Photo By Sgt. Carson Gramley | U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Dalton Walburn, Pfc. Logan Tarr, and Cpl. Drake Llamas, all...... read more read more
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CENTRAL COMMAND --- The range was on the edge of the base’s defensive perimeter, atop a plateau overlooking the compounds. In the opposite direction, flat desert sand and rock as far as the eye could see. Through the breeze and swirling dust, two truck-sized targets could be seen in the distance about 1,200 meters away.
A group of Marines and sailors from Golf Company, 2nd Battalion 7th Marine Regiment, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command, drove out to the range in the Central Command area of operations and conducted a live-fire exercise aimed at cross training members of the company on various weapons systems, Jan. 6, 2015.
The Marines and sailors engaged the targets accurately with five different weapons systems, pushing some weapons past their maximum effective range.
“We focused on cross training the other Marines on our weapons systems and us on theirs,” said Sgt. Anthony Abitz, a machine gun section leader with the company. “Basically we know machine guns and mortarmen know mortars, but we want to make sure everyone around here knows how to employ all the weapons systems.”
The group brought, it seemed, an entire armory: two .50 caliber M2 heavy machine guns, an Mk19 40mm automatic grenade launcher, an M240B medium machine gun, a long range .50 caliber sniper rifle, and 60mm mortars. They brought enough ammunition to get sufficient practice while preserving plenty of rounds to maintain a secure convoy.
Abitz, from Appleton, Wis., said they do training similar to this regularly to keep the Marines proficient at what they already know and to continue learning new things.
“We try to take advantage of the time and the space we have here so we can get everyone out there on those weapon systems so they understand them; that way, their first time firing them is in training and not in combat,” said Abitz.
Cpl. Drake Llamas, a mortarman and squad leader in the company, agreed that cross training between specialties will keep the company effective and always learning.
“Good training,” said Llamas. “Everyone got to shoot a lot of different weapons systems they’re not generally used to and the experience was well-rounded.”
Golf Company will continue to practice and cross-train with these systems in the future and even try to incorporate some others such as hand grenades and rockets, said Abitz.
As for the performance of his Marines and sailors, Abitz said that it couldn’t have gone smoother.
“The Marines did everything they were expected and helped to train each other,” said Abitz. “Everyone did what we were telling them to do and I think they all got something out of it.”
| Date Taken: | 01.06.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 01.11.2015 04:01 |
| Story ID: | 151714 |
| Location: | (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION) |
| Hometown: | APPLETON, WI, US |
| Web Views: | 570 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Rounds Downrange: 2/7 Marines Cross-Train on the Range, by Sgt Carson Gramley, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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