3rd MLG Marines experience Marine Corps Combat Readiness Evaluation

Photo By Cpl. Andrew Neumann | Sgt. Aidan Cool (right), an infantry assaultman and Cpl. Osvaldo Mozqueda (left), a combat engineer, conduct routine radio operations during the Marine Corps Combat Readiness Evaluation on December 8, 2016, on Ie Shima Island in Okinawa, Japan. The Marines are attached to 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force and during the operation practiced patrolling fundamentals, hand and arm signals, formations and immediate responses to an imminent threat. Cool is a native of Wadsworth, Ohio and Mozqueda is a native of San Jacinto, California. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Andrew Neumann)  

OKINAWA, JAPAN

12.09.2016

Story by Lance Cpl. Andrew Neumann  

III Marine Expeditionary Force   

CAMP HANSEN, Okinawa, Japan -- Being combat ready in any clime and place makes the Marine Corps the United States’ ultimate commodity in war. The Marines of 3rd Marine Logistics Group conducted a command post exercise, in the Central Training Area, Kin Blue and Ie Shima Island in Okinawa, Nov. 29 - Dec. 16, 2016, to test the combat efficiency of 3rd MLG.

Staff Sgt. Doug Copeland, a motor transportation maintenance chief with 3rd MLG, III Marine Expeditionary Force, has deployed to Iraq twice and Afghanistan once in support of multiple operations. Copeland said the challenges he faced while deployed remind him of why training is important.

On Ie Shima Island, Marines practiced patrolling fundamentals, hand and arm signals, formations and immediate responses to an imminent threat.

“I noticed that my heart rate will pick up when things like this start going down,” said Copeland, a native of Lee’ s Summit, Missouri. “There is a reality behind this even though the scenario is not real.”

On Kin Blue Beach, a coastline-jungle environment, the focus was more on the occupation of an area during wartime. The Marines there developed communications and maintained the flow of supplies to prepare for a wartime scenario.

Cpl. Ruben Chagoya, a supply administrator with 3rd MLG, said he spoke to multiple other higher-ranking Marines about how this kind of training prepares Marines for combat.

“It’s crucial that we’re prepared and we know what we’re doing,” said Chagoya, a native of Gypsum, Colorado. “If I were to get deployed now, I would know what to do and have confidence in myself.”

• Date Taken: 12.09.2016
• Date Posted: 12.09.2016 04:20
• Story ID: 217014
• Location: OKINAWA, JP
• Hometown: GYPSUM, CO, US
• Hometown: LEE'S SUMMIT, MO, US