Photo By Sgt. Jeff Drew | Marines with Weapons Platoon, Company C, 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd...... read more read more
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FORT PICKETT, VA. - Shouts of “GO, GO, GO,” pierced the air as Marines moved from one building to another. In one fluid motion, they knelt under a window, covering each other and watching all avenues of approach. Up went the collapsible ladder, and in moments the first Marine was inside, securing the room. One after another, they bounded up the ladder and into the room.
The Marines and sailors of Company C, 1st Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, spent the day working on military operations in an urban environment at MOUT Town aboard Fort Pickett, Va., March 1. As part of the Fort Pickett training evolution, the Company spent the day rehearsing dynamic breaching drills, improvised explosive device training and finishing the day with a platoon-size assault on four target buildings.
“We have to practice dynamic breaching, so that whenever we get into country we don’t have any problems,” said Lance Cpl. Chad Toledo, a fireteam leader with the company. “If we get it down pat now, there won’t be any mistakes later. Its better to know how to employ the breaching ladder and not need it then to need it and not know how use it.”
After running through breaching drills, they moved on to classes given by Marine engineers who taught them how to use the Valen VMC1 “Gizmo,” a collapsible metal detector commonly found in Afghanistan.
“We are giving the infantry Marines a heads up to put their minds at ease, so they know what we’re doing,” said Lance Cpl. Mathew Donovan, a combat engineer attached to the battalion. There are only so many of us in the battalion, and if we can’t be there, then they have that hands-on knowledge.”
Toward the middle of the day, the three squads of Weapons platoon gathered outside the city, ready to execute a platoon-size assault on four objectives on the far end of town.
“Our objective was to clear four buildings on the southeast side of the town and get rid of any enemy presence to gain a foothold in the city,” said Cpl. Joe S. Walker, a squad leader with Weapons Platoon. “We had four targeted buildings with only three squads. It made us use a lot of the urban warfare tactics we have been working on, clearing rooms and moving from one building to another.”
The Marines, broken up into squads, approached their intended targets from different sides of the city. One squad entered a large four-story building to provide an overwatch security element for the two squads clearing the objectives. As they began to clear the different stories, Pfc. Jonathan L. Avery, an assaultman with the company, took a simulated gunshot to the leg. Marines quickly gave him the appropriate medical care and carried him to a nearby building. Once the objectives had been cleared and secured it was only a matter of calling for the casualty evacuation to get him to a hospital.
Soon thereafter, a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter broke through the tree line and landed. Quickly, several Marines with the platoon helped Avery into the medical helicopter so that he could be flown to a higher echelon of care. As the platoon attack came to a close, the Marines reflected on the day’s course of action.
“Anytime you get into an urban environment, this MOUT training is going to help,” said Walker. “Even outside of a city it puts the Marines into the mindset of fighting a three-dimensional war. They get used to looking above as opposed to just focusing straight in front or off to the right or left, you look everywhere and it gets you focused on your entire environment. With things like IED’s or ambushes, it will keep the Marines looking at rooftops and bushes and overall, more prepared.”
| Date Taken: | 03.01.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 03.08.2011 10:19 |
| Story ID: | 66673 |
| Location: | FORT PICKETT, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 173 |
| Downloads: | 4 |
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