Photo By Jacob McDonald | Marine Cpl. Demetrius Moorer, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 22nd Marine...... read more read more
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Lance Cpl. Steven Dunn raised the hammer with a look of determination on his face. Beads of sweat trickled like rain drops onto his collar. The tall Marine swung and drove the nail into its final resting place, a 4 x 4 board holding a wall in place.
Members of the Battalion Landing Team, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), the Navy Seabees, and the Army Engineers began work to repair and redesign the Dismounted Improvised Explosive Device Course at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, Sept. 26.
The objective of the project is to make the Third Army/U.S. Army Central training range as realistic as they can, educating service members to recognize IEDs and ways to defeat the deadly weapons. Making the range more realistic involved construction of towns and roads for service members to navigate.
Gunnery Sgt. Eric Fears, engineer staff non-commissioned officer in charge, said his platoon of 39 gung-ho Marines originally wanted to build a bunker and fighting position on the camp.
"We have a lot of younger Marines in our unit. (The lieutenant and I) wanted these guys to get some experience building things," Fears said. "When we heard about the training village, we went and talked to the Army and asked if they needed anything built."
The idea, the gunnery sergeant said, was to build something that would last and could also be used by Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine personnel who came through the camp for training. Fears said when the IED course rebuilding project was brought about, his group of builders jumped at the chance to leave their mark on the camp.
"So we teamed up and this is the result," Fears said pointing to the buildings that were being moved by forklift into place along the course.
Master Sgt. Patrick Main, 1st Army (Forward), said the construction is going on despite one minor snag – no money. Everything that has been built has either been borrowed or scavenged from other sections.
"We've borrowed everything from the bobcat hauler to the nails that have been used," Main said.
Working on a joint endeavor such as this is helpful for a number of reasons, Fears said. First it gives the younger service members, who may be in their first year in the military and a little green, some seasoning. Secondly, it gives them job experience.
"If they decide to leave the military when their tour of duty is up, it is something they will carry on when they get out of the Marine Corps and learn from," Fears said.
A third reason is the opportunity to work with the other branches of service.
"It's not like we get to work with the Army all the time or the Seabees," Fears said. "As engineers, it's great that we get to work with the Seabees and Army because they do some of the things we do and they do things that we don't get to do. We get to trade ideas and pick each other's brains. We can gather information from them and they from us. This way, when the younger members of the team are leaders, they can say 'I learned this from the Marines. This is what they taught me.'"
Petty Officer 3rd Class Melissa Coakley, Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 40, said everyone has put aside service pride in order to accomplish the mission. She said people are quick to help out their construction brethren accomplish their tasks.
"We all work hand in hand. If we have materials in a troop hauler, the Marines will jump in there and unload it," Coakley said. "If they need materials up on the hill, we'll haul it up here for them."
Whether it's hammering nails into a wall or erecting buildings, each Marine, Soldier and Sailor keeps the main goal within sight – giving future service members training that is very real and lifesaving.
"It's very important because if we don't give them this training they're going to be stepping out there not knowing what to even look for," Fields said. "Well, by using this IED lane, these personnel are going to get a good idea of what to look for when it comes to IEDs and in turn, it will save a lot of lives."
| Date Taken: | 10.07.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 10.07.2007 06:35 |
| Story ID: | 12738 |
| Location: | KW |
| Web Views: | 209 |
| Downloads: | 134 |
This work, Servicemembers improve CIED training facilities, by SGT Wesley Landrum, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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