MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- Marines with Company G, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment conducted a field exercise March 30 through April 2, 2015, with repelling as one of the final events at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.
The company conducted various rappelling exercises, all with confidence-building in mind.
“Right now, we’re focusing on individual skills that infantrymen should have,” said 1st Lt. Steven Pickett, a platoon commander with the company. “This isn’t something that is necessarily required for our training, but it’s a great skill to have in your back pocket if we’re called upon to do these types of things.”
The battalion returned from Eastern Europe as part of the Black Sea Rotational Force a couple months ago and they are already preparing for their next deployment: A unit deployment program to Okinawa, Japan.
“This whole week has been our individual training package,” Pickett said. “We’ve executed land navigation, grenade throwing and repelling. These are all key skills that we can’t teach during a regular day. We came out here to hone these abilities.”
Company G experienced a change in small unit leadership after their last deployment, and the week of various training exercises was designed to build their confidence moving forward.
“Some of the Marines in leadership positions now weren’t there last year,” Pickett said. “Our goal out here is to help them develop a sense of leadership and confidence in taking charge.”
Specifically, the rappel tower was an important part of the exercise.
“As Marines, we’re asked to do all kinds of things most people don’t do,” Pickett said. “Some of our guys are afraid of heights, but we need to able to overcome those fears. That’s what this training is all about.”