Recon Marines Take aim at Weapons Proficiency

[SGRock]

Camp Hansen Okinawa, Japan - Under the blistering rays of the sun, service members donned full battle gear and sent thousands of rounds down range during a joint service exercise.

About 20 service members with Deep Reconnaissance Platoon, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit; 3rd Intelligence Battalion, 3rd Marine Division; and 320th Special Tactics Squadron, 353rd Special Operations Group, Air Force Special Operations Command; are participating in the seven-week weapon aptitude class known as the Dynamic Assault Course from June 16 to August 4 in Camp Hansen.

The exercise is designed to ensure Marines are proficient with the M-4A1 carbine and the M-45 pistol, explained Gunnery Sgt. Robert Blanton, a close-quarters battle instructor with the III Marine Expeditionary Force's Special Operations Training Group.

The Marines qualified with the weapons by completing various procedures during drills such as tactical and speed reloads, and combat drills.

The training Marines received during the exercises is very different from typical rifle range qualification.

"On the rifle range you get a lot of time to shoot a few rounds," said Capt. Brenden Hobson, the platoon commander for Deep Reconnaissance Platoon. "Here, you get a short amount of time to shoot many rounds. This is the best possible training because it mirrors combat situations."

Marines with 3rd Intelligence Bn. participated in the exercise along with MEU Marines because they are frequently attached to the MEU as individual augments during deployments, Blanton said.

"They are going to the same places and it is vital that they have an idea of what's going on," he said.

The intensive training was even more unique due to one noteworthy addition: an Air Force staff sergeant.

"Combat controllers work closely with each other in all of the services," explained Air Force Staff Sgt. Ashley Spurlin, a combat controller with the Special Tactics Squadron. "It's good to be able to integrate with the Marines and learn tactics and procedures."

The course is providing building blocks necessary to allow for improvement in weapons tactics, said Hobson.

"When the time comes for this training to become reality, we'll be ready," he said.

[USMCRET6391]

Rock, I miss the days on Embassy Duty when we got to go burn up all the rounds the State Department could supply so we could Fam Fire our weapons.

[SGRock]

Oh HELL YES!!!!
It was really great in Bogota where we had all of the Uzi's and Mini 14's. Somalia was nice in that we got to go to the SF base and shoot all of the soviet and chinese weapons.

[USMCRET6391]

We had Uzi's in Rome plus we got to fire all the State Dept weapons they had in their arsenal. We fired on an open Air Force Range. One time we took some old "bullet proof" glass that was left over from when they hardened all the Posts and shot the shit out of it. The Marine weren't real impressed when the Shot Gun rounds went right through it LOL. Cairo was a little more restricted because we had to fire on the Egyptian Army's Range and they were a bit leery of us hauling all those weapons around

[SGRock]

We took the Colombian "Escoltas" (Ambassador's bodyguards) with us to the range one time. We let them fire our Mini 14's and Shotguns. Then I freaked them out by firing the Uzi one handed. LOL. In Somalia we fired at a "range" near the prison. The poles we attached the targets to had human feces all around the bottom. Seems that's where they did the executions.