Exercise Steel Knight provides insight for 3rd LAR

Photo By Sgt. Seth Starr | Two Marines observe a valley while conducting vehicular patrols in Light Armored Vehicles. Marines from 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion recently took part in training exercise Steel Knight 15 aboard the Marine Corps Air ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif.  

TWENTYNINE PALMS, CA, UNITED STATES

12.19.2014

Story by Cpl. Seth Starr 

I Marine Expeditionary Force

TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. - Marines from 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion recently took part in training exercise Steel Knight ‘15 aboard the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California.

Steel Knight serves the 1st Marine Division as a refinement period to effectively coordinate units in both large scale and amphibious operations and include assets from throughout I MEF; units are deployed into scenario based environments and operate together to meet mission accomplishment.

Marines with 3rd LAR conducted operations, under the support of mortar and artillery fire and employed mounted infantry scouts, to move on and destroy designated targets. A small section of Marines from 1st Combat Engineer Battalion were attached to 3rd LAR to clear obstacles for vehicles and infantry.

First Lieutenant Brian Hua, an infantry officer with Company H, 3rd LAR said that an exercise of such size is a large undertaking.

“It’s operationally complex for sure. The logistical side is difficult,” said Hua. “But the main goal here is for both junior and senior Marines to hone their skills in big operations both maritime and land based.”

Hua continued by saying that command and control element of 3rd LAR’s mission allows senior leadership to view things from the notional ‘front lines’ of roughly 931 square miles of the MCAGCC.

Despite the complexities that accompany Exercise Steel Knight, large training events of this caliber sharpen Marines on the junior most level as well, explained Hua.

“I can see a lot of young Marines start to grasp what’s going on when we start applying what they’ve been training so hard for out in a field environment,” said Hua. “We need that from them.”

Two days into the battalion’s advancement, mortar gun lines and artillery began indirect fire support for troop movements and the crossing of notional enemy lines.

Lance Cpl. Luke Evans, a mortar man with Company A, 3rd LAR said that participation in training of such size gave him a clearer picture of what the main objective was and what was expected of him.

“Because this is a division level exercise, it’s hard to grasp, at least on my level, what’s really going on most of the time,” said Evans. “I was able to see the battle space from a distance at one point and started to understand troop movements and what we were contributing to the entire battalion.”

3rd LAR continued through to the end of the exercise, eventually overtaking and securing enemy positions, accomplishing their mission according to the commander’s intent.

• Date Taken: 12.19.2014
• Date Posted: 12.19.2014 18:08
• Story ID: 150824
• Location: TWENTYNINE PALMS, CA, US