Photo By Spc. Leigh Campbell | Lance Cpl. Matthew J. Limes checks a vehicle for simulated explosives at the vehicle...... read more read more
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By Lance Cpl. Bryan A. Peterson
III Marine Expeditionary Force PAO
CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, Japan -- Guard duty is not the most glamorous of military operations. But threats against forward bases in the Global War on Terrorism are very real, and Marines have to be prepared at all times to protect against those threats.
In that spirit, more than 40 Marines with Headquarters Company, 7th Communications Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, focused on the important role of rear-area security during a day-long training exercise at Camp Hansen's Kelly Hall Jan. 23.
1st Sgt. Johnny C. Higdon, the first sergeant for Headquarters Co., said rear-area security is a job units need to focus on before deployments.
"If a base in, let's say Fallujah, is not guarded well and the enemy infiltrates it, then what good does that do for the Marines and sailors out in the forward areas?" Higdon said. "The Marines who work in the rear provide support for those doing the fighting."
The training included establishing an entry-control point and a vehicle control point, conducting prisoner-of-war searches and seizures and administering first aid.
The company used the battalion's headquarters building to simulate a command operations center in Iraq's Anbar Province. With concertina wire surrounding the building and Marines manning the perimeter with M-2 .50 caliber machine guns mounted on 7-ton trucks, others conducted searches at vehicle control point to make sure no one went unchecked prior to entering the compound's area.
One Marine saw the exercise as an opportunity to brush up on old skills he knew were important.
"When I was in Iraq with (2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment), I rarely pulled rear-area security because I was out in forward areas," said Lance Cpl. Matthew J. Limes, a maintenance management specialist with Headquarters Co. "But when I did, we would have contractors who would come and work on our bases. Every time they came through, we always checked their vehicles inside and out. Terrorists are known to blend in with the local population, so we always have to be careful."
The Marines posted at the entry control point searched every vehicle that came through. If any of the vehicles were rigged with simulated explosives, the people inside were apprehended and searched.
Marines standing duty at the vehicle-check point were tested throughout the one-day exercise by Marines in vehicles acting as nuisances, trying to bait the guards to react with unjustified force.
"We were just standing guard and then all of a sudden a van comes flying down the road (and people inside were) spraying us with water and pelting us with raw eggs," said Sgt. Terron J. Winters, a maintenance management specialist with Headquarters Co. "We didn't know it at the time, but the training included those types of (scenarios) to try and catch us off guard. We made sure to conduct ourselves in an appropriate manner."
A base in the rear is not the only place where a vehicle-control point can be established. Limes said while he was in Iraq from July 2005 to February 2006, if a string of attacks on friendly forces occurred, he and others would conduct "snap" searches if they felt their forward operating base might be a target.
Higdon said the training came a at a great time for those Marines who have not yet deployed in support of the GWOT considering the new All Marine Message 002/07 about getting "Every Marine to the Fight."
"We have all been told that every Marine is a rifleman, and that's why we train all the time," Higdon said. "With troop level increases in combat zones and the commandant's new message about every Marine in the fight, every Marine needs to start preparing because their time might be next."
| Date Taken: | 02.02.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 02.02.2007 12:38 |
| Story ID: | 9040 |
| Location: | CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 277 |
| Downloads: | 140 |
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