Photo By Lance Cpl. David Hersey | Marines with 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division move through a path...... read more read more
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CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - Marines with 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, trained in breaching exercises with an Anti-Personnel Obstacle Breaching System during a field exercise aboard Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, May 20, 2015.
“The APOB is a tool useful for clearing minefields,” said Capt. Stuart A. Drash, the company commander for Bravo Company, 2nd CEB. “It consists of a rocket attached to a chord lined with 108 grenades. When detonated, it can clear an area 45 meters long and one meter wide, providing a safe path through the field.”
Marines with 2nd Tank Battalion and 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion provided transportation for the 2nd CEB Marines to the site. Upon arrival the engineers dismounted and performed a movement-to-contact as they would in a real combat situation. Once at the simulated minefield, teams of Marines took turns utilizing the APOB in order to clear a path to engage the notional enemy located on the other side.
Lt. Col. Gary McCullar, the commanding officer of 2nd CEB, said the various training scenarios the Marines conducted during their four-day-long field exercise were geared toward heightening their abilities in mobile operations.
“What we’re working on this week is our mobility training in support of the division,” said McCullar. “We started with a scenario based on if we had come off of amphibious shipping and on Tuesday we set up a bridge across an intercoastal waterway and seized an objective further inland… Now on the third day our Mobile Assault Company is conducting an attack with support from the tanks and Amphibious Assault Vehicles where they will be under an ambush and be required to perform a foot mobile breaching operation as a result.”
McCullar stated that breaching is one of the most important skills a combat engineer can possess.
“The mantra I like to say is, ‘Engineers Up,’” said McCullar. “If the infantry or anyone else we would be supporting requires help because they have come up to a point where they can’t maneuver any further, they say, ‘Engineers Up,’ and that’s our call to move. The one thing we need to be able to do is provide that tactical mobility for whatever unit we are supporting.”
| Date Taken: | 05.20.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.27.2015 14:30 |
| Story ID: | 164695 |
| Location: | CAMP LEJEUNE, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 392 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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