QUANTICO, Va. -- Some 50 Marines honed warfighting skills through roadside bomb detection, response and enemy engagement exercises here Nov. 4 and 5.
Provisional Security Platoon, 1st Supply Battalion, 4th Marine Logistics Group, executed the day-long exercises at the Military Operations in Urban Terrain Facility to prepare for its upcoming Afghanistan deployment.
The hands on training came after a full day spent in the classroom learning about improvised explosive devices from instructors with the Marine Corps Engineer Center, based at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C. The instructors, civilians with military backgrounds in infantry and the explosive ordnance disposal field, set up courses at the MOUT town to serve as practical application of what the Marines learned in the classroom.
“I want the Marines to walk away with confidence and respect for the enemy. In Iraq we were against the junior league. In Afghanistan we are up against the varsity team,” said Travis Hanson, a counter-IED instructor, referring to the many years some insurgents in Afghanistan have spent practicing warfare. “Sometimes when people train, they just want to go through the motions, but you really need to train as you fight.”
On the “IED lane,” Marines traversed a route where instructors emplaced various IEDs to teach them to spot evidence of the hidden explosives. The Marines learned firsthand how difficult finding them can be.
“Some of these IEDs are hard to spot. There was one hidden up in the trees that you would think, ‘Oh, I never would have been able to spot that,’” said Lance Cpl. Josh Matthews, a military policeman and Pittsburg, Pa., native. “There was actually a pressure plate so well hidden that some of us stepped on it on the way up the route and then stepped on it again on the way back.”
The second training day’s main event featured a squad-sized patrol working through the facility where they responded to IED detonations and simulated insurgent ambushes from various buildings. During the scenarios, the squad also had to deal with simulated casualties caused by the small-scale explosions.
Pittsburg native Sgt. Kevin Conner, an MP and squad leader, said the training was a good experience for the platoon, which recently formed to begin preparing as a team for the upcoming Afghanistan deployment.
“The training was very realistic. You see the smoke and hear the noise and it registers with everybody…you try to not to let the explosions rattle you,” Conner said. “You try to prepare and practice drills as much as you can, but this is an enemy that learns from us and what we do. I’d rather we make a mistake here than have to pay for it with a Marine’s life.”
The IED training was conducted as part of exercise Quantico Viper 7. Quantico Viper is a pre-deployment exercise conducted by 4th MLG twice a year for units within the group.