The last training week before the Landing Force, participating in Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training 2010, will start its embarkation on ship and set sail to their first CARAT exercise, April 12-16.
Since early March, the LF has trained as an infantry unit, completed jungle warfare training and planned exercises with four different countries in preparation of its participation in CARAT-2010. Now, they are planning a multi-national exercise while conducting training as a unit for the first time.
"We have pulled from over 33 different sites across the globe, from Japan to Hawaii, to everywhere in the continental United States," said 1st Lt. Christopher Troken, operations officer, Command Element, LF CARAT-2010. "It's fantastic to finally be together as a unit. Putting faces to names and personalities to faces — it's great to finally be able to work as one force."
The main unit providing Marines for the LF is 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, a United States Marine Corps Reserve unit based out of Chicago. The force also includes Marines from Marine Forces Pacific, Marine Forces Reserve, 4th Assault Amphibious Battalion and 4th Combat Engineer Battalion.
Initial planning started in Sept. 2009 and has continued since with planning conferences with participating countries. The LF is scheduled to conduct training with Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and South Korea.
In each country, exercises are tailored to the nation's size and capabilities and include amphibious assault operations, urban warfare, jungle warfare and small unit training operations. This year, the LF's visit to Cambodia will be the first bi-lateral training exercise the Marine Corps has ever conducted with the Cambodian armed forces.
"It's a huge opportunity for the Marines participating," said Maj. Charles Hawthorne, landing force commander, LF CARAT-2010. "Building relationships with our fellow warriors is the primary mission. Learning from our partners and having the opportunity to impart some of our warrior skills — that's the best way to build relationships."
This exercise is a theater security operation in the Southeast Asian Pacific and helps maintain the relationships with Southeast Asian countries. It helps strengthen skills at every level and allows the participating forces to have a better understanding of how each other completes their mission. This is necessary if they were ever to work together in a real world scenario.
With the embark date drawing near, the Marines of the LF continue to train and prepare themselves for their upcoming bi-lateral exercise. This week, Alpha Company, LF CARAT-2010 will conduct a final training exercise which includes AAV integration, Military Operation in Urban Environment and combat town exercises.
The LF builds unit camaraderie with each finished training exercise and will continue to cohere as a unit through out their participation in the CARAT-2010 exercise.
"As Marines, we're going to these different countries to represent the Marine Corps and America and to make and build relationships," Hawthorne said. "We will show them the kind of professionals we are by being good teachers and good students. We look forward to learning from our partners — because they are professionals as well."
| Date Taken: | 04.13.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 04.13.2010 23:38 |
| Story ID: | 48107 |
| Location: | CAMP SCHWAB, OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 442 |
| Downloads: | 319 |
This work, Landing Force Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training 2010 prepares for embarkation, by Cpl Colby Brown, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
