GALVESTON, Texas --
Under
the sizzling Texas sun, the violent sound of waves splashes against amphibious
assault vehicles, as they quickly dive into the Galveston channel, echoes
indicating the beginning of Company C, 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion’s
weekend drill at the Galveston Marine Corps Reserve Home Training Center,
August 8, 2015.
Training
is vital to help Reserve Marines maintain and improve their mission readiness.
Every month, Reserve Marines arrive at assigned home training centers to attend
a drill weekend, where they perform exercises and required training. Four main
events were the highlight during this drill weekend for the Marines of Company
C.
Saturday
morning began in a swimming pool. From private to first sergeant, every Marine
with the company is required to pass the intermediate swim qualification. Ten
minutes of treading water, many meters swam and a few hours later, every Marine
successfully passed their intermediate swim qualification.
In the afternoon, the Marines transitioned from the pool
into the AAVs to conduct basic amphibious
operation exercises, which served as a refresher for the Marines. During the
exercise, the Marines drove AAVs from land to water and performed basic water
operations such as left and right turns, circles and tactical formations.
“Reserve Marines have their military
career as well as their civilian jobs, and sometimes it is hard for them to
remember how to perform all the basic operations,” said Master Sgt. Juan
Anorga, company C. operations chief.
“We always try to remind them of the basics and the small things first, so they
can later take care of the bigger and more complicated situations”
At the end of the basic amphibious
operations exercise, a vehicle malfunction prevented one of the AAVs from
reaching the end point. However, the Marines made the best of the situation and
put their skills to the test. They used the stranded AAV to perform a vehicle
recovery exercise.
“We had a vehicle going down, so we
took advantage of it and practiced rescuing a broken vehicle,” said Lance Cpl.
Nicholas Mendoza, crew chief with Company C., 4th Assault
Amphibian Battalion. “We had Marines from the broken AAV getting on top of it
and throwing tow-ropes to another vehicle, so they could hook them up and pull
them back to land”
The next day the Marines performed the final and
main event of the weekend, the surf qualification.
“The surf qualification is an
exercise that ties into our training and readiness manual,” said Maj. Darrel F.
Commander, Company C. inspector instructor. “During the exercise the Marines
will simulate a distress situation in which the all the embark personnel and
the crewmen will abandon the AAV in the water and swim to the shore with their
life preserver on.”
By the end of the weekend, all of
the Marines in the company participated and successfully completed all
exercises, improving their efficiency and abilities in their military occupational
specialties.
“Exercises like these give the
Marines confidence,” said Sgt. Hector Reyesherrera, recovery
chief with Company C. “Whenever Marines have confidence and know what they are
doing, they will always accomplish the mission.”