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CENTRAL TRAINING AREA, Japan — The quiet solitude of a lone jungle village is shattered as foreign helicopters thunder overhead, landing just outside the borders of the small town to disgorge a company's worth of attacking troops.
A voice rings out, amplified by a loud speaker, calling for the village to surrender. The small force of defenders remains silent, quickly hunkering down and preparing to repel an imminent attack. Hiding in strategic positions throughout the town, they watch and wait for some sign of the attackers' intent.
A soft rustling of leaves and grass signifies the approach of troops trying to conceal themselves among the trees. Hidden from the eyes of the defenders, they slowly move forward until they are in position to cut the razor wire strung around the village perimeter.
The final obstacle removed, the attackers throw smoke grenades to screen their movements as they quickly cover the remaining distance to the village. Gunfire erupts as the smoke clears and the two forces can finally see each other for the first time.
This scenario has occurred countless times throughout history, but this time it played out in a training environment.
Marines with Company C, 3rd Law Enforcement Battalion, gathered at the Central Training Area Dec. 10 during a training event, where the company defended combat town against the Marines with Company E, Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit.
“Our main mission today was to plan a strategy to hold off the BLT from entering the town,” said 1st Lt. Nicholas Grey, from Stafford, Virginia, and the executive officer for Company C, 3rd LE Bn., III Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, III MEF. “We met the night before and planned to place razor wire around the perimeter of the town, and M240B medium machine guns with fire teams placed in strategic hiding places around the town.”
The training prepared field military policemen to defend a town in a combat scenario, according to Staff Sgt. Michael Mansholt, a military policeman with the company.
“This is the first time that many of our Marines have performed a defensive hold against an offense,” said Mansholt, from Chattanooga, Tennessee. “Coming out here benefits all ranks in the chain of command.”
Performing specialized training like this town defense scenario prepares the Marines for real-time battlefield changes, according to Mansholt.
“We have to acclimatize ourselves to every situation possible,” said Mansholt. “Every training opportunity that is different than normal will greatly benefit the MEF.”
Training with the BLT has inspired leaders to better themselves and their Marines, according to Lance Cpl. Zane Richardson, a military policeman with the company who acted as a fire team leader during the training.
“When I was in the town, I heard a lot of different commands and tactics the BLT were using,” said Richardson, from Wheeling, West Virginia. “I want to look into what they do so I can better educate my Marines with new ways of doing things.”
The Marines were enthusiastic about participating in the unique training event, and look forward to future opportunities to build their defensive skills, according to Richardson.
“It was nice coming to the combat town environment and training with the BLT,” said Richardson. “I hope we get to come back out here and do more defensive strategies in the future with them.”
| Date Taken: | 12.10.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 12.30.2014 21:31 |
| Story ID: | 151245 |
| Location: | CENTRAL TRAINING AREA, OKINAWA, JP |
| Hometown: | CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE, US |
| Hometown: | STAFFORD, VIRGINIA, US |
| Hometown: | WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 75 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Defending combat town with 3rd LE Bn., by Sgt Devon Tindle, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
