Scout swimmers on Okinawa train for element of surprise

Photo By Sgt. Aaron Hostutler | Marines participating in the SOTG, III Marine Expeditionary Force, scout swimmer course adjust their gear while waiting to conduct helocast operations as part of the course's final exercise, April 28.  

CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, JAPAN

05.07.2010

Story by Cpl. Abigail Brown 

III Marine Expeditionary Force   

Marines participating in the Special Operations Training Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, III MEF, scout swimmer course conducted helocast operations as part of the final exercise for the course, April 28.

During the three weeks prior to jumping from a helicopter into the ocean, however, the students learned to "box the surf zone," secure the beach landing site and signal the raid force, said Sgt. Kevin Poor a raids instructor with SOTG. When scout swimmers box the surf zone, they swim to make a box of a potential beachhead to ensure there are no underwater obstacles for a follow-on raid force, he added.

"The scout swimmers are a very important part of the raid force," Poor said. "They have to ensure the beach landing site is suitable and secure before operations proceed."

"We learn to conduct proper and professional beach approaches," said Cpl. Michael Baltrusitis, a coxswain with small craft raids platoon, SOTG.

A scout swimmer section is composed of four two-man teams, Poor said.

"This produces a lot of trust between us which we need because we only have each other when we go out on a mission," Baltrusitis said. "We never know what we're going to find on a beach, so we depend on each other."

"Tactics and teamwork are probably the two most important things with this," said Lance Cpl. William Noonan a rifleman with Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, III MEF.

"We have to be able to communicate and work together, so we train physically and do different drills to practice what we're learning together," he added.

"At first we segregate ourselves based on who we know, but over the weeks we all grow together," added Noonan.

As the team comes together, leadership develops.

"A lot of small unit leadership comes into this," Poor said. "The scout swimmers never know what they're going to find when they approach a beach."

Some of the classes in the course include water aerobics – to maintain the students' physical conditioning – recognition of hazardous marine life, hypothermia treatment, and day and night surf operations, Poor explained.

However, one of the main things emphasized in the course is the long-distance swimming, the longest being five kilometers, although the qualification swim is shorter. The swimmers wear fins, but there is definitely a technique to swimming a little more than three miles in the ocean.

The students learn the technique, but they also learn they have the physical capability to cover that distance.

"Being able to complete the training missions was the best part," Baltrusitis said. "The great morale of the instructors who pushed us to do better in our training definitely helped."

"Students have to swim two kilometers wearing fins in under 65 minutes and pass a written examination to graduate," Poor said.

"It's a very challenging course," Baltrusitis commented. "There are a lot of things to learn in and out of the water."

The course takes male Marines with at least swim qualification one and turns them into scout swimmers.

• Date Taken: 05.07.2010
• Date Posted: 05.09.2010 22:18
• Story ID: 49376
• Location: CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, JP