Functioning on flexibility: ‘America’s Battalion’ bolsters air-ground task force capabilities for Afghanistan [Image 3 of 5]

MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES

09.22.2011

Photo by Cpl. Reece Lodder  

Marine Corps Base Hawaii

Lance Cpl. Justin Downing, a mortar man with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, scans his area while patrolling during Exercise Clear, Hold, Build 3 on Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., Sept. 21, 2011. Lance Cpl. Justin Downing, a mortar man with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, scans his area while patrolling during Exercise Clear, Hold, Build 3 on Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., Sept. 21, 2011. The two-day evolution — part of the Enhanced Mojave Viper training exercise — enabled “America’s Battalion” to improve its capabilities as the ground combat element of a Marine Air-Ground Task Force. The exercise is their final pre-deployment training event before deploying to Afghanistan’s Helmand province next month to support Operation Enduring Freedom. Downing, 18, is from Huntingtown, Md.

• Date Taken: 09.22.2011
• Date Posted: 09.24.2011 11:58
• Photo ID: 462125
• VIRIN: 110922-M-MM918-004
• Resolution: 2100x1328
• Size: 2.82 MB
• Location: MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, CALIFORNIA, US