WEBVTT 00:00.009 --> 00:02.430 My rank name and billet is Sergeant 00:02.440 --> 00:05.710 Silvestri and I'm an 03 31 squad leader , 00:05.719 --> 00:09.569 uh Cody SI LV , EST R I right now , 00:09.579 --> 00:11.779 we're working on company level attacks 00:11.810 --> 00:14.539 with time level uh support and we're , 00:14.550 --> 00:17.719 we're working to learning to work 00:17.729 --> 00:20.290 cohesively as a , as a unit as a whole . 00:20.299 --> 00:23.120 My civilian career right now , I'm on a 00:23.129 --> 00:25.850 SWAT team . We specialize in hostage 00:25.860 --> 00:27.693 rescue and immediate response to 00:27.693 --> 00:30.229 dangers . Uh Ma Marine Corps being in 00:30.239 --> 00:34.099 the Marine Corps and uh all the tactics 00:34.110 --> 00:36.909 and skills that I've learned kind of 00:36.919 --> 00:40.689 similar apply to uh being on a 00:40.700 --> 00:43.950 swat team just being able to manipulate 00:43.959 --> 00:46.419 a weapon and talk to people is very 00:46.430 --> 00:50.159 important in both situa situations . Uh 00:50.599 --> 00:54.130 The type of training mostly uh working 00:54.139 --> 00:57.720 to are learning to work better 00:57.729 --> 01:00.400 cohesively in small unit leadership and 01:00.409 --> 01:02.409 it all kind of coming together in a 01:02.409 --> 01:05.360 whole to accomplish the main objective . 01:05.989 --> 01:07.989 It allows us to operate on a larger 01:07.989 --> 01:11.169 scale to get ready and be the most , 01:12.000 --> 01:14.167 most ready units to deploy at , at the 01:14.167 --> 01:17.540 time at the end of ITX . Uh Just 01:17.550 --> 01:19.606 anything that the Marine Corps needs 01:19.606 --> 01:22.730 worldwide . 325 would be that unit to 01:22.739 --> 01:24.683 go . My role , like I said , I'm a 01:24.683 --> 01:26.572 machine gun squad leader and just 01:26.572 --> 01:28.809 directing fires , rates of fires and 01:29.559 --> 01:31.337 making sure that there's enough 01:31.337 --> 01:34.059 suppression for our elevens to maneuver 01:34.069 --> 01:36.300 through the objective . So my role in 01:36.309 --> 01:38.870 Mrx , like I said , I'm a , a squad 01:38.879 --> 01:42.330 leader and my role is to just help 01:42.339 --> 01:45.290 direct direct fires for my machine gun 01:45.300 --> 01:47.629 teams and allow freedom movement for 01:47.639 --> 01:49.917 the 11th to move through the objective . 01:50.769 --> 01:53.410 Uh specifically for this unit , I think 01:53.419 --> 01:55.475 we have a lot of capable individuals 01:55.475 --> 01:57.530 that have unique jobs on the outside 01:57.530 --> 01:59.889 and allows us to bring everybody in as 01:59.900 --> 02:02.470 a whole . So I would say , uh small 02:02.480 --> 02:04.647 unit leadership is probably one of our 02:04.647 --> 02:06.758 biggest attributes to be able to make 02:06.758 --> 02:08.869 decisions on the fly and in stressful 02:08.869 --> 02:10.869 situations , being able to have the 02:10.869 --> 02:13.029 ability to have a civilian career and 02:13.039 --> 02:15.095 work in the Marine Corps at the same 02:15.095 --> 02:18.330 time , allows me to still work on my 02:18.339 --> 02:21.160 personal life and progress personally . 02:21.169 --> 02:23.280 And then also bring those experiences 02:23.280 --> 02:25.280 to the Marine Corps to help lead my 02:25.280 --> 02:27.990 Marines biggest advice . Uh always 02:28.000 --> 02:31.309 strive to be a good leader and always 02:31.320 --> 02:33.759 strive to be prepared to take the next 02:33.770 --> 02:37.289 rank . Uh next rank ahead of you . My 02:37.300 --> 02:40.240 name is uh Major Patrick Wheatley . I 02:40.250 --> 02:43.649 am a uh 0302 with third battalion , 02:43.660 --> 02:47.610 25th Marines , Patr IC 02:47.619 --> 02:51.580 KW hea Tley . 