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By Lance Cpl. Juan D. Alfonso
III Marine Expeditionary Force PAO
MARINE CORPS AIR STATION FUTENMA, OKINAWA, Japan -- While many units use Combat Town at the Central Training Area to sharpen their close-quarter combat skills, more than 100 Marines and sailors with Mike Battery, 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment also used the urban training area Jan. 12 to hone their civil affairs skills.
During the training exercise, the Marines rehearsed establishing security in a simulated Iraqi town by routing out insurgents hidden amongst the local populace. After establishing their presence and security, the Marines turned their attention to the humanitarian side of the operation by setting up and running a simulated civil military operations center.
The purpose of civil military operations, a formalized secondary mission for artillery units, is to establish, maintain and influence relations between military forces and local government and civilian organizations.
Marine Corps artillery units were officially tasked with the civil military operations role by former Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Michael W. Hagee in December 2005. The tasking was outlined in ALMAR 061/05, which states that while every unit must be able to conduct civil military operations, the Marine Corps requires a designated unit that is staffed and trained to lead the infantry division's CMO in the division's battle space. The ALMAR assigns artillery units with this mission, which includes establishing and operating civil military operations centers with support from one of the Marine Corps Reserve's two Civil Affairs Groups.
By their very design, artillery units are a perfect fit for the civil affairs missions and many other secondary missions a battalion could be tasked with, said Capt. Neal V. Fisher, Mike Battery's commanding officer. This is why infantry commanders usually request them, he said.
"Artillerymen are not that different from infantrymen," he said. "Infantry commanders in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan want us because of all the tools we have. During one deployment, we can be a truck company and the next a provisional (military police) unit. Even if we are designated a truck company or a (military police) unit, we can still provide civil affairs support no matter what."
Cpl. Miguel E. Rubio, a field artillery cannoneer with the unit, said even though the exercise at Combat Town was similar to others they have done, the civil affairs mission was new to him and added a challenging complexity to the training.
"Just like any other (Military Operations in Urbanized Terrain) mission, we go in, secure the area and establish our presence," he said. "This is a little trickier, because we are not going into the town with the sole intention of getting rid of the insurgents and leaving. We will now go in and ask residents what they need from us in order to live better lives. It will be hard, but it will all be worth it in the end."
| Date Taken: | 01.12.2002 |
| Date Posted: | 01.26.2007 11:08 |
| Story ID: | 8951 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS AIR STATION FUTENMA, OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 119 |
| Downloads: | 66 |
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