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MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. — “Get back! Get back!” Soldiers shout at an unruly mob throwing potatoes and chanting loudly in the middle of the street.
Smoke mixes with dirt, sweat and emotions, making the air thick and chaotic. A rioter moves forward and knocks over a row of soldiers with riot shields and batons but pays dearly for his violence as a baton cracks on his upper thigh. He is then flexi-cuffed and taken away.
Over the course of a week, Bermudan soldiers patrolled through the streets of a mock village, defended multiple forward operating bases and interacted with role-players as part of a final exercise.
The training was a part of Island Warrior 2015, the final training exercise during annual training conducted by the Bermuda Army aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune May 10 through 16.
Prior to the exercise, the soldiers conducted multiple live-fire ranges as part of their required annual training. Around 180 Bermuda soldiers participated in the event.
Bermuda is roughly 26 square miles in comparison to the over 200 square miles encompassed by Camp Lejeune.
Marines have been training with Bermuda soldiers since the 1980s and will continue to do so in the future.
“It is important to help our allies, because if we were to go into war together I want to know that my allies to the left and right are properly trained and to know that they have my back in any case,” said Pfc. Ronald Nater, a role-player and administrative specialist with Headquarters and Support Battalion.
Nater also said that on the final day of training, the soldiers showed they had mastered the techniques they were taught and worked well together.
“Nobody is hurt or injured,” said Colour Sergeant Ashley Ward, a British soldier helping to train the Bermuda Regiment. “But this training was intense and very realistic.”
Ward also complimented the Marines on how they performed and tested the soldiers who received training very similar to the chaos involved in a riot.
The Bermuda Regiment usually trains aboard Camp Lejeune once every three years to take advantage of multiple state-of-the-art training facilities.
"Camp Lejeune has always been a premier destination for our allies to conduct training for decades,” said John Reeve, operations officer for Camp Lejeune. “These training opportunities further strengthen those critical relationships we maintain with our allies and it is vitally important for our nation and the Marine Corps. "
| Date Taken: | 05.14.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.27.2015 10:41 |
| Story ID: | 164655 |
| Location: | CAMP LEJEUNE, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 36 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Bermuda Regiment conducts riot control training, by Sgt Ned Johnson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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