Photo By James Gilbert | U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground Commander Col. John Nelson (right) and Command Sgt. Maj....... read more read more
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When the Marines and sailors assigned to the recently stood up 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) needed to train in preparation for an upcoming forward deployment, they came to the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) to do it.
Branch Chief Luis Arroyo of the Training Exercise Management Office (TEMO) said the planned event, which took place from Aug. 10 through Aug. 28, was the Marine’s first steppingstone in an intensive training and certification process.
“The training, as a whole, is a building block to get this composite unit to become full mission capable for theater command as a force,” Arroyo said. “Essentially they were here working out the kinks of how they operate together.”
Equivalent to what the U.S. Army calls a brigade combat team, but on a smaller scale, a MEU is an expeditionary quick reaction force embarked on three amphibious assault ships that can respond to a crisis or threat anywhere in the world, often within hours.
Simply put, it is essentially a floating force of readiness carrying Marines, aircraft, vehicles, and artillery that can sustain itself.
Arroyo explained that the 15th MEU has been assigned four subordinate units, which consist of an infantry battalion, an air combat element, a logistics combat element and a command element, and they were here together to harness their collective capabilities during a scenario-based training exercise conducted in field and urban environments.
Approximately 2,300 Marines took part in it, with about 1,350 of them being at YPG. The exercises, which were performed at multiple sites on the proving ground, consisted of the live firings of direct and indirect weapon systems, the use of rockets and missiles, and demolitions.
Other exercises held throughout the training included close air support, weapon qualifications, artillery fires, the firing of vehicle-mounted weapons, threat detection and recognition, dismounted patrolling, water purification and urban operations.
Several weeks of intensive planning went into preparing for training in order to ensure that YPG could provide all the support and assistance needed, according to Arroyo, and that range time could be predicted in advance to successfully conduct the live fire exercises.
“One of the conditions to come and train at YPG is the understanding that priority will always be given to test missions,” Arroyo said. “We can support what they are doing, but we want to also make sure it is done safely without interfering with the test missions.”
Unlike test operations, the Marines involved in the training will operate on their own while downrange, with YPG TEMO staff only on site to oversee control.
“The ranges being used are designed to support training and will accommodate a certain level of human error without affecting any test missions or jeopardizing the safety of any YPG employees,” Arroyo said.
While YPG’s reputation is that of a premier testing facility at the forefront of the Army’s transformation efforts, part of its mission also includes supporting training for all branches of the U.S. military, with Arroyo saying, “We are executing that portion of the YPG commander’s mission statement. Our job is to support the Yuma Test Center commander’s test mission. That is our lane,” Arroyo said. “But as long as we can keep test operations going uninterrupted, we can do anything regulations allow, the ranges can support, is doctrinally sound and is within the visiting unit commander’s intent.”
Arroyo also added that he didn’t think he would be going out on a limb to say the 15th MEU’s training was one of a kind for now, and probably the largest troop exercise held at YPG since Camp Laguna closed in April of 1944.
A portion of the annual Weapons and Tactics Instructor course, better known as WTI, hosted by Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One also takes place at YPG twice a year, with Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Division arriving just days after the 15th MEU completed its training.
“It was a short few days’ turnaround,” Arroyo said. “Having two major events back-to-back is a welcome challenge.”
Camp Laguna was once a sub camp of the U.S. Army Desert Training Center and was built in 1942 under the direction of Major Gen. George S. Patton to prepare troops to fight the Germans in North Africa during World War II.
| Date Taken: | 09.13.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 09.13.2023 13:18 |
| Story ID: | 453325 |
| Location: | YUMA PROVING GROUND, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 202 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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Air Education and Training Command
Yuma Proving Ground
