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A cool autumn night in the southern Mojave Desert, a chill
settles over the Marines of “First Team'; the only visibility comes
from the pale moon light. A palpable silence settles over the
Marines. Then, as quick as lightning strikes, a breaching charge
explodes rupturing the tranquility with a litany of mortars
launching and machine guns firing.
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November 16, 2016 - Cpl. Ryan Weston, squad leader, 1st
Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, looks down Range 400 aboard Marine
Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif., during the
unit's night-time combined arms live-fire exercise. (U.S. Marine
Corps photo by Cpl. Julio McGraw)
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Marines with 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, assaulted
through Range 400 as part of their night time combined-arms
live-fire exercise aboard the Combat Center Nov. 16, 2016.
Range 400 affords a reinforced rifle company the ability to conduct
deliberate offensive operations and integrate heavy machine guns,
81mm mortars, scout snipers and combat engineers against a fortified
position.
“Every infantry unit in the Marine Corps that
comes here for Integrated Training Exercise runs Range 400 during
the day,” said Gunnery Sgt. Michael Kroll, assistant operations
chief, 1/7. “We own the night and doing a CALFEX without light as an
infantry unit correlates directly to real life. If you look at the
biggest operations that the Marine Corps' has conducted in the past
15 years, like Operation Phantom Fury or The Battle of Marjah
[Operation Moshtarak], the Marines kicked-off the assault at night.”
The Marines commenced the exercise by walking through a
terrain model of the area and planned out their assault on a small,
accurate scale. Once the planning phase was complete, the Marines
waited for the cloak of night to begin their assault.
“We
can do CALFEX's all day long,” Kroll said. “But doing them at night
poses an added challenge. The Marines who carry out the assault in a
condensed area, with little light, using night vision googles
definitely are a testament to this unit's proficiency. There is
nothing special about what we did, it's more so the fact of where
the unit is now with proficiency and their comfort level of the
fundamental skills.”
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November 16, 2016 - Marines with 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment,
fire an M240B medium machine gun at a target at Range 400 aboard
Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif.,
during the unit's night-time combined arms live-fire exercise. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Julio McGraw)
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According to Capt. Levi Hofts, intelligence officer, 1/7,
the greatest challenges were working in a non-illuminated
area and coordinating all assets like machine guns and
mortars, all while incorporating overhead fires as rifle
companies maneuvered beneath them.
“At all levels
there is a lot to be gained all the way from the young
[private first classes] to the officers coordinating the
attack.” Kroll said. “For officers, it validates their
standard operating procedures and the more the young Marines
do here, the more comfortable they are going to be if and
when they are called upon to do it in real life.”
By U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Julio McGraw
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2016
The U.S. Marines
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