Photo By Sgt. April Price | A Marine with Motor Transport Maintenance Company, 1st Maintenance Battalion, Combat...... read more read more
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CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - With a twist of a wrench and the turn of a screwdriver, maintenance Marines work diligently to repair electronics, fix vehicles and equipment in order to remain ready to respond to any crisis.
Marines with 1st Maintenance Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 15, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, put their training and skills to use during a battalion-level exercise aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, May 4-15.
During the exercise the Marines conducted recovery operations, salvage and disposal, general maintenance support, base defense operations, and various maintenance tasks in preparation for future missions.
“The exercise gives the Marines an opportunity to polish their skills in a field environment which helps to better support future missions,” said Sgt. Adrian A. Sotelo, an amphibious assault vehicle repairman with 1st Maintenance Bn. “We go out there to support other units, which means if we’re going to maximize the upcoming missions, we need to have our primary jobs down."
The 1st Maintenance Bn. is comprised of Ordnance Maintenance Company, Motor Transport Maintenance Company, Reparables Management Company and a Battalion Aid Station. All of these units worked together to help make exercise requirements more manageable.
“Typically, our job as a maintenance battalion is to recover damaged assets,” said Sotelo. “During deployments, those assets are most likely damaged due to events such as an improvised explosive device. We’ll bring those assets to the smaller units by disassembling them for repair and re-issue, if possible.”
One reason logistics Marines must remain effective and efficient at their jobs is to ensure every Marine stays as safe as possible, according to Sotelo. Because they are out in the field they have to take additional safety precautions.
The battalion will serve in a logistics capacity during upcoming exercises. This will require the Marines to perform several tasks which are different than their usual role, including organizing workers, transportation and sanitary needs.
Job proficiency is also a fundamental aspect of maintaining team organization, Sotelo added.
“I believe in skills, will and teamwork,” Sotelo said. “If we have the skills to complete our Marine Corps tasks according to our training and readiness standards, then we’ll have the confidence, or will, to continue to do it better. That will help build confidence as a team, increasing unit cohesion and effectiveness.”
After all the training is completed, one of the many goals is for the Marines to leave the exercise more confident in their abilities, signifying mission success.
“I came to this exercise right out of my [military occupational specialty] school and wasn’t sure what to expect,” said Pfc. Cody Wayne Reeves, an amphibious assault vehicle repairman with 1st Maintenance Bn.
“From what I did gather from boot camp and MCT, I wasn’t expecting such a great working environment as I’m in now. As far as my noncommissioned officers and my chain of command, I definitely didn’t expect them to be as great as they are and them being as hands-on as they possibly can,” Reeves said.
“It’s different when you can actually apply what you’ve learned in real life and real time events. During school, if you mess up or put something together wrong, it’s not as big as a deal as if we’re to actually mess something up now. If we give a faulty engine or part to a unit to use, it can [impact] the mission or [someone's] life.”
Exercises like this give junior Marines practice and confidence in order to efficiently and effectively complete their assigned tasks for the mission.
“I think everybody here is doing great,” Sotelo said. “We accomplished every objective so far and I honestly believe that this exercise gives us a great opportunity to perform and overcome difficult situations with real time planning and execution. I’m very proud of each and every Marine out here and hope they take something away from being out here.”
| Date Taken: | 05.12.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.31.2015 14:08 |
| Story ID: | 164539 |
| Location: | CAMP PENDLETON, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 13 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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