Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif. -- Headquarters Company of the 7th Marine Regiment proved their combat skills in the Combat Center’s training area Oct. 24 to 28 as part of a training and readiness operation.
This training was intended to familiarize the company with basic infantry tactics, convoy operations and weapons familiarization in order to increase operational proficiency, said Gunnery Sgt. James B. Stevens, Headquarters Company gunnery sergeant.
“This field exercise was to prepare the Marines and Sailors for anything that would happen during missions in Iraq,” said Stevens. “They will prepare to perform the duties of a provisional rifle company and become more familiar with convoy operations. Most of these Marines have last seen exercises like this during Marine Combat Training, but now we need to bring combat training back in their mind.”
According to the letter of instruction, the company executed a set of performance-based skills, obtained from individual training standards and core capability requirements from the rifle company.
During the course of lane training, Marines were familiarized with fire and movement; fire and maneuver; convoy preparation and operations; indirect and anti-armor assets internal to a rifle platoon; and vehicle maintenance.
A lane training exercise is an exercise used to train company-size and smaller units on one or more combined missions. The training focuses on the basic fundamentals of each individual mission, such as machine gun marksmanship or assault rushing, in order to enhance training efficiency. Its primary purpose is training and developing combat effectiveness.
Courses that were executed during the field operation were Range 410A, an assault rushing range; and a medium and heavy machine gun course where the Marines and Sailors fired the M2 50-caliber heavy machine gun, the M240G medium machine gun, the MK19 40 mm machine gun, and the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon.
A highlight of the training was when one of the machine gun range targets, an old M1 tank, was ignited into flames after receiving a barrage of rounds from an M2 50-caliber machine gun.
“Seeing that target go down in flames was something I wouldn’t imagine us to be doing when we came out here,” said Pfc. Kevin W. Brownkaufman, field wireman. “Everyone here went to MCT and had a chance to shoot an [M240G medium machine gun] or see the AT-4 rocket launcher shot, but we all got the chance to be the men pulling the trigger today. It was far more than just a good experience, it was a rush.”
Prior to live-fire training, the Marines were given a weapons safety and handling test and executed a “dry run” on all courses of fire, firing no ammunition.
The Marines and Sailors loaded on to 7-ton trucks as squads, running through the motions of convoy operations, dismounting during enemy contact and mounting back on to the vehicles for safe evacuations of threatening areas.
“We’ve been training for the past four months in the field,” said Cpl. Todd A. Houston, ground radio maintenance and Severn, Md., native. Just like most of the Marines and Sailors in the platoon, this will be Houston’s first deployment.
“I feel rather confident of what is yet to come,” continued Houston. “The [infantrymen] are showing us a lot of situations we will see out there and giving us a lot of help. Some of the people in this unit have been there, a lot of us haven’t. I’m glad we are going through the basics all over again because that is what we’ll refer to when in combat situations. This exercise is worth more than words when you think about the pain and sacrifice we will go through in our deployment."