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U.S. Marines, Malaysian Rangers Dig in for Jungle Training

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS080719-03
Release Date: 7/19/2008 8:04:00 AM

By Lance Cpl. Andrew S. Avitt, Commander, Task Force 73 Public Affairs

REMAN CEREH, Malaysia (NNS) -- The 3rd Marines Combat Assault Company (CAC) held survival training with Malaysia's 8th Army Rangers, July 8.

Their faces painted in camouflage patterns, the Rangers began the We are Eagle (WIRA) training exercise, a five-day exercise in a simulated combat zone deep in the Malaysian jungle.

During the exercise, the militaries set up fortified camps, patrols, elaborate ambushes and reconnaissance in the dense vegetation of the Reman Cereh Reserve Jungle near Lembing Kuanton. While WIRA Eagle cast the jungle as adversary, it was Rangers in the role of enemy combatants who proved to be the real challenge.

Malaysian officials briefed the troops on two different types of nonlethal booby traps, mines and trip-wires, traps that from then on would pose a constant and present danger.

The mines were small cylinders that smoked when stepped on; the trip-wires, attached to blasting caps, produced large percussive bangs when tugged or cut. Blasting caps like those used during the training are especially dangerous on beaten paths and are often a telltale sign of impending ambushes.

After the brief, Rangers integrated into three Marine squads and mounted their convoy for headquarters camp. The lead truck soon came under "attack" and established a hectic pace early on that would hold for the duration of the exercise.

"The jungle is neutral," said Deputy Inspecting General of the Army, Col. Doan Seng Lock. "The jungle doesn't favor one side over the other, it favors the force that understands its nature best."

After the situation was clear, the Marines mounted the convoy and continued their transit to headquarters. Once there, the 80-man joint military force set out for camp, a long haul through dense air and even denser jungle, over hills and across small creeks.

It would be almost two hours before the troops reached their bivouac site three kilometers away. The camp, an untouched site overgrown with vegetation, entangled the newcomers as they climbed the creek's slope and set up camp along its banks. Marines and Rangers dug in, and formed a 360-degree perimeter of fighting positions to defend against the guerilla role players.

"While digging fighting positions, it became obvious how hard the site would be to defend," said Lance Cpl. John C. Jones, a rifleman with 3rd CAC. "The enemy could remain concealed behind the jungle brush up to meters from their positions if approached by day and possibly even closer by night."

Heavy rain fell throughout the night. Despite the poor conditions, the joint forces spent hours laughing with one other, sharing in the water-logged misery of their new-found comrades.

Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training is an annual series of bilateral maritime training exercises between the United States and several Southeast Asian nations designed to build relationships and enhance operational readiness.

For more news from Commander Task Force 73, visit www.navy.mil/local/clwp/.