Tip of the Spear: Marines refresh ground combat, leadership skills during Combat Leadership Course

Photo By Cpl. Shaltiel Dominguez | Staff Sgt. Harold E. Linsley, an infantry unit leader and chief instructor with Combat Skills Training School, Headquarters Regiment, 1st Marine Logistics Group, debriefs Marines with 1st Maintenance Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 15, 1st MLG, after a combat marksmanship drill as part of the Combat Leadership Course conducted aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., June 20, 2014. The course allowed Marines to train operating different weapons systems and reinforced ground combat skills such as land navigation, patrolling, setting up a defense, and night operations. They received not only classroom instruction on the subjects, but also conducted practical application exercises, on which each student was evaluated by the instructors. Furthermore, the students participating in the course were taught to be trainers themselves to provide instruction to other Marines under their command as part of the “Train the Trainer” concept. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Shaltiel Dominguez)  

CAMP PENDLETON, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES

06.25.2014

Story by Lance Cpl. Shaltiel Dominguez 

1st Marine Logistics Group

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – “Contact!” shouted Staff Sgt. Harold E. Linsley as the Marines advanced through the firing line in a steady combat glide, engaging their targets with pinpoint accuracy. The rounds perforated the cardboard targets in the torso and soon after, experienced instructors assessed each Marine’s performance. The 22 Marines with 1st Maintenance Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 15, 1st Marine Logistics Group, conducted the combat marksmanship training as part of the Combat Leadership Course aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., June 9 – 20, 2014.

Throughout the course, Linsley, an infantry unit leader and chief instructor with Combat Skills Training School, Headquarters Regiment, 1st MLG, and his team, brought valuable experience from Afghanistan and Iraq to train the 1st Maintenance Bn. Marines on how to operate different weapons systems and ground combat skills.

“Every Marine is tasked with being a provisional rifleman across the board, regardless of their job specialization or rank,” said Linsley, a native of Mt. Vernon, Ohio. “To me, that means that every Marine needs to be able to pick up a rifle and function in a provisional rifle platoon to close with and destroy the enemy.”

The Marines honed their combat marksmanship skills with their M4A1 carbines and M16A4 service rifles, as well as the M240B light machine gun. Furthermore, the students participating in the course were taught to be trainers themselves and to provide instruction to other Marines under their command as part of the “Train the Trainer” concept.

“We focus on leadership,” said Linsley. “We train them so that when they go back to their parent commands, they’re able to provide quality training and instruction to their younger Marines as well.”

The students came from different backgrounds and a wide spectrum of job specialties. This meant the instructors needed to make sure that quality training standards were kept constant for each Marine, despite the different pace of learning for each individual.

“We invest a lot of time in planning and coordinating the course to ensure that our instructors provide the best training possible,” said Capt. Jorge Alvareznunez, officer-in-charge with CST, HQ Reg., 1st MLG, and native of Lake Elsinore, Calif. “The biggest thing is that we challenge all the students both physically and mentally. We have to ensure that they’re grasping everything and that we are able to build them up.”

Aside from learning how to operate weapons systems, the students also refreshed basic infantry skills such as land navigation, patrolling, setting up a defense, and night operations. They received not only classroom instruction on the subjects, but also conducted practical application exercises, on which each student was evaluated by the instructors.

“This is our last training day and they’re letting small-unit leaders like us corporals take charge today,” said Cpl. Cesar Montesrodriguez, an automotive maintenance technician with 1st Maintenance Bn., CLR-15, 1st MLG.

Montesrodriguez, a native of Los Angeles, is one of the Marines who will return to his unit with a few Marines under his charge. The newer and lower ranked Marines, that make up the bulk of the Marine Corps, look to noncommissioned officers like him for guidance.

“I feel that the course is important because it makes us well-rounded Marines,” said Montesrodriguez. “You have your own job specialization, and you also learn to be proficient at combat skills. It’s a lot of valuable knowledge and skills.”

Despite not being typically in a ground combat role, the Marines of 1st Maintenance Bn., CLR-15, 1st MLG, are ensuring that they are combat ready at all times, and the instructors of CST, HQ Reg., 1st MLG are there to make sure they succeed.

“You never know when you’re going to get tasked out somewhere requiring you to be proficient at combat skills,” said Montesrodriguez. “If and when the time comes, you have to be ready.”

• Date Taken: 06.25.2014
• Date Posted: 06.25.2014 18:49
• Story ID: 134434
• Location: CAMP PENDLETON, CALIFORNIA, US
• Hometown: LAKE ELSINORE, CALIFORNIA, US
• Hometown: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, US
• Hometown: MOUNT VERNON, OHIO, US