MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – Another day, another training exercise. The 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit has participated in many training events and annual training requirements. MEU personnel demonstrated once again that they are ready for any circumstance.
On May 8, the 11th MEU participated in an annual gas chamber confidence training here.
“A lot of people look at this as a chore because they think the training is easy or not really important but the things that we teach can save your life in a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear situation,” said Lance Cpl. Joseph Leeder, a CBRN defense specialist with the 11th MEU. “We try to make it so that the training is at least a little fun but everyone pretty much realizes that this stuff is kind of serious.”
MEU personnel initiated the training with a class on basic immediate actions and long-term actions when faced with a CBRN threat. After the class was taught, MEU personnel put on their Saratoga suits and entered the gas chamber to complete the annual confidence training.
“The gas chamber is used to give Marines a basic understanding of what a CBRN situation is like,” said Staff Sgt. Sean Fordham, the CBRN chief with the 11th MEU. “While in the chamber, we tell Marines to do things that make them move fast so that we can show them that the equipment, when used properly, works.”
The 11th MEU’s goal is to complete CBRN confidence training every quarter while still completing the annual gas chamber training requirement. The MEU is also scheduled to take past in many other training events that will prepare them for a multitude of circumstances.