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FORT MCCLELLAN, Ala. – Cpl. Luis Martinez carefully supervises his junior Marines as they delicately zip the Human Remains Pouch closed, remembering that the zippers need to end up at the head.
The victim in the HRP, however, is not a Marine, or even real. It is a simulated corpse. A dummy. And Martinez and his Marines are not in the cities of Iraq or the mountains of Afghanistan. They are in the forests of Alabama.
From July 28 to Aug. 1, Personnel Retrieval and Processing Company (-) and Detachment PRP Company conducted a joint annual training event here to work on military occupational specialty proficiency, as well as common skills training.
It is PRP’s responsibility to recover, process and evacuate the remains of fallen service members and Department of Defense personnel, said Maj. Randy Velez, Inspector-Instructor, PRP Company The Marines love what they’re doing, so they train seriously, and there’s no lack of volunteers for any deployment rotation.
“MARFORRES maintains the single source for mortuary affairs for the entire Marine Corps,” said Velez. “PRP Company is that single source. So anytime a Marine Air-Ground Task Force or Marine Expeditionary Unit or any type of Marine element needs mortuary affairs support, PRP Company is called upon.”
PRP conducted machine gun fires and familiarization with the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon as well as the M240 medium machine gun, said Gunnery Sgt. Octavius Shivers, Company Gunnery Sergeant, Det. PRP Company
“We also completed mock processing, as well as mock search and recovery missions,” Shivers said. “Our Marines have to be ready at all times. Our units are the most deployed in the Marine Corps.”
Based on their experiences in the unit, Shivers and the other staff noncommissioned officers set up several scenarios to better train the Marines to handle situations they are likely to encounter in a deployed environment.
“Not a whole lot of people know about who we are and what we do,” said Martinez, an administrative specialist and mortuary affairs specialist with Det. PRP Company. “But we’re the guys that make sure that our fallen Marines come home with respect. We’re going to get them back in the best shape possible so their families can rest comfortably.”
PRP was established in 2005, after the need was recognized during the early stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom, said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Christopher Nepper, officer in charge, Det. PRP Company.
“A lot of times, people really don’t know us,” said Nepper. “After the units work with us they always have good things to say because we strive to be as professional as we can. We are professional while we work, while we do the dignified transfers – at all times.”
All of the PRP Marines are proud of what they do, said Velez. They push hard during training because it’s not a matter of if they’ll deploy, but when.
“These Marines, they not only work for the fallen Marines overseas, they work for the families back home,” he said. “They know that’s their mission. They accept that mission, they believe in that mission, and they’re highly motivated to accomplish that mission.”
PRP and Det. PRP have been scheduled for constant deployment through spring of 2014, and have already filled every spot with an entirely volunteer force.
| Date Taken: | 08.15.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 08.15.2012 12:41 |
| Story ID: | 93272 |
| Location: | FORT MCCLELLAN, ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 64 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Joint annual training exercise prepares Marines, promotes skills, by SGT Michael Ito, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
