Subscribe
MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Making a phone call, browsing the Internet or even listening to the radio may seem like simple tasks to most people, but for a certain group of Marines in the field, setting up and maintaining these simple day-to-day technologies means they have to set everything up just to take it all down a few days later.
Marines with Communications Company, Combat Logistics Regiment 17, 1st Marine Logistics Group, set up functioning Internet, phone and radio communications as part of a field training exercise to prepare them for their upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.
Once a month, Marines with Comm. Co. head out to one of the training sites and set up camp to familiarize themselves with the operations they may face in Iraq and Afghanistan while supporting other units' communication needs.
"We go to different sites every time we go out for training," said Gunnery Sgt. Jennifer K. Richardson, staff noncommissioned officer in charge of Comm. Co. "We expand every month; we now have about 70 Marines running the camp."
"We're usually out in the field for a week," said Richardson. "The first day we set up the camp; the rest of the time, we're making sure that our Marines know how to operate the equipment."
During the exercise, Marines practice maintaining and monitoring the equipment in order to support and provide services such as radio, phone, Internet and satellite communication between different units.
"The purpose of the training exercise is to get our Marines ready to go out for a combat deployment," said Sgt. Gilberto Rebolledo, a radio supervisor with Radio Platoon, Comm. Co., CLR-17, 1st MLG.
He also noted the improvements in the Marines. "They managed to set up the camp site quickly," said Rebolledo, 25, from Covina, Calif. "They're also maintaining and monitoring communication between units."
The exercise is divided into three different areas. "We have the main camp, which is the Combat Operations Center, the billeting site and the Antenna Hill," Richardson said.
"The Ant. Hill maintains the communication, whereas the COC receives and monitors the communication between units," said Rebolledo.
For the week of field training, Marines are given a task everyday to complete. The next morning, Marines gather around the SNCOIC to report, evaluate on how things were conducted the day before, talk about the missions and the objectives that were accomplished, and plan out new tasks for the day.
Communication is the key to success, and these types of field training exercises help Marines familiarize themselves with their job, equipment and prepare them for upcoming combat deployments.
| Date Taken: | 07.17.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 07.17.2009 13:54 |
| Story ID: | 36496 |
| Location: | CAMP PENDLETON, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 177 |
| Downloads: | 149 |
This work, Comm. Co. transmits clear signal during field ops, by Cpl Khoa Pelczar, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
