MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. – As Marines return to their expeditionary roots, training the way they fight, Combat Logistics Battalion 5, Combat Logistics Regiment 1, 1st Marine Logistics Group, supported Exercise Steel Knight with supplies to keep Marines in the fight against the notional enemy.
“[CLB-5] provided replenishment refueling points in which we provided [5th Marine Regiment] with fuel, water, chow and ammunition, personnel support and [helicopter support teams],” said 1st Lt. Christopher S. Scheckel, a logistics officer with CLB-5.
Exercise Steel Knight put the logistics Marines in a situation they had not seen for years: conventional warfare.
“Obviously we train for the non-conventional, because that’s the current fight we’re in,” said Schekel. “Our next enemy could very likely be a conventional force, so we [need] to get back to our roots and learn how to fight a conventional enemy.”
The CLB-5 Marines provided direct support to Regimental Combat Team 5, who fought a notional enemy in the desert of Twentynine Palms.
“They definitely depend on us,” said Cpl. Vinh V. Vu, a landing support specialist with CLB-5. “If we can’t get supplies to them, then they simply have no supplies.”
The logistics Marines provided all the supplies necessary to the success of RCT-5 during the exercise.
“[According to] the feedback we’ve gotten, they have been more than happy with the support we’ve provided,” said Scheckel. “We developed a very good relationship with RCT-5.”
During the exercise, CLB-5 Marines accomplished an important first for the battalion.
“We practiced becoming the first CLB that was self-securing,” said Scheckel. “In the past, former MLG units required [military police] or grunts to provide security for them. This is the first time we were a self-securing CLB.”