02:52.050 --> 02:54.399 All right . Uh So my name is Major 02:54.410 --> 02:56.577 Patrick Wheatley . Uh The battalion XO 02:56.577 --> 02:58.743 with third battalion 25th Marines . Uh 02:58.743 --> 03:01.289 0302 is my M OS Infantry officer . The 03:01.300 --> 03:03.522 training exercise that we're conducting 03:03.522 --> 03:05.467 this weekend is conducting a uh uh 03:05.467 --> 03:07.411 mission rehearsal exercise for our 03:07.411 --> 03:09.850 battalion going to ITX uh in a couple 03:09.860 --> 03:12.289 of months . The uh mission that we're 03:12.300 --> 03:14.411 trying to accomplish is being able to 03:14.411 --> 03:16.929 conduct company live fire attacks and 03:16.940 --> 03:19.139 also have a focus on our fire support 03:19.149 --> 03:21.093 training uh with our F leaders and 03:21.093 --> 03:23.830 company commanders . So the first or 03:23.839 --> 03:26.061 the first exercise that we accomplished 03:26.061 --> 03:28.479 was being able to uh conduct our 03:28.490 --> 03:31.369 company live fire attacks . Uh We did 03:31.380 --> 03:33.649 it with three rifle companies . Uh 03:33.660 --> 03:37.360 following that we've done um the , 03:37.899 --> 03:41.619 the fire support training um with the 03:41.630 --> 03:43.797 company commanders and the F leaders . 03:43.797 --> 03:45.908 And then we've also done uh some lane 03:45.908 --> 03:48.130 training with the rest of the companies 03:48.130 --> 03:50.297 that are not participating in the fire 03:50.297 --> 03:52.186 support training today . Um Going 03:52.186 --> 03:54.352 through breaching rocket battle drills 03:54.352 --> 03:56.789 and trench clear procedures . Mrxx 03:56.800 --> 03:58.911 helps us prepare for ITX because it's 03:58.911 --> 04:01.660 able to scale down ITX uh and give us a 04:01.669 --> 04:03.891 full rehearsal of what we're gonna have 04:03.891 --> 04:06.058 to accomplish when we actually get out 04:06.058 --> 04:07.947 to ITX . We had a lot of friction 04:07.947 --> 04:10.113 points that we're able to identify and 04:10.113 --> 04:09.679 work through to still have good 04:09.690 --> 04:11.912 training here . And we wanna take those 04:11.912 --> 04:14.079 lessons learned for two ITX so that we 04:14.079 --> 04:16.190 can actually knock it out of the park 04:16.190 --> 04:18.412 ITX . Uh Typically on our cycle , we do 04:18.412 --> 04:20.634 it every three years . Uh , and then we 04:20.634 --> 04:22.801 like to do an MRX at least a couple of 04:22.801 --> 04:24.912 months before ITX just to ensure that 04:24.912 --> 04:27.079 we're always ready . Uh , ITX supports 04:27.079 --> 04:28.968 the Marine Corps greater interest 04:28.968 --> 04:30.912 because once a infantry or reserve 04:30.912 --> 04:32.968 battalion completes doing ITX , they 04:32.968 --> 04:34.968 are on the ready bench uh , for the 04:34.968 --> 04:37.079 Marine Corps . And what that means is 04:37.079 --> 04:38.968 that any time that the , uh , the 04:38.968 --> 04:38.859 Marine Corps needs to be able to 04:38.869 --> 04:40.925 activate , activate a reserve unit , 04:40.925 --> 04:43.036 we're the first ones to be identified 04:43.036 --> 04:45.091 to go downrange and actually support 04:45.091 --> 04:46.925 real world missions . The unique 04:46.925 --> 04:49.109 capabilities that 325 has and the same 04:49.119 --> 04:52.459 thing for any reserve unit is one , the 04:52.470 --> 04:54.581 level of commitment that we have from 04:54.581 --> 04:56.637 our marines . So , you know , on the 04:56.637 --> 04:58.637 civilian side , they're either full 04:58.637 --> 05:00.748 time students or they actually have a 05:00.748 --> 05:00.619 civilian career and then they're 05:00.630 --> 05:02.850 dedicating their personal time , both 05:02.859 --> 05:05.026 during drill , weekends and outside of 05:05.026 --> 05:07.192 drill weekends to be able