Photo By Sgt. Austin Long | A Marine with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, records the...... read more read more
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CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Throughout the past twelve years of war, improvised explosive devices has become a primary threat on the battlefield. U.S. forces are all too familiar with the homemade explosive that when created, placed and detonated properly can wreak serious damage and havoc on the battlefield. It is now up to the Marines at all levels to know and be able to search and locate the items and weapons that could be used against coalition forces deployed to hostile regions.
Marines with Bravo Company and Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, and their detachments, participated in a three day Tactical Site Exploitation course at a Military Operations on Urban Terrain town aboard Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, April 1-3, 2015.
The training focused on teaching the Marines how to approach a building and thoroughly search through it for weapons and bomb making materials, how to question the owner of the house, and collect evidence that could be used later by the local government to convict a suspected IED maker.
Marines sat through a day of classes followed by two days of hands-on training at the MOUT town with role-players acting as the local police and population.
Zachary Rock, a counter-improvised explosive device instructor with A-T Solutions, a private training company with the Engineer Training School aboard Marine Corps Base Stone Bay, North Carolina, said, during the hands-on training, course instructors monitor the Marines during the TSE exercises and provide tips and feedback during and after each exercise. Starting from the beginning, the instructors mentor the Marines heavily and gradually back off more and more with each phase of training while evaluating the Marines’ performance.
“I think this training is very beneficial to the Marines,” said Sgt. Gonzalo Pinillossolar, a squad leader with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment. “It’s very realistic having the role-players out here. The instructors are doing an awesome job teaching the Marines what to do. This training is very beneficial for the Marines, because they are all new and don’t have this type of experience yet.”
Although the training is covering just the basic steps for conducting a TSE, Rock, a native from Richlands, North Carolina, said that he hopes the Marines will take back the lessons learned here and combine them with the standard operating procedures for TSE at their parent commands.
“I hope the Marines take away more tools for the toolbox and a different mindset and mentality for their approach to searching,” said Rock. “We teach these guys using a crawl, walk, run approach. With the way the battlefield has changed, TSE is a major skillset needed at all levels. It’s no longer a skill specific to any one job field; it’s important for everyone to know. I wish I could teach this to all the Marines, because you never know when you are going to need it.”
Rock said a lot of what the instructors teach the Marines is based off of what the CIED instructors have experienced themselves either while deployed or stationed throughout the United States. With this knowledge and the curriculum provided from the course, the Marines are able to get a lot of important and useful information.
Pinillossolar, a native from Reston, Virginia, said this training serves two purposes; it allows the Marines to gain experience on sight exploitation and gain leadership experience.
“The guy we have leading my group of Marines is the newest Marine we have,” said Pinillossolar. “The reason is so he can get some leadership experience. During TSE, you’re in a team and everyone has a different billet, just like in a normal working fire team. The team leader is in charge of all the Marines in the group. This allows the team leader to get a lot of experience leading, because he has to account for all the different moving pieces and know what’s going on at all times.”
| Date Taken: | 04.02.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 04.02.2015 18:15 |
| Story ID: | 159025 |
| Location: | CAMP LEJEUNE, NC, US |
| Hometown: | RESTON, VA, US |
| Hometown: | RICHLANDS, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 159 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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