Marines from Okinawa hone jungle warfare skills

Photo By Lance Cpl. Kris Daberkoe | Cpl. Mario Sanchez, an amphibious assault vehicle crewman with 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I MEF, deployed to Okinawa and attached to Combat Assault Battalion, 3rd Marine Div., III MEF, navigates through the Jungle Skills Course at the Jungle Warfare Training Center May 14.  

CAMP GONSALVES, OKINAWA, JAPAN

06.04.2010

Story by Lance Cpl. Kris Daberkoe 

III Marine Expeditionary Force   

OKINAWA, Japan - Approximately 74 Marines with 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, participated in the six-day Jungle Skills Course at the Jungle Warfare Training Center on Camp Gonsalves, May 9 to 14.

Marines participating in the course came from Military Police Company, Headquarters Battalion, 3rd MarDiv.

A detachment of Marines from 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st MarDiv, I MEF, based in Camp Pendleton, Calif., also took the opportunity to undergo training while on the Unit Deployment Program and attached to Combat Assault Battalion, 3rd MarDiv.

The JWTC Jungle Skills Course provides Marines with skill sets for surviving in a jungle warfare environment.

“We want them to learn how to move quietly and efficiently in the jungle,” said Lance Cpl. Matthew Cohen, a JWTC instructor. “If you can fight in the jungle, you can fight anywhere.”

Students began their training with a welcome aboard brief which explained the dangers of jungle training and safety precautions used to prevent injury.
After the brief, students received their first lessons on knot tying and forms of rappelling.

“Rappelling is a skill used to maneuver down obstacles as well as build confidence,” said Staff Sgt. David Turnage, a static rope suspension training master and safety insert officer at the JWTC.

The safety insert officer ensures Marine students are properly tying a Swiss seat rappel harness before going to the top of the cliff, said Turnage.

According to Turnage, these essential jungle survival skills are tested as the course progresses.

“At the end of the course Marines must perform 10 hasty rappels,” he said.

Before students begin their challenge of negotiating the 2-kilometer land navigation course, they are each provided a 120-foot rope to use if needed.

“The rope aides the students’ movement down steep slopes and allows quick maneuverability,” said Lance Cpl. Eric Wilcox, a JWTC instructor.

Students also learned the proper use of hand and arm signals, combat patrolling, and teamwork while operating in a jungle environment.

“The challenges the Marines faced taught them unit cohesion, and small unit leadership, said Cpl Kurtis Priebe, a JWTC instructor. “And ways to fight and survive in the jungle.”

• Date Taken: 06.04.2010
• Date Posted: 07.01.2010 01:43
• Story ID: 52202
• Location: CAMP GONSALVES, OKINAWA, JP