TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. - Marines with Transportation and Support Company, Combat Logistics Battalion 2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group attended the Integrated Training Exercise aboard Twentynine Palms, Calif., Aug. 20 to Sept. 27.
The days were long, the climate unforgiving, but Marines with CLB-2 pushed through to accomplish their mission.
“We got overworked quite a bit because the battalion and company were at a third the size, and we were doing support missions,” said Cpl. Shane Todd, a squad leader and wrecker noncommissioned officer with TS Co.
Temperatures at ITX reached more than 100 degrees during the day, and dropped into the 50s and 60s at night. The Marines spent 20 hours awake some days.
The lack of sleep, unforgiving temperatures and homesickness were just a few of the stressors plaguing Marines, but they fought through the fatigue to maintain mission readiness.
Some of the Marines had recently been to ITX, and although they were not thrilled to return to such a grueling operation so soon, they said being there twice in such a brief period kept them battle-ready.
“A lot of us were just there not too long ago, so we knew what to expect,” said Lance Cpl. Evan Saunders, a motor transportation operator and machine gunner with TS Co. “It was a lot of work, but we managed to get everything done.”
Although the Marines faced discomfort and rough days throughout ITX, they were able to find a light in the darkness.
“They took care of us,” said Todd. “The buildings we slept in when we weren’t outside in our sleeping systems were air conditioned, which was really nice.”
CLB-2 returned to Camp Lejeune ready to deploy at a moment’s notice.