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Marines with 4th Force Reconnaissance Company, 4th Marine Division, participated in Mountain Exercise 4-16 at the Mountain Warfare Training Center in the rugged mountains near Bridgeport, California, July 29 to Aug. 12, 2016.
Mountain Exercise is a Marine Air Ground Task Force-level exercise that focuses on applying technical mountaineering skills to tactical operations across the warfighting spectrum and takes place at medium to high altitudes in complex compartmentalized terrain.
Members of 4th Force Recon Co. began the exercise by conducting an airborne insertion on the Pickle Meadow Drop Zone. Marines boarded a California Army National Guard CH-47, flying from Moffett Federal Air Field, in the South San Francisco Bay area to Bridgeport. The Marines conducted two parachute insertions in the challenging high altitude environment.
During the first three days at the training center, 4th Force Marines and Sailors executed a pre-environmental training package, provided by instructors from MWTC. The training covered numerous critical skills for excelling in the mountainous terrain: mountain operations, mountain health, cold weather survival, knots and rope systems. The training culminated in rope bridge gorge crossings and night rappelling. The Marines then conducted four days of small unit training where they honed patrolling and communications techniques to prepare for the long-range reconnaissance and surveillance operations awaiting them during the culminating field exercise. Concurrently, members of the company staff completed the Mountain Operations Staff Planners Course, which deals with the complexities of planning operations in a mountainous environment.
During the field exercise, the company tasked organized reconnaissance teams to support both 1st Battalion, 23rd Marines and the opposition force. Additionally, 4th Force Headquarters Platoon Marines task organized into two squads of aggressors to specifically target the reconnaissance teams. The reconnaissance teams conducted 96 hours of continuous reconnaissance and surveillance patrols enduring long-range movements and altitude gains in excess of 3,000 feet. Throughout the exercise the teams conducted reconnaissance operations in support of a notional Joint Special Operations Task Force co-located in 1/23’s AO. During operations, the teams utilize their well-developed communication skills to send multiple color high-resolution photographs of aggressor forces via HF radio using the MAGTF Secondary Imagery Dissemination System (MSIDS). The MSIDS allows Reconnaissance Teams to produce, edit and transmit reports and data files though a network of Tough Book Computers connected to HF radios. Additionally, they were able to send full motion video files to the Reconnaissance Operations Center using the same MSIDS system. This capability greatly enhances the ability of Reconnaissance to push information from austere environment where satellite and Internet data transmission options are limited or non-existent. When pursued by the exercise’s ISR platform, the reconnaissance Marines were undetectable through the FLIR and optical sensors. The exercise concluded with a multi-kilometer escape and evasion movement back toward the MWTC Lower Base Camp, where the recon teams were met with hot chow and congratulations on a job well done.
The goals of the training exercise were significant: further enhance the unit’s tactical ability mountainous terrain; build on the ability to send photos via HF radio; experiment with the ability to send video via HF radio; confirm recon teams ability to avoid ISR detection. Ultimately, 4th Force Reconnaissance met and exceeded all training objectives and continued to build unit capability going into the Fiscal Year 17 training calendar, making this a very profitable Annual Training period. MWTC is the premier Department of Defense mountain training facility, used by units from all branches of the armed services. This year’s exercise featured units from throughout Marine Forces Reserve, including: 1st Battalion, 23rd Marines; Det 4th Combat Engineer Battalion; Det. Combat Logistics Battalion 453; and 4th Force Reconnaissance Company.
| Date Taken: | 08.12.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 09.20.2016 12:09 |
| Story ID: | 210088 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 306 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Mountain Warfare Training prepares 4th Force Recon Marines for future ops, by MSgt Katesha Washington, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
