bobdina
07-02-2009, 07:22 PM
I've read a couple of comments on the main page saying there is no more Marine Force Recon so I decided to post a couple of articles mentioning them and showing the recon make-up of the Corps
MARINE CORPS TRAINING AREA BELLOWS, Hawaii — They were floating about a half-mile from the shore, and the recon Marines could clearly see the bright light dangling from the roof of the restroom on the beach, their target landing zone.
Were they too close? Would they be spotted?
Not a chance. From the beachhead, their three Zodiac rafts — and the six Marines from FORCE RECON COMPANY, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, packed into each — were invisible. The steady churn of ocean waves even drowned out the two CH-53D Sea Stallions that dumped them about 12 miles out in the Pacific.
This three-day mission represented the end of a nine-day training stretch, during which the platoon swam up to a mile in the ocean almost daily. For many in the platoon, it was their first in-depth amphibious training in a long time and will likely be their last until after they deploy to Afghanistan next spring, 1st Recon Battalion’s Capt. Jason Milbrandt said.
“Everybody has been kind of focused on Afghanistan, on Iraq,” Milbrandt said. “We have the time now to refocus on some of the core reconnaissance skill sets, other than just desert warfare. Most of these Marines have not done this before. Not on this scale.” When six scout swimmers finally came ashore to conduct reconnaissance of the area, they too were virtually undetectable. With their fins already off and attached to their cammies, they wasted no time pushing into the brush about 20 feet from the water ’s edge.
About 30 minutes later, the three Zodiacs appeared. The Marines jumped out, promptly becoming sopping wet and covered in sand. It then took about 15 of them to hike the boats — one by one — to the tree line, where they would spend the rest of the night digging holes to stash the boats and their gear.
“Right now they have their cammies, their fins, their weapons and their night optics. So even though they are fairly light, when that stuff gets wet, it gets pretty heavy, pretty quickly,” Milbrandt said. “Suffice it to say, they are tired right now.” After hiding the boats, the Marines began a three-day patrol in the Bellows training area, where they were tasked with monitoring the 50 Afghan role players working nearby with members of 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines.
From here, the recon company will transition back to the type of training needed for Afghanistan. Up next, Milbrandt said, a 10,000foot high-altitude high-opening jump.
06/22/09 Marine Corps Times
Consolidated training
The health of the recon community hinges greatly on pulling enough well-trained men into the recon pipeline. One big change began two years ago, when the Corps decided to merge the East Coast-based Amphibious Reconnaissance School and the West Coast-based BRC into a single course at Camp Pendleton, housed at SOI-West under its Advanced Infantry Training Battalion.
Centralizing training at one location meant operational recon battalions no longer had to recruit and screen future recon Marines, enabling them to focus on training, preparing and deploying platoons overseas.
“We took that burden off of them,” Gilman said.
The Corps now has a single training syllabus and, officials note, a more consistent training pipeline for all recon Marines —
whether active duty or reserve, or filling a billet at division recon , FORCE RECONNAISSANCE COMPANIES or MarSOC’s special operations companies.
“Standardization of training was definitely one of those concerns,” Gilman said.
At Camp Pendleton, the recon growth is perhaps felt most at SOI-West, where its Recon Training Company will train and graduate eight classes this fiscal year and where instructors are preparing to ramp up with a ninth class in 2010. In mid-June, the company was “triple stacked,” with three classes on deck as Class 05-09 headed into its final week.
It’s usually busy, as new students wait to begin their class while others spend weeks or months with one of the platoons, preparing themselves to meet the tough physical fitness standards to successfully screen for the course.
Newly graduated Marines assigned the 0321 MOS report to their recon unit ready for followon individual and unit-level training ahead of deploying, a benefit their operational units appreciate, said Col. Brennan Byrne, who commands SOI-West.
“The guy gets to the unit a vetted recon Marine,” Byrne said. “We’ve increased the operational deployability numbers. He will be a full-up round.” The recon training pipeline will likely be expanded to include a Recon Team Leaders Course, which SOI officials hope to begin this fall with four classes each fiscal year, and eventually other courses for unit leaders.
“We now have the opportunity to train the force as you wish to see the force ,” Byrne said.
Standards remain tough
While the syllabus has been tweaked, Byrne said, the standards have not been reduced.
“We’ve actually increased standards in a number of areas,” he said. “We’re taking the approach that we are building the basic recon Marine, we are building the team leader, and we are building the unit leader.” Students must score at least 225 on the Physical Fitness Test by training day 21, get at least a first-class water safety qualification to graduate, and meet the standard for a one-kilometer ocean swim and eight-mile hikes with 50-pound packs, among other requirements.
Recon billets at Marine operational units include:
■ 1st Recon Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton.
■ Force Recon Company, 1st Recon Battalion.
■ 2nd Recon Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
■ Force Company, 2nd Recon Battalion.
■ 3rd Recon Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, Okinawa, Japan.
■ 4th Recon Battalion (reserve), San Antonio, Texas.
■ 3rd Force Recon Company (reserve), Mobile, Ala.
■ 4th Force Recon Company (reserve), Alameda, Calif.
■ Marine Corps Special Operations Command.
