CLB-6 executes lethal combat-marksmanship techniques

Photo By Sgt. Paul Peterson | Marines with Combat Logistics Battalion 6, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, engaged in two days of combat marksmanship training during the Integrated Training Exercise at Twentynine Palms, Calif., May 7 – 8, 2013. Approximately 120 Marines engaged targets at unknown distances from armored vehicles and rapidly engaged targets while moving through the Marine Corps’ Enhanced Marksmanship Program. The training is an integral part of the battalion’s preparations at the base where they will spend more than a month testing their abilities to support combat logistics operations.  

TWENTYNINE PALMS, CA, UNITED STATES

05.08.2013

Story by 2nd Lt. John Parry 

II Marine Expeditionary Force   

TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. – An afterthought, perhaps, for those who have never handled a weapon is how to make quick decisions under pressure and estimate the distance to a target – extremely important skills for a Marine seeking to disable an enemy with the first round, the first time.

Marines with Combat Logistics Battalion 6, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, honed this skill set here when they fired on targets at unknown distances and qualified for the Enhanced Marksmanship Program during their pre-deployment training at Twentynine Palms, Calif., May 6 – 7. The battalion, based out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., used the training to prepare for their upcoming Integrated Training Exercise and following deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

“It’s to increase the proficiency of the Marines to have a little more confidence,” said 1st Lt. Christopher E. Wilkerson, a native of Tuscaloosa, Ala., and motor transport platoon commander with Engineer Company, CLB-6. “Everybody’s expected to know how to use a weapon system regardless of what [Military Occupational Specialty] they have because you never know … whatever the situation may be, if enemy contact is made, then everybody needs to be able to use the weapon system at hand.”

A noticeable difference among the Marines is the standardization of the rifle combat optic, which some Marines still had yet to fire until the unit’s training.

“It’s a system that tells distance to the target based on a series of sights within the optic,” Wilkerson said. “It’s a good piece of gear to have. You don’t have to twist anything, and you just put the right part of the sight on the target according to the distance.”

Other changes in Marine Corps marksmanship extend to the way training is conducted. EMP came of age only as recent as this past decade.

EMP and other newer training techniques, developed by lessons learned in battles not-so-long past, teach different styles of shooting and sharpen military decision-making ability, said Staff Sgt. Dustin A. Lund, an Oak Grove, Mo., native and combat engineer with Engineer Company, CLB-6.

“The combat-related mindset of being able to do failure-to-stops with just two to the chest, one to the head in a combat zone is important,” Lund added. “If the two shots don’t take the enemy down, then [Marines] know how to take a well-aimed shot to the enemy’s head.”

As part of its pre-deployment training, the unknown distance and EMP courses will prepare the battalion for its upcoming ITX with infantry, rotary and fixed-wing units and a following deployment. ITX rallies units from around the country before deployment to train in a scripted, free-play exercise designed so units perform for the nation’s needs.

• Date Taken: 05.08.2013
• Date Posted: 05.11.2013 14:08
• Story ID: 106781
• Location: TWENTYNINE PALMS, CA, US
• Hometown: OAK GROVE, MO, US
• Hometown: TAZEWELL, VA, US
• Hometown: TUSCALOOSA, AL, US