HILTON RANCH, Nev. -- It is 2 a.m. on June 23, at Hilton Ranch, Nev. Crickets chirped through the cold and silent night while Marines tried to catch some shut eye before another day of hiking through the mountains. All of a sudden, their sleep is interrupted by screaming and shouting traveling from tent to tent through the camp.
“Get up! Get up! Everybody get out of the hooches,” yelled the first sergeant as he walked in between tents tapping them with his flashlight.
“Get a head count,” the first sergeant ordered to the platoon sergeants. “Once you got a count, get them fully dressed.”
Five minutes later, Marines from 2nd Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, are in full combat gear awaiting further instructions.
The forward operating base had gotten hit by a simulated mortar attack as part of the final exercise of Javelin Thrust 2010.
Snipers, who are watching from the hills, reported bright lights shining from six kilometers to the southeast. Company I received the task to ensure security around the base and investigate the attack.
“We punched out for a security patrol and to try and gain a little more situation awareness on the enemy element,” said Sgt. Justin Parker, platoon commander for 2nd Platoon.
Second Platoon exited the gate and heads up a hill to a gun post. There, the Marines stopped, put on their night vision goggles and spread out through the bushes.
“Second squad, we’re going to push toward the left,” Parker said, while pointing towards the shining lights. “Let’s go ahead and get a wedge formation, start pushing south.”
They began moving southeast, patrolling up and down hills in the night. In addition to hand and arm signals, Parker used low verbal commands to control his platoon through the dark.
Fifteen minutes into the patrol, Parker halted the Marines, then waved his hand up and down, signaling for them to take a knee.
“You have to reduce your silhouette, that way you’re not as big as a target to the enemy,” he said.
He walked over to the radio operator and told him to inform the command operation center the direction of their movement.
While he has them stopped, he uses the opportunity to spread the Marines out more. Even though the dispersion makes communication more difficult, Parker said his Marines’ safety is more important.
“In case there was more mortar fire, if the Marines are too close then it will get all of them,” said Parker.
The Marines stood up and resumed the patrol, looking around for each other and enemy combatants.
“You have to be alert and pay attention to everything that’s going on and try to stay in contact with the guy in front of you, the guy behind you, and watch your flanks,” said Pfc. Mitchell Tice, a machine gunner with 2nd Platoon.
They walked down another hill and up to a berm. On top of the berm, they had a clearer view of the shining lights over a mountain ridgeline.
“We’re moving along the berm to get a better view of the dead space,” said Parker.
Parker halted the platoon and got them down to a knee again.
He gathered his squad leaders and told them to watch the southeast from over the berm until they received further instruction to carry on.
“We’re setting in, keeping our eyes on the southeast,” said Parker. “We’re looking out for any enemy activity,”
The platoon watched the southeast from the berm for an hour.
They did not see any enemy activity, but that was not the reason behind the night patrol.
The patrol was to test their ability to wake up in the middle of the night and patrol through the dark using controlled communication and sound judgment.
“At nighttime it’s a lot harder to see anything or hear different commands that they’re calling out because we can’t be too loud so we try and use hand and arm signals,” said Tice. “You can’t see the enemy at near the distance that you can during the daytime so it’s a lot harder at night.”
The Marines traded hours of sleep for an experience that will be useful in future night operations.
“I gained the ability to navigate through pretty difficult terrain at night, with or without night vision and stay in contact with my squad,” said Tice. “Knowing what your platoon is trying to do is important at night because you can’t really see that well.”
Javelin Thrust is an annual exercise conducted by Marine Forces Reserve in several different locations in the Southwest.
This year, more than 4,500 Marines from ground combat, logistical and aviation units are participating in the training, which resembles a Marine Air Ground Task Force operating in Afghanistan, in terms of both terrain and mission objectives.