Photo By Sgt. Ryan Young | A Marine from Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment runs downrange toward...... read more read more
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AL QUWEYRAH, Jordan - United States Marines from Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, kicked off exercise Eager Lion 15 with three days of training from May 5-7 around Al Quweyrah, Jordan.
Eager Lion is an annual, multinational training exercise designed to build interoperability, promote partnerships and exchange military expertise with 16 partner nations and NATO. Eager Lion 15 takes place in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from May 5-19.
The Marines split into three groups, rotating between different training areas during the first three days of the exercise. The areas set up were a close-quarters marksmanship range, a military operations in urban terrain training area, and a barbed-wire breaching lane.
“These are skills the Marines learned back in the states and now we are proving we know them well enough to execute tactically in the desert,” said 1st Lt. Jeremiah Pearse, 3rd Platoon Commander, Easy Co., 2/2.
Members of the Jordanian Armed Forces and the British Army worked closely with the Marines to successfully complete the training events.
The close-quarters marksmanship range consisted of Marines and Jordanians shooting, moving and working on quick-reaction situations. The service members lined up 25 yards away from their targets, and moved closer periodically, shooting in the head, chest or pelvic area as commanded. The targets were pulled and scored to evaluate shooting ability.
“We’ve partnered with the Jordanian Armed Forces during operation Eager Lion and shared our marksmanship fundamentals throughout this course of fire,” said Lance Cpl. Zachary Painter, a machine gunner with Weapons Platoon, Easy Co., 2/2.
The breaching lane was a course that the service members had to evaluate and decide on the best plan of attack to complete the mission. The course ran through a trench and up a small hill, where barbed wire was laid out to slow the advance.
“Suppression, obscuration, secure a foothold, reduce the obstacle; it’s a baseline technique that we teach our riflemen to get though typical barbed-wire obstacles,” said 2nd Lt. Benjamin Roof, 1st Platoon Commander, Easy Co., 2/2.
After providing a base of fire toward enemy targets, service members rushed over the wire to engage the targets using bounding techniques. Small unit leadership and communication were key elements to completing the lane.
“At the end of each breaching iteration, we count how many rounds they have in their magazines and how many rounds have hit the target,” said Roof. “If it adds up to 50 percent or higher, they pass this iteration.”
The MOUT training area was comprised of a group of smaller buildings used to practice urban movement and tactics. Soldiers from the British Army shared their tactics, techniques and procedures to Marines and Jordanian soldiers. An integrated attack was held, allowing squads from each military to come together and use their respective skills to successfully conduct the attack.
“These exercises validate everything we’ve been doing in the states and are a good guide for how prepared we are to conduct more complex exercises throughout Eager Lion,” Pearse said.
| Date Taken: | 05.08.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.14.2015 02:20 |
| Story ID: | 163154 |
| Location: | AL QUWEYRAH, JO |
| Web Views: | 361 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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