Marines of ten nations compete for title

Photo By Cpl. Brian Slaght | U.S. Marine reservists from Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force 24, and Marines of nine other countries held a competitive nation versus nation sports day event after two weeks of joint military training exercises, Partnership of the Americas and Southern Exchange—designed to expose military forces to amphibious operations and the fundamentals to enhance peacekeeping.  

ANCON, PERU

07.15.2010

Story by Master Sgt. Peter Walz 

U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South

ANCON, Peru - The stands were filled with spectators from ten nations. The Americans were chanting, “USA, USA.” The Mexicans were singing, “Olé, Olé, Olé,” and the Brazilians were singing and playing an intense rhythm on their drums. The atmosphere was similar to that of the World Cup Soccer event, but actually it was the Marines of ten nations cheering for their homelands in a competitive sports day held at the Peruvian Marine base.

For the last two weeks, U.S. Marine reservists and nine other partner nations have joined together to participate in the multinational military training exercises, Partnership of the Americas (POA-10) and Southern Exchange (SE-10)—designed to expose military forces to amphibious operations and the fundamentals to enhance peacekeeping.

Since day one of the exercise, the Marines of the participating nations were split up into diverse platoons to promote cross-training, knowledge sharing and collaboration. However, this event was the first time that over 1,300 Marines from North and South America went head-to-head, nation-against-nation.

There were a number of competitive events during the day. The Marines competed in timed races on the Peruvian obstacle course that tested their strength, agility and endurance. Peru dominated the event winning nearly a minute faster than any other team.

Other events included basketball, volleyball and tug-o-war. However, the big event of the sports day was the soccer competition.

The tournament was held on a concrete field about the size of a basketball court complete with netted goals, lines, and even referees. The U.S. Marines did their best to select key stars to play the game, however they did not fair well against the talented Mexican group that grew up playing “Fútbol,” soccer.

One by one the Marines of ten nations played in elimination rounds. The Mexican Marines prevailed over the highly favored Brazilians, putting them in third place, but the final match was Peru vs. Ecuador. Although the local Peruvian Marine team had the home field advantage, the Ecuadorians won the final championship match.

The sports day ended at noon with a special lunch of hamburgers, French fries, and sodas from a popular American fast food chain—quite a relief after eating MRE’s (Meal-Ready-to-Eat) and boiled UGR's (Unitized Group Rations) for the last two weeks. Lance Cpl. Colby Youngs of Kansas City, Mo., said “It was a delicious taste of home!”

The meal drew so much attention that the staff at the mess hall started marking everyone’s left hand with a black marker “X” to prevent anyone from going through the line twice.

Although the field training is over, the multinational event will culminate in one large Navy and Marine exercise on July 19. The training will provide the U.S. Marines and Marines of the partner nations the chance to board the USS New Orleans for three nights before moving to shore in an all out amphibious and air demonstration to shore.

The U.S. Marine reservists participating in the ten nation multinational exercises, Partnership of the Americas and Southern Exchange 2010, are attached to the Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force 24. The exercise includes military forces from the U.S., Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

• Date Taken: 07.15.2010
• Date Posted: 07.17.2010 00:36
• Story ID: 52949
• Location: ANCON, PE