CLB-8 Marines prepare for deployment to Afghanistan

Photo By Staff Sgt. Bruno Bego | A group of instructors with Battle Skills Training School, 2nd Marine Logistics Group demonstrate how to properly line up prior to entering a building during a pre-deployment training exercise aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C., July 11, 2012. Troops with Combat Logistics Battalion 8, 2nd MLG learned basic tactics of urban combat in preparation for their deployment to Afghanistan at the end of the year.  

CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES

07.12.2012

Story by Cpl. Bruno Bego 

II Marine Expeditionary Force   

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - More than 100 troops with Combat Logistics Battalion 8, 2nd Marine Logistics Group participated in a pre-deployment training exercise aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C., from July 9 to 13, where they received up-to-date instruction on how to operate in Afghanistan.

“We, as Marines, have to be ready for any situation. In this case it’s our deployment to Afghanistan at the end of this year,” explained 1st Lt. Anthony C. Cox, the 2nd platoon commander with Transportation Support Company, CLB-8. “This course gives the Marines and sailors the tools they need to effectively perform in Afghanistan.”

The curriculum included classes on how to properly use the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, M240 Machine Gun and the .50-caliber Machine Gun, and how to conduct urban and convoy operations.
The instructors also dedicated a significant portion of the course to teach the participants about the most common threat they might encounter in Afghanistan – improvised explosive devices.

Cpl. Steward P. Moss, an instructor at Battle Skills Training School, 2nd MLG explained, as part of the course, the participants spend the last two days of the course learning different ways to visually identify and counter IEDs.

“I think learning how to find an IED is critical for survival in Afghanistan,” Moss said. “IEDs are so unpredictable. They can be anywhere, but if the students apply the things they learned here, they have a better chance of identifying an IED and preventing casualties.”

At the end of each period of instruction, the troops participating in the exercise had the opportunity to practice what they learned during practical application outside the classroom.

“This is a great opportunity for all the new Marines who just attached to our unit to learn tactics that might be useful during deployment,” said Cpl. Joshua B. Bedell, a motor vehicle operator with CLB-8. “The classes combined with the practical application are going to provide a base line for them to know what to do and how to operate as a unit during the deployment.

“I think the most important aspect of the training is that we are all training as a team,” Bedell concluded.

• Date Taken: 07.12.2012
• Date Posted: 07.12.2012 17:19
• Story ID: 91450
• Location: CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA, US