Photo Information

U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle McAuliffe, a rifleman assigned to the Theater Security Cooperation team with Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response-Africa, shows Tanzanian park rangers different areas on a terrain model at the Selous Game Reserve in Matambwe, Tanzania, March 9, 2015. McAuliffe was one of approximately 15 Marines and Sailors from SPMAGTF-CR-AF to help teach the park rangers operation-order writing and land navigation skills.

Photo by Lance Cpl. Lucas Hopkins

U.S. Marines, Tanzanians work to fight illicit trafficking

23 Mar 2015 | Lance Cpl. Lucas Hopkins The Official United States Marine Corps Public Website

Tanzanian park rangers worked with U.S. Marines with Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response-Africa to help counter illicit trafficking throughout the country.

A team of approximately 15 Marines and Sailors taught the park rangers operation orders and land navigation skills at the Selous Game Reserve in Matambwe, Tanzania, March 9-11, 2015. The park rangers learned the Marines’ method of writing operations orders and rehearsed writing their own orders, ultimately leading them through a simulated reconnaissance patrol and land navigation exercise.

“We wanted to teach a concise way to convey all the information in order to complete a mission,” said Staff Sgt. Frederick Volz II, the staff-noncommissioned officer in charge of Security Cooperation Team-6, the group tasked with conducting these courses.

The park rangers broke into five squads and wrote their order together before briefing a Marine who acted as a squad advisor during the patrol. 

“One of our most important methods is breaking down the large group of Tanzanians into eight or nine-man squads per one or two Marines. This allows more of a collaboration of ideas to flow back and forth, rather than just having a Marine teaching,” said Volz. 

After, the park rangers received a class on land navigation. The Marines, Sailors and Park Rangers then applied their knowledge by conducting a land navigation exercise, patrolling their way from one objective to the next, utilizing training from earlier courses.

“Not only were they conducting land navigation, but they had the opportunity to practice the patrolling skills we taught last week. Throughout our training, they are reinforcing techniques they have learned previously,” said Volz.

The training, scheduled to end on March 27, not only offers the Tanzanians an opportunity to learn from the Marines and Sailors, it allows the rangers to show the U.S. Service members a new culture and enhance their own proficiency as leaders and mentors.

“Even though we’re here to teach the park rangers our methods, we’re still learning a lot from them, too,” said Volz. “We don’t expect them to take our methods and copy them exactly, but we hope they can adjust them as needed to fulfill their own obligations.”