Field exercise shakes up day-to-day grind

Photo By Pfc. Franklin Mercado | Marines with Combat Logistics Regiment 25, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, wait in a tree line during a field exercise at Gun Position One aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C., April 3, 2012. The Marines patiently waited for an unknown vehicle to pass their position. The purpose of the field exercise was to get the regiment’s Marines and sailors out of their comfort zone and in the field to refresh and enhance basic battle skills they don’t get a chance to practice on a day-to-day basis.  

CAMP LEJEUNE, NC, UNITED STATES

04.05.2012

Story by Pfc. Franklin Mercado 

II Marine Expeditionary Force   

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Marines and sailors with Combat Logistics Regiment 25, 2nd Marine Logistics Group participated in a field exercise at Gun Position One aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C., April 3.

The purpose of the exercise, which began with a six-mile hike, was to refresh and enhance basic battle skills that the unit’s service members don’t get a chance to practice on a day-to-day basis.

“I think they did a great job,” said 2nd Lt. Jose Perez, a Marine with the regiment’s operations section. “This is different from what they are comfortable with, but once they got out of that comfort zone they stepped up.”

During the event, regiment personnel learned about several weapon systems, land navigation and patrolling with the help of infantry Marines from the 2nd Marine Division.

“I thought the exercise was a fun experience,” said Sgt. Eder Campos, a motor transport mechanic with CLR-25. “We don’t always have the opportunity to come out [to the field] and get this type of training. It was awesome and I think everyone learned something from it.”

The Chicago native continued explaining how working with the infantry Marines helped.

“It’s my first time learning from a fellow sergeant and squad leader,” Campos said in reference to Sgt. Andrew Rodriguez, a rifleman with 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd MarDiv. “I learned a lot of things that sergeants do at the [infantry] level.”
The regiment is already taking cues from the training cycle to better their next experience in the field.

“We want to tie in these types of exercises with things we do on [a normal basis],” Perez said. “We can bring out Maintenance Battalion and they can start working in a field environment instead of their typical warehouse.”

The unit is working diligently to ensure their Marines and sailors don’t get complacent, and bringing them out of the office and into the thick brush of the Carolina forests did just that.

• Date Taken: 04.05.2012
• Date Posted: 04.05.2012 11:32
• Story ID: 86288
• Location: CAMP LEJEUNE, NC, US