to make sure 05:07.192 --> 05:09.248 that we can function as an effective 05:09.248 --> 05:11.303 unit . The other thing is because of 05:11.303 --> 05:11.114 having that outside experience , 05:11.204 --> 05:12.926 they're able to bring a lot of 05:12.926 --> 05:14.926 different capabilities to the table 05:14.926 --> 05:16.982 that can be used to be able to solve 05:16.982 --> 05:19.148 problems uh while operating within the 05:19.148 --> 05:21.482 Marine Corps capacity , whether they're , 05:21.482 --> 05:23.593 you know , a tradesman like a plumber 05:23.593 --> 05:25.648 electrician , uh or if they have any 05:25.648 --> 05:25.535 type of engineering skills , that's 05:25.545 --> 05:27.601 something that you don't have on the 05:27.601 --> 05:29.712 active component that the reserves is 05:29.712 --> 05:31.656 able to bring to the table one . I 05:31.656 --> 05:33.767 think it helps build a uh more mature 05:33.767 --> 05:35.767 force with the , the junior marines 05:35.767 --> 05:37.823 that are having to also , you know , 05:37.823 --> 05:39.767 they're maintaining their house on 05:39.767 --> 05:39.470 their own , they're maintaining their 05:39.480 --> 05:41.730 own job . You've got Lance corporals 05:41.739 --> 05:43.850 that have , you know , the same level 05:43.850 --> 05:46.017 of responsibilities as a staff NCO and 05:46.017 --> 05:48.239 officer on the civilian side , uh or on 05:48.239 --> 05:50.406 the Marine Corps side . So that allows 05:50.406 --> 05:52.406 them to be able to have uh a higher 05:52.406 --> 05:54.350 maturity so that when they come to 05:54.350 --> 05:56.517 drill , it definitely helps out with , 05:56.517 --> 05:58.683 you know , us having our broken time . 05:58.683 --> 06:00.739 Uh from when we show up the drill of 06:00.739 --> 06:02.850 being able to go ahead and lock it on 06:02.850 --> 06:04.739 into the Marine Corps mindset and 06:04.739 --> 06:06.795 accomplish the mission . I think the 06:06.795 --> 06:09.017 biggest thing to harp on right now is , 06:09.017 --> 06:11.072 um from the motivational aspect is , 06:11.072 --> 06:13.072 you know , we came out and we had a 06:13.072 --> 06:15.128 very robust training plan that we're 06:15.128 --> 06:14.799 able to accomplish . We had some 06:14.809 --> 06:17.279 weather conditions that were adverse 06:17.290 --> 06:20.589 with , you know , rain for 1.5 days 06:20.739 --> 06:22.880 along with lower temperatures . The 06:22.890 --> 06:25.112 marines were still motivated to be able 06:25.112 --> 06:27.223 to accomplish the mission and be able 06:27.223 --> 06:29.168 to get the training done and we're 06:29.168 --> 06:28.640 giving them something that they can 06:28.649 --> 06:30.816 brag about once they actually get back 06:30.816 --> 06:32.927 home . Uh The interesting thing about 06:32.927 --> 06:35.149 marines is , you know , the model matra 06:35.149 --> 06:37.260 is that we do one week in a month and 06:37.260 --> 06:39.316 two weeks a year . Realistically , I 06:39.316 --> 06:41.538 would say that on the reserve side , we 06:41.538 --> 06:41.519 do an A T every single , every single 06:41.529 --> 06:43.585 month because you have a marine that 06:43.585 --> 06:45.640 will be at school or they're at work 06:45.640 --> 06:47.751 from Monday through Friday . And then 06:47.751 --> 06:49.918 they show up to drill on the weekend , 06:49.918 --> 06:52.140 they go back and get released and those 06:52.140 --> 06:54.362 same marines are getting up that next , 06:54.362 --> 06:56.585 uh that Monday morning and heading back 06:56.585 --> 06:56.529 and do another full week of work . Uh 06:56.540 --> 06:58.651 that level of commitment and the work 06:58.651 --> 07:00.373 that work ethic is , uh , what 07:00.373 --> 07:01.980 motivates me to be in the S MC R .