Photo By Spc. Justin Malone | A Marine, with the Marine Corps Security Force Company, jumps out of a transportable...... read more read more
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GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba - Early one morning, members of the Port Security Unit 313, Maritime Security Detachment began preparing their transportable port security boats. After the boats were thoroughly checked, equipment was loaded, and heavy weaponry was attached to the boats. Once the Coast Guardsmen were locked and loaded, they boarded the boats and rushed off to a pickup site where approximately 50 men waited with weapons in their hands and rucksacks on their backs. The boats pulled up and the men, representing the few and the proud, jumped in. Once aboard the boats, they were sped across the bay where they offloaded and headed off into the distance for their training exercise.
Joint Task Force Guantanamo’s MARSECDET joined forces with Marine Corps Security Force Company at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to conduct a quarterly training exercise, Dec. 22, at NAVSTA.
The Marines were inserted that morning, said Marine Capt. Jerry Wells, a platoon commander with the MCSFCO. From there the Marines set up squad patrol bases and conducted numerous patrols over the course of two days. The training is part of the Marines’ core mission essential tasks and they had to be able to successfully conduct these patrols.
Preparation for the mission was not easy, said Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew Fortin, a boatswain mate with MARSECDET. It takes roughly an hour for the boats to be inspected and for all of the
gear to be loaded, said Fortin. It is a tedious process just to get the boats away from the pier. Nearly two hours later, all of the Marines were successfully transported from their pickup to their drop-off locations. The Marines really seemed to enjoy being on the boat, said Fortin. The wind, early in the morning at 30 knots, felt nice, he added.
After the drop-off, members of the MARSECDET returned to their post as the Marines ventured out to set up patrol bases. For the next two days they practiced realistic battle scenarios. After a couple of days in the wilderness, the Marines’ training finally came to a close and it was time for the Coast Guardsmen to provide transportation once again. The Coast Guardsmen loaded up their boats, met the Marines on a beach, and brought them back to NAVSTA. The Marines really made this exercise easy and smooth, said Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Robert Luder, a boatswain mate with the MARSECDET, who enjoyed working with another branch of the military, which happens infrequently. Afterward, the service members said the training was a great learning experience. It went well, said Wells. The Marines really
enjoyed it and overall it was a success, he continued. It was a good experience for the young Marines to go through, a different type of mission. Normally the insertion or extraction mission would happen by ground vehicles so the deviation from the norm was good for them, Wells concluded. “It was great, the Marines are great service members,” said Fortin. “They were really professional, courteous and respectful to the boat. They hustled and they seemed like they were really well trained. I was very impressed.” After much coordination and execution the MARSECDET and MCSFCO successfully completed their missions showing what the JTF and NAVSTA can do when they join forces.
| Date Taken: | 01.08.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 03.01.2016 12:49 |
| Story ID: | 190687 |
| Location: | GUANTANAMO BAY, CU |
| Web Views: | 165 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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