MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif -- Four different companies stepped onto the parade deck, and one battalion marched off.
The Advanced Infantry Training Battalion was activated Friday at the School of Infantry West.
"The best way to think of this new battalion is as a unity of effort," said Sgt. Maj. Timothy R. Weber, the new sergeant major of the Advanced Infantry Training Battalion.
The battalion consists of four different training companies that will now fall under one battalion commander and operate out of the School of Infantry West. The combined companies include the Reconnaissance Training Company, Light Armored Vehicle Company, Infantry Leadership Unit Course, and Marine Combat Instructor Course.
"The idea to combine all of these training companies into one battalion was one that was a long time coming," said Col. Fred M. Padilla, the commanding officer of the School of Infantry West.
The new training battalion plays a bigger role in winning the war in Iraq than most would think, Padilla said. Initially, short-term goals such as condensed responsibility or training efficiency will be achieved, but the long-term goal will consist of the overall quality of training. The condensed responsibility will hopefully relieve the small-unit leadership of extra work, allowing them more time and effort for training, he said.
"Who better to prepare you for what you are going to face than those that have already been," Padilla said.
"This war in Iraq is going to be won by making critical decisions at a small-unit leadership level, it is going to be won by our sergeants and corporals," said Lt. Col. Christopher D. Gideon, the new commander of the Advanced Infantry Battalion.
In the past, the company's chain-of-command would have a direct link to a regimental command level. This skips battalion leadership and cause unnecessary problems for higher-level leadership, which causes companies to bear extra responsibility instead of presenting it to higher-level leadership.
"Now that all of the companies have a more efficient chain-of-command, problems can be addressed and resolved more quickly and efficiently," said Staff Sgt. David L. Boire, an instructor for the Marine Corps Combat Instructor Course.
The new battalion caused few problems for most of the companies three of the four companies were already based out of SOI. The biggest move was Reconnaissance Training Company, which used to operate out of Coronado, but after the consolidation, the company now conducts training here.
The greatest hope for a decision like this is that it will cause a pattern of higher quality training, said Padilla.
"A more effectively trained lance corporal now can only mean an even more effective corporal later," said Padilla.