Marines train to counter IED threats

Photo By Lance Cpl. Michael Nerl | Lance Cpl. Zachary Kohl, a role player supporting Marines training at Combat Center Range 800, crouches down behind a van March 15, 2011, at the range, waiting to trigger a fake improvised explosive device. Role players and a multitude of other tools are used to help support Marines training in counter-IED warfare at the range.  

TWENTYNINE PALMS, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES

03.18.2011

Story by Lance Cpl. Michael Nerl 

Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center

Improvised explosive devices are some of the perils Marines face while deployed to combat zones.

Facilities like the Combat Center’s Range 800 train Marines in the essentials of counter-IED warfare.

“The lifecycle of [Tactics, Techniques and Procedures] is very short,” said Capt. Douglas Orr, the branch head for Explosive Obstacles and Hazards Branch, Marine Corps Engineer Center, located at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C. “We don’t teach them specific TTPs, because they’re always changing, and that would provide a false sense of security and maybe even set Marines up for failure.

“Here, we teach them the fundamentals,” said the Ridgefield, Conn., native. “We teach them the basics, and look into what region the unit is slated to deploy to and examine what is specifically happening there.”

This week, the personnel of the range, from the Marine Corps Engineering Center, in conjunction with support from the installation’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit, as well as 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, trained approximately 700 Marines to counter the IED threat, said Mike Fay, the site lead instructor at the range, who is from San Francisco.

Fay said Marines training at the range this past week were not only given the expected, high level of training, but were also exposed to some of the newest technology for the first time.

The Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization came here to show Marines one of the Corps’ newest pieces of gear, the Counter Bomber, a device equipped to detect person-borne explosives on targets up to 100 yards away and farther, Fay added.

Lance Cpl. James Farrar, an assaultman with Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, said knowledge is power when dealing with an intelligent enemy.

“You can tell the training here is constantly kept up-to-date, and meant to stay proactive,” said the Boston native.

• Date Taken: 03.18.2011
• Date Posted: 03.18.2011 15:42
• Story ID: 67314
• Location: TWENTYNINE PALMS, CALIFORNIA, US