Photo By Cpl. Michael Dye | Sgt. Dequane Smith, a squad leader with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine...... read more read more
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Ammunition was distributed for the M203 grenade launcher, the M67 hand grenade, and the M16 and M4 service rifles with one goal in mind: to further master the art of combat marksmanship.
“Individual training is such a crucial part of anything these Marines do,” said 1st Lt. James Hurton, the company’s executive officer and North Kingstown, Rhode Island native. “In order to effectively go into battle you have to have 100% confidence in your Marines’ abilities.”
Marines train in various tactics that involve squad-size and battalion-size movements and attacks. In order for these types of attacks to be successful, each Marine needs to be proficient in marksmanship and have full confidence in the weapon system they are using.
“When we get out here and train individually, we are able to break down and understand each Marine’s strengths and weaknesses,” said 1st Lt. Jon Sanko, a platoon commander with the company. “After this is done, we now have a clear understanding of what we can do to better our Marines on an individual level that will better help us with squad, platoon, company and battalion-size evolutions. “
Part of the training conducted consisted of a modified Combat Marksmanship Program that was geared to test the Marines’ accuracy and speed.
“We have several targets set up at unknown distances,” said Sanko, a Butler, Pennsylvania native. “The idea is to give the Marines a specific number of rounds. Once the first round goes off, time starts; when all the rounds are fired, time stops. We then calculate time with rounds with how many targets the Marine hit, and we come up with a percentage. With that we can better understand how efficient each Marine is and know how we can better them.”
Honing these individual skills at the lowest level possible is a way to improve each company’s overall effectiveness.
“This training is the base foundation, or the building block, for every rifleman,” Hurton said. “Once this training is complete, we will use what we have learned and improved on, and we will work on fire team and squad training all the way up to battalion training. We will continue this cycle over and over again because it is important to be ready to go if something happens.”
| Date Taken: | 03.04.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.05.2015 10:58 |
| Story ID: | 156053 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 155 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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