objective was to go up a hill, get as close as we could to an enemy camp, and get a full SALUTE (size, activity, location, unit, time, equipment) report of their site without getting caught,” explained Sgt. John Hunt, a rifleman with 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, Company F.
Close target reconnaissance, known to BDF soldiers as “close target recky,” tested the knowledge Marines acquired from the first week of classroom instruction and the second week of real-life training in the Belizean jungle, also nicknamed, “the bush,” by BDF soldiers.
“We are humping, sneaking around and just getting a taste of the two-month course the BDF soldiers get,” said Marine Sgt. Steven Young, a platoon sergeant with Co. F, 2nd Bn., 23rd Marine Regiment.
The Marines spent their first night in the jungle soaked by rain and followed up with 36 hours of survival training which tested the Marines abilities to survive in the wilderness with only a machete.
During the 36 hours, the Marines managed to only catch three fish, smaller than the palm of an average hand. Without additional food, the Marines were forced to eat leaves from palm trees. Marines said the leaves filled them up, but left them with a mouth-drying bitter taste.
“The first night we got here, we were pummeled with rain almost all night until about two or three in the morning,” said Marine Cpl. Allan Mejia, a mortarman with Co. F, 2nd Bn. 23rd Marine Regiment. “It’s so humid in the jungle that our camis (utility uniform) haven’t been able to dry; we have been wet the entire time we have been here.”
At a remote site along the Belize-Guatemala border, the Marines set up shop under the supervision of BDF jungle warfare instructors. The Marines used the jungle for concealment and learned how to create booby-traps to capture small animals.
“The terrain is pretty rough,” said Marine Sgt. Steven Young, a platoon sergeant with Co. F 2nd Bn., 23rd Marine Regiment. “The humidity is really high, the elevation is low, but overall it’s a good learning experience for all the Marines. It also shows how hardcore the BDF is.”