Subscribe
Marines with 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, conducted a deployment for training at Camp Upsher, aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, Feb 12-26, 2015.
“Deployment for training is an opportunity for the Marines to get away from our home station,” said First Lt. Patrick Hassett, the assistant operations officer for the battalion. “It’s a different location from where they train every week. Coming here from Camp Lejeune provided different weather and terrain conditions while also providing access to ranges we don’t have on Camp Lejeune.”
During the training, Marines participated in several live-fire exercises, casualty evacuation drills, and worked on squad level attacks up to platoon size attacks; common training for the infantry battalion that became more challenging as new terrain and weather unfamiliar to the unit forced the Marines to adapt to their environment while learning how to work together at the fire team level and above.
“The primary goal was to conduct supported, live-fire attacks at the platoon level and we were able to accomplish that with all three of the rifle companies,” said Maj. Paul Haagenson, the company commander of Headquarters and Service Company. “We also got other offensive and defensive tasks and quite a bit of fire-support training accomplished while we were out here.”
According to Cpl. Paul Zagwyn, a squad leader with Bravo Company, the training combined with experiencing the harsh weather conditions served to build unit cohesion as well as develop their knowledge on techniques for staying warm while deployed under similar weather.
“When we all have something we can relate to, such as our hatred of the cold, we end up finding it easier to work together because we’re all going through the same thing,” said Zagwyn. “The cold also made us have to adapt. Back home if I was cold I just went back inside but here we don’t have that option so you have to figure out certain things like what combination of warming layers work for you and how to keep your water from freezing. Learning these things here is a huge advantage over trying to learn it deployed and fighting for our lives.”
Haagenson said, after all training was completed the battalion is better prepared for what they may possibly face while deployed and camaraderie and unit cohesion was better than when they began.
“Any time you go away from a home station and conduct training like this in a new environment it motivates the Marines because it’s different from what they ordinarily see and the weather is different from what they’re used to,” said Haagenson. “There’s also a sense of camaraderie through shared misery when the temperature is falling into the single digits. Through this training we have watched them come together from the fire team level all the way up to the company level.”
| Date Taken: | 03.05.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.05.2015 15:42 |
| Story ID: | 156084 |
| Location: | QUANTICO, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 89 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Snow Day: 1st Bn., 8th Marines plays in the snow, by LCpl David Hersey, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
LEAVE A COMMENT