Photo By Staff Sgt. Reece Lodder | Lance Cpl. Justin Dahme, a team leader with Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine...... read more read more
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RANGE TRAINING FACILITY KANEOHE BAY, MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII -- The sickeningly stifling tropical sun beats down on the weathered infantrymen but they’ve stopped noticing. Clad in flak jackets, Kevlar helmets and with weapons in hand, their uniforms are stiff from salty sweat and filthy from days of patrols and constructing fighting holes. Green beads of sweat and camouflage paint glisten and melt off their stoic faces.
Though the situation seems less than comfortable, it’s where the infantrymen, students with the Infantry Squad Leader Course, perform at their best.
In culmination of the offensive and defensive portions of the course, the students performed a live fire and maneuver assault at Range Training Facility Kaneohe Bay here Aug. 26.
“Through this training, the students are learning how to control, lead and move their Marines as a squad leader,” said Staff Sgt. Eric Ciotola, chief instructor, ISLC.
The course, run out of School of Infantry West — Detachment Hawaii, provides infantrymen the technical and tactical tools to begin leading squads of Marines in the fleet, Ciotola said.
As the assaulting squad assembles behind a hill, the nearly inaudible hiss of a burning wick preceded into a jarring bang, simulating enemy mortar fire. A short distance away, a squad of Marines rushes down range past the screen of white smoke to position support by fire with their machine guns. They post and suppress fire, and the assaulting squad crosses the line of departure in four-man fire teams.
“Students come to this course from all different units and have to learn to work together as a team,” said Staff Sgt. Michael Wissmeyer, staff noncommissioned officer in charge of ISLC.
With each step forward, the Marines work to close on their objective and increase proximity to the enemy. From his temporarily static prone position and between the snap of rounds, the squad leader bellows, “Buddy rushes!” Despite their heavy gear load, teams of two hastily bound forward under cover fire.
“The training gives me the knowledge I’ll need for when I get dropped into a team or company,” said Cpl. James Campbell, an ISLC student who recently joined 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, after a tour with Marine Corps Security Forces.
The Richland, Wash., native said the valuable opportunity of delving in-depth into patrolling, fire and maneuver ranges, and defensive tactics and techniques has benefited his leadership abilities, which will expand the knowledge and proficiency of the Marines he’ll lead.
Finally, the infantrymen arrive at their objective and begin clearing it. The fire team leaders consolidate and reorganize to repel the inevitable enemy counterattack, giving the squad leader status reports on their ammunition, casualties and equipment.
“Having to build communication within your squad and take charge makes us more confident and prepares us for the leadership billet,” said Lance Cpl. Felix Davila, a squad automatic weapon gunner with 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment.
Being forced to take initiative in operations like the live fire and maneuver assault teaches future squad leaders how to employ their Marines as a whole and further prepare them for combat situations, said Davila, of Chicago, Ill.
Before the students can take charge of their squads, however, they must endure ISLC’s challenging schedule of 45 training days and more than 600 academic hours.
As the course progresses, each class builds on the previous and works on building the individual’s combat leadership, said Wissmeyer, of DeRidder, La. The students learn offensive and defensive tactics and techniques, advanced patrolling and tracking, military operations in urban terrain, demolitions, land navigation, fire plan sketches, and unit training management.
If students build their knowledge and make it through difficult situations during the course, they’ll be more proficient and ready to fill their billet once they return to their units, Davila said.
| Date Taken: | 09.03.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 09.16.2010 20:43 |
| Story ID: | 56434 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 263 |
| Downloads: | 11 |
This work, By fire and maneuver: ISLC prepares squad leaders to close with, destroy the enemy, by SSgt Reece Lodder, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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