Want to learn more? Check out Recon Training Company’s Web site: www .pendleton.usmc.mil / schools / soi /
new / ait / brc.htm
as of 070209
MARINE CORPS TRAINING AREA BELLOWS, Hawaii — They were floating about a half-mile from the shore, and the recon Marines could clearly see the bright light dangling from the roof of the restroom on the beach, their target landing zone.
Were they too close? Would they be spotted?
Not a chance. From the beachhead, their three Zodiac rafts — and the six Marines from FORCE RECON COMPANY, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, packed into each — were invisible. The steady churn of ocean waves even drowned out the two CH-53D Sea Stallions that dumped them about 12 miles out in the Pacific.
This three-day mission represented the end of a nine-day training stretch, during which the platoon swam up to a mile in the ocean almost daily. For many in the platoon, it was their first in-depth amphibious training in a long time and will likely be their last until after they deploy to Afghanistan next spring, 1st Recon Battalion’s Capt. Jason Milbrandt said.
“Everybody has been kind of focused on Afghanistan, on Iraq,” Milbrandt said. “We have the time now to refocus on some of the core reconnaissance skill sets, other than just desert warfare. Most of these Marines have not done this before. Not on this scale.” When six scout swimmers finally came ashore to conduct reconnaissance of the area, they too were virtually undetectable. With their fins already off and attached to their cammies, they wasted no time pushing into the brush about 20 feet from the water ’s edge.
About 30 minutes later, the three Zodiacs appeared. The Marines jumped out, promptly becoming sopping wet and covered in sand. It then took about 15 of them to hike the boats — one by one — to the tree line, where they would spend the rest of the night digging holes to stash the boats and their gear.
“Right now they have their cammies, their fins, their weapons and their night optics. So even though they are fairly light, when that stuff gets wet, it gets pretty heavy, pretty quickly,” Milbrandt said. “Suffice it to say, they are tired right now.” After hiding the boats, the Marines began a three-day patrol in the Bellows training area, where they were tasked with monitoring the 50 Afghan role players working nearby with members of 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines.
From here, the recon company will transition back to the type of training needed for Afghanistan. Up next, Milbrandt said, a 10,000foot high-altitude high-opening jump.
06/22/09 Marine Corps Times
Consolidated training
The health of the recon community hinges greatly on pulling enough well-trained men into the recon pipeline. One big change began two years ago, when the Corps decided to merge the East Coast-based Amphibious Reconnaissance School and the West Coast-based BRC into a single course at Camp Pendleton, housed at SOI-West under its Advanced Infantry Training Battalion.
Centralizing training at one location meant operational recon battalions no longer had to recruit and screen future recon Marines, enabling them to focus on training, preparing and deploying platoons overseas.
“We took that burden off of them,” Gilman said.
The Corps now has a single training syllabus and, officials note, a more consistent training pipeline for all recon Marines —
whether active duty or reserve, or filling a billet at division recon , FORCE RECONNAISSANCE COMPANIES or MarSOC’s special operations companies.
“Standardization of training was definitely one of those concerns,” Gilman said.
At Camp Pendleton, the recon growth is perhaps felt most at SOI-West, where its Recon Training Company will train and graduate eight classes this fiscal year and where instructors are preparing to ramp up with a ninth class in 2010. In mid-June, the company was “triple stacked,” with three classes on deck as Class 05-09 headed into its final week.
It’s usually busy, as new students wait to begin their class while others spend weeks or months with one of the platoons, preparing themselves to meet the tough physical fitness standards to successfully screen for the course.
Newly graduated Marines assigned the 0321 MOS report to their recon unit ready for followon individual and unit-level training ahead of deploying, a benefit their operational units appreciate, said Col. Brennan Byrne, who commands SOI-West.
“The guy gets to the unit a vetted recon Marine,” Byrne said. “We’ve increased the operational deployability numbers. He will be a full-up round.” The recon training pipeline will likely be expanded to include a Recon Team Leaders Course, which SOI officials hope to begin this fall with four classes each fiscal year, and eventually other courses for unit leaders.
“We now have the opportunity to train the force as you wish to see the force ,” Byrne said.
Standards remain tough
While the syllabus has been tweaked, Byrne said, the standards have not been reduced.
“We’ve actually increased standards in a number of areas,” he said. “We’re taking the approach that we are building the basic recon Marine, we are building the team leader, and we are building the unit leader.” Students must score at least 225 on the Physical Fitness Test by training day 21, get at least a first-class water safety qualification to graduate, and meet the standard for a one-kilometer ocean swim and eight-mile hikes with 50-pound packs, among other requirements.
Recon billets at Marine operational units include:
■ 1st Recon Battalion, 1st Marine Division, Camp Pendleton.
■ Force Recon Company, 1st Recon Battalion.
■ 2nd Recon Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
■ Force Company, 2nd Recon Battalion.
■ 3rd Recon Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, Okinawa, Japan.
■ 4th Recon Battalion (reserve), San Antonio, Texas.
■ 3rd Force Recon Company (reserve), Mobile, Ala.
■ 4th Force Recon Company (reserve), Alameda, Calif.
■ Marine Corps Special Operations Command.
Want to learn more? Check out Recon Training Company’s Web site: www .pendleton.usmc.mil / schools / soi /
new / ait / brc.htm
as of 070209