Photo By Sgt. Anna Albrecht | U.S. Marine Sgt. Andy Muller aims in during a dry-fire drill at a close-quarters...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – Marines with Bravo Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, participated in their fourth week of a close-quarters tactics course aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., Sept. 25, 2014.
This course is designed to help the Marines maintain speed and accuracy while applying close-quarter tactics before compositing with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit in October.
Bravo Company is training to be the number one force the MEU commander can call upon for any type of mission from an urban environment to tight quarters on a ship, said Sgt. Ian Walker, an assistant team leader with Bravo Co., 1st Recon Bn.
“No matter where were going; We’re flying in helicopters and going to an urban environment, going to go sit up on a hill for four or five days straight or we’re going to go out and hit a ship or some kind of boat to take it down,” said Walker, from Anderson, Calif., “This whole company has trained together and we’re able to do that no matter what team you pick.”
Walker explained that while the Marines are split into teams they work within their entire platoon and company during their training.
“You never know who you’re going to be next to in a stack while you’re moving through a building or a whole urban environment, so we train with everyone in the company,” said Walker.
Working together the past few weeks allows the Marines to work on their communication as they move through an environment.
“Whatever you see in the house, you need to communicate so the guys behind you know what they’re running into, otherwise they’re blind until they’re actually in that room set up,” said Walker. “Once you’re in the room you take that quick look using your peripheral vision and actually seeing what that next guy is going to do. You can read his body language; you can see what that guy’s going to do, what he’s thinking, before he actually does it.”
Gunnery Sgt. Kevin Homestead, a platoon sergeant with Bravo Co., 1st Recon Bn., explained that strong communication is key to success when moving through a house.
“With initiative-based tactics, you should be able to react [off of non-verbal communication]. You should be able to see what your buddy is doing to your left and right and then be able to react off of that,” said Homestead, from McMinnville, Oregon. “That’s how we flow through a house without slowing things down. Once it gets loud, we will go with the verbal communication just to ensure our explicit communications are there, everyone understands what’s going on and there’s no confusion.”
The skills Bravo Co. is learning throughout this course ensures the Marines are well-prepared for their upcoming deployment with the 15th MEU.
“In Recon we have numerous different mission-sets so this just gives us another tool in the toolbox for the MEU commander to be able to utilize a precision raid-force,” said Homestead.
The Marines will continue to work together as they fine-tune more and more tactics during this course. After the CQT course, they will continue to train with the 15th MEU until deployment.
| Date Taken: | 09.26.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 09.26.2014 19:00 |
| Story ID: | 143454 |
| Location: | CAMP PENDLETON, CA, US |
| Hometown: | ANDERSON, CA, US |
| Hometown: | MCMINNVILLE, OR, US |
| Web Views: | 177 |
| Downloads: | 6 |
This work, Recon Marines sharpen communication during CQT, by Sgt Anna Albrecht, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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