Photo By Sgt. Ashley Lawson | Marines with 2nd Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, II Marine Expeditionary Force...... read more read more
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Marines with 2nd Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, II Marine Expeditionary Force, participated in the infantry immersion trainer and convoy operations at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Nov. 14-17, 2017.
The Marines underwent four days of training to prepare them for their upcoming deployment to Afghanistan. The training was designed to strengthen their knowledge with ground operations while still being able to provide liaison assets to foreign countries.
“The Marines are doing great and learning that this is very different from our normal ANGLICO mission,” said Capt. Michael Valdez, a firepower control team leader with the unit. “It’s almost simpler than controlling air and naval gunfire, but it’s more complicated in terms of different languages and understanding foreign tactics.”
Each team went through three iterations of scenarios in the immersion trainer, which involved taking notional casualties from snipers, improvised explosive devices, small arms and mortar fire. During their convoy operation, the Marines rode in tactical vehicles until they arrived at their destination where they dismounted to conduct a foot patrol. Their mission was to keep themselves, the Georgian and Afghan role players safe while trying to secure the area of operation.
“The infantry immersion trainer replicates chaos,” said Cpl. Niko Ray, a radio operator with the unit. “We have a good number of new Marines with no combat experience, so this exercise gives them that sense of familiarity and confidence in themselves and also in their leadership.”
The main goal for the trainer was to prepare the Marines to work alongside Georgian and Afghan role players. It was designed to help them understand what it’s like in the midst of combat while providing fire support and medical evacuation capabilities for all of the armed forces.
“The Marines are quick to act and understand that they’re working with a different military,” said Valdez. “A lot of them are fairly new to the Afghanistan area of operations and the IIT does a great job of making you feel like you’re right in the moment.”
Additionally, the Marines gained experience and knowledge with the process of a convoy because they could possibly be tasked out with one.
“These Marines are well-versed in directing fire support, but they need to be just as fluent in ground operations,” said Maj. David Beere, 1st Brigade Platoon Commander. “Afghanistan is a totally different beast compared to a field exercise and they need to expect the unexpected.”
2nd ANGLICO continues to train in order to maintain optimal readiness so they are able to successfully complete any mission that is given to them.
“We show that Marines are universal and whenever they say we’re done, we’re really not,” said Ray. “We’re always going to be out there helping anyone who needs it.”
| Date Taken: | 11.17.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.17.2017 17:38 |
| Story ID: | 255783 |
| Location: | CAMP LEJEUNE, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 234 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, 2nd ANGLICO prepares for deployment: Infantry Immersion Trainer and Convoy Operations, by Sgt Ashley Lawson, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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