Task Force Koa Moana: Grunts survive Fiji

Photo By Sgt. William Hester | U.S. Marines and Sailors and Fijian Soldiers put banana leaves on their shelter to protect themselves from rain, July 15, 2016, as part of jungle survival training, at Ovalau, Fiji during a multi-national, bilateral training exercise between the U.S. and Fiji. During the survival training, the Marines and Sailors, with Task Force Koa Moana, and Fijians were separated from their platoons and were forced to find food, shelter and water to survive for more than 24 hours. During the exercise they conducted live-fire range, patrol base operation and jungle survival training to increase interoperability and relations. The Marine and Sailors with the task force are originally assigned to I and III Marine Expeditionary Force. The Soldiers are with 3rd Battalion, 3rd Fiji Infantry Regiment, Republic of Fiji Military Forces. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. William Hester/ Released)  

FIJI

07.20.2016

Story by Cpl. William Hester 

III Marine Expeditionary Force   

OVALAU, Fiji — With a bug net, knife, minimal water, a backpack and the clothes on their backs, U.S. Marines and Sailors, with Task Force Koa Moana, and Fijian Soldiers survived the dangers of the treacherous, mountainous jungle terrain of Fiji for more than 24 hours.
Marines and Sailors conducted jungle survival scenario training, July 15, 2016, at Ovalau, Fiji, with Fijian Soldiers as part of a multi-national, bilateral exercise between the U.S. and Fiji to increase interoperability and relations. During the exercise engineers from the respective countries conducted vertical construction training while infantry Marines and Soldiers conducted live-fire range, jungle survival and patrol base operation training.
“Starting off we needed to find shelter,” said Lance Cpl. Noah A. R. Bigbee, an infantryman with the task force, originally assigned to Weapons Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force. “We used bamboo trees and used it to build a rain-proof shelter.”
Separated from their platoons, the Marines, soldiers and sailors, in squad-sized elements, were forced to find water, food and shelter to survive the austere environment before sneaking back from enemy lines.
“I was determined to go out and find food while the Fijians were constructing the shelter,” said Bigbee, from Farmington, Minnesota. “We found cassava, pumpkin and coconuts.”
Clueless at first, the Marines and Sailors needed the Fijian’s knowledge to hunt and gather.
“They taught us in depth which roots were good, which were bad and how to cut them out,” said Lance Cpl. J Guadelupe Venegas, an infantryman with the task force, originally assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, 1 Marine Division, I MEF. “They put others before themselves.”
Throughout the day and night the Fijian Soldiers looked after the U.S. service members and ensured they learned about the foreign terrain, bringing the Americans with them on gathering trips and teaching them to catch fish and eel.
“They wouldn’t eat until we did,” said Venegas, from El Monte, California. “They were very generous, you don’t find that a lot.”
After their survival period, the service members had to egress to the camp from enemy lines. If discovered, they were to return to their camp site to try again.
Varying from one to three and a half hours later, all three squads made it back to camp, only one being compromised.
“Being in Fiji, dealing with new terrain, you don’t know what’s out there and the Fijians really made the experience,” said Bigbee. “We want to keep good relations with our neighbors and allies. It’s a good opportunity to connect with them to see how they train. It’s going to better both of us.”

• Date Taken: 07.20.2016
• Date Posted: 08.01.2016 20:41
• Story ID: 205588
• Location: FJ
• Hometown: EL MONTE, CA, US