U.S. Marine Aircraft Logisticians Form Forward Security Force

Photo By Sgt. John Baker | Security Force Marines with Marine Wing Support Squadron 371, Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command, occupy an elevated position during a training event in the Central Command area of responsibility, May 28, 2015. The SPMAGTF is completely self-sufficient, and providing for internal security is just one of the many roles its Marines take on, regardless of their primary military occupational specialties.  

(UNDISCLOSED LOCATION)

05.28.2015

Story by Cpl. John Baker 

Task Force 51/5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade

UNDISCLOSED LOCATION - Force Protection—keeping personnel and their equipment safe—is one of the six primary warfighting functions common to operations in the U.S. Armed Forces. Marines at home and abroad take measures to secure their bases, and the farther from home one gets, the more important force protection becomes.
Marine Wing Support Squadron 371, part of the Air Combat Element of the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Central Command, provides security and quick reaction forces at one of the six locations in which the SPMAGTF operates.

The Marines who fill these security force billets are not infantry Marines like many assume. These Marines come from all sorts of occupational backgrounds.

Captain Peter M. Ciaston, from Jersey City, New Jersey, the security force company commander, explained that when putting this force together, they kept every Marine’s primary skill set in mind.

“We deliberately looked at it in terms of what is a secondary skill set that we can use, whether it’s a motor transport mechanic, a utilities worker, a generator mechanic, electricians or firefighters,” Ciaston said.

Corporal Jeffrie Newill, a crash fire rescue Marine filling the billet of a fire team leader for the security force, said that having Marines from different occupational backgrounds actually gives them a strategic advantage.

“It gives us the advantage of being flexible,” said Newill, from Missoula, Montana. It gives us the ability to remain self-contained and self-sufficient.

Newill said he and several other Marines in the security
force are qualified emergency medical technicians, thanks to their crash fire rescue training. This essentially gives the unit basic medical capabilities without having to rely on adjacent services like the Navy or Army because the Marine Corps does not have its own medics.

Newill explained that his field isn’t the only one adding a lot of value to the unit. He said they all bring important experience and skills to the mission.

“This is my first time working with motor transport Marines,” said Newill. “They have so much knowledge of field operations and experience with convoys and transporting goods and Marines.”

Infantry Marines are not the only Marines who see combat. Newill said the security force has its own set of combat veterans who have been able to pass on their experiences and lessons they’ve learned during earlier deployments.
“A lot of our leaders are combat veterans,” said Newill. “They understand better than anybody what needs to be done here, as far as the mission goes.”

The Marines in the security force company left their parent commands to come together as a unit just three months before deploying. Ciaston said the impressive work ethic of these Marines played a crucial role in getting them ready.

“These Marines have put out a tremendous amount of effort in a fairly short period of time, “said Ciaston. “They’ve worked exceedingly hard and have been operating outside of their comfort zones.”

Over the course of those three months, the Marines became familiarized with patrolling, operating crew-served weapons systems, and land navigation. They also learned to establish defensive positions and to operate a variety of surveillance equipment.

The Marines shot their way across live-fire ranges and sped through convoy operations training before heading overseas.
They also completed nonlethal weapons training to expand the range of options available to a Marine when confronted with a threat.

“We learned our basic escalation of force techniques,” said Newill. “[For example,] if anyone were to try to get through our entry control point without proper identification, we know how to handle that.”

All the training and build up has left the security forces confident in their own abilities and the guidance of their leadership.

“With all the training we’ve done, everyone here really knows their stuff,” said Newill. “I’m in second platoon and we’ve heard nothing but positive feedback from our leadership.”

Now in theater, all the training time the Marines put in has finally proven its value. The security force Marines make sure the area is safe so that maintainers, pilots and air crew working within their perimeter can focus on their own tasks, content knowing there are attentive Marines on post.
Even in a deployed status, Ciaston said that they continue to improve every day.

“They have just continued to grow and it’s humbling,” said Ciaston. “It’s truly an honor to work with them every day and see how much responsibility some junior Marines have. They execute [their mission] with the utmost professionalism.”

The SPMAGTF is a self-contained crisis response force that performs every function it needs to accomplish its mission with assets organic to the unit. The security force provided by MWSS-371 is no different, thanks to the experience, specialties, and professionalism of the Marines in its ranks.

• Date Taken: 05.28.2015
• Date Posted: 06.10.2015 09:57
• Story ID: 166069
• Location: (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION)
• Hometown: JERSEY CITY, NJ, US
• Hometown: MISSOULA, MT, US