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2nd LAAD shows Royal Army ropes at Camp Lejeune

USMC News

Story Identification Number: 2003327111456
Story by Pvt. Rocco DeFilippis

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, N.C.(March 28, 2003) -- The calm of a peaceful North Carolina beach scene is shattered by a deafening blast as three tungsten darts are propelled from the High Velocity Missile system, also known as the Starstreak, at more than three times the speed of sound, quickly finding their way to a small unmanned Banshee drone aircraft flying a mile off the coast.

Marines from the 2nd Low Altitude Air Defense Battalion teamed up with members of Great Britain's Royal School of Artillery to setup and fire the missile system in a week long training exercise at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., March 15.

"We are out here supporting the British because the weapon system they use is very similar to the one we have," said Master Gunnery Sgt. Cecil Casey 2nd LAAD operations chief, and a native of South Plainfield, N.J.

The British asked for 2nd LAAD's help due to their experience and knowledge of the range area.

"We've been doing all the range work to help them. We also provided a range officer in charge and range safety officer," Casey said. "We come out here a lot, and we are very familiar with the layout of the range and its limitations."

The mission of the British Royal School of Artillery is to train their men to be able to set up and fire in any terrain and at any time.

"The range we have in England is very formalized," said British Royal Army Maj. Terry Turner, OIC of the Royal Army Artillery School, and a native of Larkhill Salisbury, England. "We need to train these soldiers to set up and fire anywhere. Let's say I want to fire in X location. Can I do it... and how quickly can it be done?"

The British artillery school is comprised of the top ten percent of the staff noncommissioned officers in the Royal Army.

"It's an extremely intense course," Turner said. "We not only teach them how to use all of our weapon systems, but how and why they work, and we also train them to be able to teach others how and why they work."

The training exercise was the first time a majority of the students worked together with U.S. Marines.

"I've worked with the United States Marines on several different occasions, but this experience has been exciting to a lot of the other students who are training in America for the first time," said British Royal Marine Corps Sgt. Richard White, Royal Marine air defense commander, and a native of Plymouth Devon, England.

The joint training environment is nothing new to both the British Royal Army and the U.S. Marines.

"It's good to be out here training with our British counterparts," Casey said. ?Because eventually, we are both going to have to be in the same place at the same time, fighting this war on terrorism