MARINE CORPS MOUNTAIN WARFARE TRAINING CENTER BRIDGEPORT, Calif. -- As United States service members continue the fight overseas, improvised explosive devices increasingly grow as the biggest threat to our men and women in uniform.
To prepare the Marines and sailors with Company I, 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, learned the fundamentals of combating this threat during Operation Javelin Thrust, July 21.
“[The course] goes through a lot of information, an overview of different threats around the world, different ways used to hide the IEDs and how deadly they can be,” said Justin Johanson, a counter IED instructor with Marine Corps Engineer Center. “We also focus on techniques for identifying and reacting to IEDs on dismounted patrolling.”
Once the classes began, the Marines could tell they were receiving quality training.
“The IED training out here is one of the best I have seen with the practical application, knowledge they provide and the teaching techniques of the instructors,” said Sgt. Justin Paxton, a platoon sergeant with Weapons Platoon. “Add to that the physical aspect of us training in the mountains, which helps give us an idea of what we are going to encounter in Afghanistan.”
The class and practical applications provided the Marines with different scenarios to help prepare the Marines for deployment.
“We are preparing for every scenario the Marines may encounter from men dressed as women with a bomb on them to a road blowing up from underneath them because we are not only there to stop the terrorists but to help a country not to live in fear of being kidnapped or killed in the night,” said Scott Worth, the company first sergeant.
When the classes finished and the platoons began their dismounted patrolling, all the focus was on the small unit leaders.
“It is a squad leader’s war and we need to give our Marines practice so that they can fight the fight in battle,” said Staff Sgt. Jackie Davidson, the company gunnery sergeant.