Island warriors go hot in Shoalwater - From the Trenches

After two weeks in the Australian bush, Marines from 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, finally received the chance to load their weapons with live rounds for the unit's planned combined arms, live-fire exercise here Sept. 23.

The battalion, supported by three companies of mechanized armor from reserve units across the United States and artillery support from Charlie Battery, 1st Bn. 12th Marines, from Marine Corps Base Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, set out across the firing ranges of Queensland's Shoalwater Bay training area to add an even deeper sense of realism to the force-on-force exercise during the last two weeks of Exercise Crocodile 2003, Sept. 6-26.

Echo, Golf and Fox companies moved by amphibious assault vehicles, CH 46 Sea Knight helicopters and light armored vehicles toward specified targets acting as enemy forces. Marines fired weapons ranging from M-16s to MK-19 automatic grenade launchers during the exercise.

While Marines often get the chance to use their weapons on ranges in Hawaii, the chance to use them in Australia gave then, greater knowledge of their capabilities in a different environment.

"The terrain here is a lot different than we'd encounter at a training area like Pohakuloa Training Area or Schofield (Barracks)," said Capt. Brian Russell, commanding officer of Charlie, 1/12. "Here, there weren't any designated firing points, so we didn't know exactly where everything was going to be before we started."

The exercise started in the early morning and kept the Marines moving for most of the day, traveling from one objective to another, destroying enemy positions along the way.

The 13 Marines who recently joined the battery were able to learn the ropes in their new unit, said Russell. We're definitely leaving Australia a better unit than we arrived because the training's been so good."

The CALFEX concluded a mouth-long training evolution for 2/3 in support of Exercise Crocodile 2003.

By Cpl. Jason E. Miller

SHOALWATER BAY TRAINING AREA, QUEENSLAND, Australia

COPYRIGHT 2003 U.S. Marine Corp.
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