SAN ANTONIO -- Reserve Marines headquartered here blended into the French countryside as part of a two-week-long North Atlantic Treaty Organization exercise, Sept. 21 - Oct. 5.
Twenty-four Marines and two Navy corpsmen from 1st Platoon, Company C, 4th Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division, joined 1,600 military personnel from 10 NATO countries and 12 NATO-friendly Partnership for Peace nations during Exercise Cooperative Key 2002.
The exercise took place near Saint Dizier Air Base about 120 miles east of Paris.
Designed to promote dialogue and interoperability between participating nations, the exercise challenged the Marines' ability to work in a multinational environment.
"These Marines learned to work with other countries and overcome the language barriers that come with working with a multinational task force," said Huntsville, Texas-based SSgt. Kyle Hood, the unit's 32-year-old platoon sergeant.
The exercise's fictitious scenario revolved around enemy forces infiltrating an airfield, which NATO wanted to seize to provide refugee support for civilians displaced during a civil conflict.
Event leaders tasked two Marine recon teams to get "eyes on" the airfield and provide information needed to determine the enemy's size and capabilities prior to a NATP-led assault. A Croation helicopter crew inserted the Marines and Navy corpsmen into a landing zone roughly 20 kilometers from the airfield. Over the next two days, the teams navigated their way through unfamiliar French countryside to their separate objectives.
"The training we've had is the most real-world I've experienced," said Cpl. Jason Gomez, 24, a native of San Antonio. "Crossing fields and coming across towns is something we're going to have to deal with if we're required for battle."
"Avoiding detection proved challenging," echoed Cpl. Patrick Brady, a 22-year-old recon Marine from Lawrence, Kan. "If you encountered anybody, you could be compromised on the spot. We had foreign maps. Nobody speaks the language. You could definitely get the feeling that you were not in the United States anymore."
The teams hunkered down in wooded area during the day and traveled by the night to minimize exposure. Livestock, electric fences, rifle-toting hunters and the pitch-blackness of moonless nights made traveling precarious. Enemy forces played by French air commandos patrolled the airfield using dogs to try to sniff out the Marines. Still, the Marines prevailed.
"We hit our objective without being caught or seen," said 26-year-old point man Sgt. Darren Smiley, a Dallas-based recon Marine.
The exercise culminated in an airborne assault of the airfield. Marines accompanying U.S. Air Force and foreign paratroopers linked up with the undetected recon teams shortly after securing the airfield. The exercise seemed to confirm NATO's effectiveness. "I've been impressed with the way NATO has developed a series of standard operating procedures that allow different countries with diverse languages to interact with each other on a very standard basis," said Capt. Nicholas Taylor, 30, platoon commander, Dallas.
"The ability to talk to each other and understand what we're trying to do is probably the best training we were able to get," said Capt. Marcus Bowers, 39, battalion air officer, Batesville, Ark. Bowers led a close air support training evolution, which allowed Marines to call in simulated bomb strikes from French, Turkish and U.S. fighter aircraft. "This is a very difficult environment. The Marines have to learn to speak the same language as the pilots," said Bowers.
Marines shared and picked up new tricks from foreign units. "People are going to master different equipment and use it differently and that will involve techniques you may have never thought of," said 38-year-old GySgt. Joseph Christ, company first sergeant, Carrolton, Texas.
For many Marines, the exercise underscored the way future wars will be fought. "It's going to take multinational cooperative efforts to secure peace and freedom throughout the world," said 26-year-old Cpl. Brian Stansell, the unit's acting platoon communications chief from Austin. "If people can't communicate, if they haven't worked together before, it will be that much more difficult."
Exercise Cooperative Key 2002 emphasized the need to take training seriously. Said Brady: "Do your job and do it right. Focus on the little things. Don't get into the mentality that this is just training. That attitude can get you killed faster than anything."