|
YUMA, Ariz. - To expect the unexpected.
For some, it is an
absentminded saying. For others, it is a constant frame of mind.
Due to the highly active nature of their domain, the Provost
Marshal's Office houses some of the Marine Corps' best shooters.
Their job description demands utmost professionalism and constant
readiness.
On Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz., the
surgeons of close-quarter armed combat come in the form of PMO's
Special Reaction Team (SRT). Currently made up of eight members, the
Marines of SRT are highly trained and skilled in precision armed
tactics.
|
Lance Cpl. Matthew Hill, a Special Reaction Team member with the
Provost Marshal's Office, Headquarters & Headquarters Squadron, with
fellow Marines sight in with their M16A4 service rifles as part of
an evening training session at the rifle range aboard Marine Corps
Air Station Yuma, AZ on March 26, 2014. The training exercise found
the SRT Marines shooting at varying distances in conjunction with
their monthly live fire training. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Uriel Avendano)
|
“As long as there've been barricaded suspects that police
have had to go into quarters to apprehend or kill, there's
been SWAT [Special Weapons and Tactics] teams,” said Master
Gunnery Sgt. Bernard Coe, the provost sergeant for the MCAS
Yuma PMO, part of Headquarters & Headquarters Squadron. “It
mainly originated with some of the federal agencies, like
the FBI and the CIA. Some of the job enforcement missions
they went on, going in to apprehend someone who's a fugitive
– It kind of trickled down to the local level where the
local PD [police department] started forming their own teams
for local SWAT missions.”
For Coe, the specialized
military police training in the Marine Corps dates as far
back as he's been around. His extensive background with SRT
training began at the original, now-defunct schoolhouse at
Fort McClellan, Ala., and eventually took him to Japan.
“I was a team leader
there [Okinawa, Japan] for about two years where we did a
lot of customs operations; a lot of training with the army,
a great time. I left Okinawa, Japan, to MCRD [Marine Corps
Recruit Depot] San Diego in California where I was also a
team leader for a part-time team,” recalled Coe, a native of
Lamar, S.C. “Did that for five years, then I went to Camp
Pendleton, where I was a gunny by then. I was the team
commander there for three years and that was the last time I
was on a full-time team ...You get promoted out of a good job,
but I deployed and did a lot of tactical, SWAT-type training
with the Iraqis for a year with a police transition team.”
Considered the go-to unit for high pressure situations
when clearheaded judgment and pin-point accuracy is
required, SRT is renowned for their close-knit cohesion and
professionalism. Moreover, their situational awareness is
more than just a footnote in the foreground of their minds –
it is an embedded part of their senses that is developed
during their training at their SRT School at Fort Leonard
Wood, Mo.
“I initially made contact with SRT around
September [2013] and I started OJT [on the job training]
with them in October,” said Cpl. William Gilmer, an SRT team
member, with H&HS PMO. “I was originally going to go to
school that same month but, due to the shutdown, our
schoolhouse lost seats, so I didn't end up going until
January.”
The first two weeks of SRT training, known
as Phase 1, is not only a physically challenging course, but
it also entails classroom instruction and practical
application. Knowledge is specifically tailored to enhance
the Marines' tactics in marksmanship, weapons handling,
clearing and breaching procedures, responses to different
hostage situations and advanced firearm training.
“The toughest part is probably the amount of knowledge you
have to observe, learn and retain,” said Gilmer. “A short
day would be, like, a twelve-hour day ... we go over different
tactics and situations. We also go over the different
equipment we have to use, like entry tools as well as your
gear – personal gear as oppose to team gear.”
A test
and full-on simulated recall evaluation ends the first phase
of SRT school. For those who make the cut, Phase 2 marksman
observer course is made available. While not required, it is
considered an added specialty in SRT's unit arsenal.
“The second phase gives you the ability to share
responsibility within your team,” said Gilmer, and a native
of Brunswick, Ga. “The toughest part of Phase 2 was our
graduation day cold-bore shot. That's when your bore is
completely clean and hasn't been fired in 24-four-hours or
longer ...You have to hit a pretty small t-box target. It's
definitely a one shot, make-or-break test.”
For the
members of SRT, training does not end after SRT school. It
is an ongoing part of their day-to-day lives. Instruction
and classes on techniques and different situations are on
constant rotation. Different monthly and quarterly shooting
drills at the MCAS Yuma range also help the team hone their
skills for any incident that may occur.
One
particular shooting drill tests their dexterity from
different yards. It allows members to determine their draw,
speed and accuracy on a target with 10 small circles on a
single sheet.
“We use [the dot drills] to
re-emphasize the aim small, miss small concept,” said Sgt.
Louis Henriquez, the SRT team leader, H&HS PMO, and a native
of Brooklyn, NY. “Each dot represents a different drill –
like a trigger reset drill, hammer pairs...It gets us in the
habit of speed shooting accurately and understanding the
importance of point shooting.”
Much like the
cold-bore shot, the monthly training and quarterly
qualification trips to the range for SRT Marines focus in on
the importance of accurate shots per the training and
readiness manual of the 5816 military occupational
specialty.
Their weapons of choice?
The M-4
carbine, M16A4 service rifle, M1014 combat shotgun and their
desert Colt Defense M1911A1 pistols.
Sustainment
training at the range helps the perishable skill of point
shooting with varying weapons stay sharp for all SRT
members. It also serves as an opportunity for the team to
groom newer brothers-in-arms on the finer details of their
marksmanship and their field specialty.
Night shoots
are also par for the course with SRT Marines, building their
confidence with multiple simulated ambient-light scenarios.
“On night shoots, we familiarize ourselves with the
weapons under low light situations,” said Sgt. Rodney Nez,
an SRT team member, H&HS PMO, and a native of Fort Defiance,
Ariz. “We use light off-center from the shooter or the light
coming off of the truck. At any point lights can go out, so
this gives us an opportunity to re-familiarize ourselves
with the weapons under low ambient light to identify a
target.”
In SRT, striving to improve is never an
individual goal. They are a team, through and through. Range
day scores are not tallied up solely individually; they are
accounted for as a group. Depending on one another and
building the trust necessary to accomplish their delicate
and dangerous mission is paramount to singular achievement.
“We want to train our younger members for when I, and
more senior guys, get out or leave to go somewhere else – We
want to make sure we leave a good team behind,” said Cpl.
Eric J. Harris, an SRT marksman observer with H&HS PMO, and
a native of Mechanicsville, Va.
Team cohesion and
constantly striving to improve are the benchmarks of a solid
military police unit. For SRT, the goal is always 100
percent.
By U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Uriel Avendano
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2014
Comment on this article |
