CLB-2 completes EMV in preparation for Afghanistan
US Marine Corps News
7/1/2010
By 1st Sgt. Rusty Baker, 2nd Marine Logistics Group Public Affairs contributor, 2nd Marine Logistics Group
Marine Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif. -- The Marines of Combat Logistics Battalion 2, Combat Logistics Regiment 2, have retrograded to their home duty station of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., after wrapping up a month-long evolution of training at Enhanced Mojave Viper aboard Marine Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., July 1.
Comprised of combat logistics operations training in an arid desert environment, EMV was the final stage of preparation prior to CLB-2’s upcoming deployment to Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, scheduled for this summer.
Approximately 550 active-duty Marines from the battalion were augmented with 150 Reserve Marines who were mobilized primarily from their home training centers of Savannah, Ga., Orlando, Fla., and Lubbock, Texas. Mostly a voluntary force of redeploying Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans, these motor transport operators, military policemen, landing support specialists, and heavy equipment operators comprise the multirole capabilities inherit in CLB-2’s Bravo Company.
“Integrating the Reserve Marines throughout the battalion combines those civilian skill sets with our active-duty counterparts and the results are those Reserve Marines feel they are value added to the battalion and the battalion has a whole has increased capabilities,” said Bravo Co.’s commanding officer, Capt. Jeremy Henwood.
According to Henwood, a 15-year veteran of the Marine Corps and three-year veteran of the San Diego Police Department, the individual reservist brings with him many different experiences from which active-duty Marines benefit.
Henwood was among the group of reserve Marines to be mobilized April 1 to begin their pre-deployment training. This is his third deployment to support combat operations since the onset of Operation Enduring Freedom.
“The austere training environment offered by the Tactical Training Exercise Control Group at Twentynine Palms enables combat logistics battalions the opportunity to train as they fight during pre-deployment training,” Henwood explained. “The operational tempo in Afghanistan will not be as fast or with the same limitations on equipment and personnel as it has been here.”
The high tempo of training received at EMV was a gut-check to even the most seasoned of veterans. Motor transport operators ran through a gauntlet of motorized operations, complete with live fire and maneuver exercises, all the while supporting the resupply of water, fuel, food and ice to infantry units, and conducting heavily-armed personal security details with the battalion staff.
“Training our Marines to adapt to a faster timeline with limited resources is no small challenge,” Henwood added.
Crews were purposely subjected to sleep deprivation and fast-paced operations similar to those in the current theatre of combat operations.
“Combined, these missions are good scrimmages to the actual show,” said one of Bravo Co.’s section leaders, Sgt. Amos Nugent, a mobilized reserve Marine from Lubbock, Texas. “Patrols give us a good basis for convoy ops like we’ve seen in theatre. Combine that with the loading and off-loading of materials, [EMV] gives us more familiarization in preparation for convoy ops.”
Bravo’s final graded event was the Combat Logistics Patrol Exercise; where the initial crawl-to-walk-to-run exercises culminated a full boar, multifaceted logistics patrol, complete with reactions to simulated unexploded ordnance, improvised explosive devices with the hasty establishment of a landing zone for casualty evacuation, and enemy engagements of deliberate complex ambushes and hit-and-run attacks.
“In one scenario, we encountered a blocked ambush with an IED, and our lieutenant became a [simulated] casualty,” said Mk-19 gunner Cpl. Dustin J. Baldwin, a mobilized reserve Marine from Melbourne, Fla. “There were a lot of dismounts because their guns were down. My truck pulled up behind them and I engaged the Ivan targets with training rounds.”
At the conclusion of the CLPEX, the convoy’s commander, Chicago native and mobilized Reserve Marine, 2nd Lt. Jared M. Kandell, commander of Bravo Co.’s 2nd Platoon, called in artillery from Golf Battery, 2nd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment to annihilate a hardened enemy position.
“It was pretty cool,” said Baldwin, a University of Florida student who volunteered for his second deployment, “They dropped about 15, 15mm rounds on a tank.”
CLB-2’s motto of “keeping them moving” means more than just trucks hauling beans, bullets and Band Aides. Bravo Company’s medium and heavy-lift motor transport operations capabilities have been reinforced with landing support operations complete with helicopter support teams and conventional airfield control groups, as well as the quick and precise material handling of heavy-equipment operators.
Honing their skills to perfection, the Landing Support Marines of Bravo worked with several Marine Corps rotory-wing aviation squadrons in air-lifting everything from pallets of Meals Ready to Eat, to filled water tanks,” and even M777 155mm Howitzers. The crew of 36 Marines also took shifts to run the airfield of nearby March Air Force Base with members of the LS Company, Combat Logistics Regiment 17, March AFB Arrival/Departure Airfield Control Group Platoon.
“[Helicopter Support Team missions] are what we’re most popular for, but it’s not my favorite,” said landing support specialist Cpl. Wayne A. Butler, a mobilized reserve Marine from Jacksonville, Fla. “I like running the helo portion. With an A/DACG, there’s always something different. I’ve met presidents, four-star generals, even Chuck Norris.”
Often, the contributions of Marine engineer equipment operators go unnoticed. It’s not the case with the ground-shaking Heavy Equipment Platoon of Bravo Company. During the week of EMV’s General Engineer Exercise, where a sister company moved forward to support training, Bravo’s 23 HE operators solely supported the entire facility of Camp Wilson on Twentynine Palms.
“We’re the smallest part, but everything that goes on and off those trucks is done by us,” said London native and engineer equipment operator, Sgt. Thomas Green. “We’re like the bolt in the middle of an engine, without that little bolt the whole things falls apart.”
In between missions, the Company stayed busy grappling and body hardening utilizing the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, thanks to Green, a MCMAP Black Belt Instructor.
“The Marines love the PT and competitiveness of [MCMAP], but there’s more to it than the physical aspect. There’s the mental discipline and character-building aspect that will prepare them to be better Marines and better leaders of Marines,” Green explained.
“Now, with our training complete, the Marines have a strong sense of accomplishment and are looking forward to employing what they have learned,” Henwood said.
CLB-2 returned home for the Fourth of July holiday to enjoy an opportunity of taking one last period of leave with their families and loved ones prior to final preparations for deployment.
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