0311 shares his experience at Cobra Gold

Photo By 94th Airlift Wing | U.S. Marines with the assault section of Weapons Platoon standby in a “cold position” repeating back an enemy position order before moving into a “hot position” to send high explosive rockets down range with Royal Thai Marine integration Feb. 15 during a company-level frontal assault in Ban Chan Krem, Kingdom of Thailand, during field training portion of exercise Cobra Gold 2013. CG 13, in its 32nd iteration, is an annual Thai-U.S. co-sponsored exercise, which focuses on interoperability of forces and readiness, bolstering national partnerships and regional security in the Asia-Pacific region. The U.S Marines from Company A, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment conducted the exercise with the Royal Thai Marines. The battalion is attached to 4th Marines, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, as part of the Marine Corps Unit Deployment Program. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Matthew A. Callahan)  

BAN CHAN KREM, THAILAND

02.15.2013

Courtesy Story

U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific

Courtesy U.S. Marine Cpl. Matthew Callahan

BAN CHAN KREM, Kingdom of Thailand - Racing forward, squads of fire teams at a time, a U.S. infantry Marine recalls the crackle of gunfire rang out in all directions as his fellow Marines began to send rounds hurtling down range.

“Set,” yelled a “devil dog” as he took a knee and fired from his infantry automatic rifle.

“Moving,” bellowed another Marine while moving from the prone position in high grass.

The familiar commotion and arduous hustle of the infantrymen began to melt into a fluid battle rhythm quickly as the Marines with Company A, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, conducted a live-fire company attack with their 1st Infantry Company, 3rd Battalion, Royal Thai Marine, counterparts.

Placing the Thai Marines as main effort in the frontal assault, the attack and many training exercises that took place in Ban Chan Krem, Kingdom of Thailand, define exercise Cobra Gold 2013.

CG 13, in its 32nd iteration, is an annual Thai-U.S. co-sponsored exercise, which focuses on interoperability of forces and readiness, bolstering international partnerships and regional security in the Asia-Pacific region.

Working closely with the Royal Thai Marines introduced the “Lava Dogs” and I to a deeper understanding of operating in a jungle environment while enabling them to function tactically together to develop a strong base to build from with larger-scale operations.

“The company attack was a way for us to show the Thai Marines how we do things; a different point of view,” said U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Travis Main, a squad leader with Company A, 1/3. “Seeing these Thai Marines from the platoon attack to the bigger training events demonstrated their willingness to adapt to tactics they may not be familiar with.”

With mustering sniper observation on notional “shallow” and “deep” enemy targets, indirect fire from 60 and 81 millimeter mortars, direct fire support from medium and heavy machine guns, bunker busting rocket launcher teams and obstacle-breaching combat engineer support, there was little that stood in the way of Company A and their Thai Marine platoon as they swept the roughly 1500 meters of patchy jungle terrain before them.

U.S. Marine Cpl. Kyle Burns, a squad leader with 1st platoon, Company A, took his squad online with the Thai platoon on the final objective of the company assault, moving with their foreign partners to push through the final objective.

“The Thai offered a much different perspective for us on fire and maneuver,” said Burns. “Working to adapt to (the Thai Marine’s) more methodical movement was difficult at first, but as we started to observe on the fly, we also adjusted accordingly and implemented their tactics into our own.”

Adding color to the controlled chaos was the employment of the anti-personnel obstacle breaching system by combat engineers with Combat Assault Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force. The device, attached by a tube with a pin-release string, shoots a series of grenades forward and over the obstacle, detonating and clearing the way for infantryman to advance.

Securing the breach point, the combat engineers established security for the remaining Marines and guided 2nd Platoon and weapons attachments through to establish support by fire positions for 1st Platoon and its Thai Marine partners to complete the assault—all while mortars pushed their fires toward a notional enemy motor pool and training camp deeper into the objective.

Closing in, rockets fired on target, and both U.S. and Thai Marines swept through, completing the frontal assault. With body armor soaked through with sweat and camouflage paint melted off faces, a cease fire was called and both the Thai and U.S. Marines consolidated to carry out the plan of the day.

• Date Taken: 02.15.2013
• Date Posted: 02.21.2013 03:27
• Story ID: 102310
• Location: BAN CHAN KREM, TH