POHAKULOA TRAINING AREA, Hawaii – Marines with Bravo Battery, 1st Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment’s “Black Sheep,” prepare their M777 Lightweight Towed Howitzer for a direct fire training exercise as part of Lava Viper 17.1, a staple in the battalion’s pre-deployment training on Oct. 16, 2016, at Range 13 aboard Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii. Lava Viper Provides the Hawaii-based Marines with an opportunity to conduct various movements, live-fire and tactical, integrating combined arms exercises. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Jesus Sepulveda Torres) - POHAKULOA TRAINING AREA, Hawaii – Marines with Bravo Battery, 1st Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment’s “Black Sheep,” prepare their M777 Lightweight Towed Howitzer for a direct fire training exercise as part of Lava Viper 17.1, a staple in the battalion’s pre-deployment training on Oct. 16, 2016, at Range 13 aboard Pohakuloa Training Area, Hawaii. Lava Viper Provides the Hawaii-based Marines with an opportunity to conduct various movements, live-fire and tactical, integrating combined arms exercises. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Jesus Sepulveda Torres)

KAHUKU TRAINING FACILITY – Lance Cpl. Rick Mercer, a rifleman with Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, and a St. Clair Shores, Michigan, native, loads his M240 Machine Gun for a patrol as part of a training exercise aboard the Kahuku Training Facility, Sept. 20, 2016. The exercise is part of a 7-week-long training event known as the Advance Infantry Course. The Advance Infantry Course, which is conducted by the Advance Infantry Battalion, Detachment Hawaii, is an advanced 0311 (Rifleman) Military Occupational Specialty course for squad leaders who are currently serving in the operating field. Originally only for 3rd Marine Division, the course here has opened up to various infantry units throughout the Marine Corps. Marines start with a week of proofing their prerequisites that are required for the course, confirming their basic skill sets, and then spend two weeks in a garrison environment doing course work and physical training routines geared toward the squad leader. Towards the second half of the course, Marines conduct one live fire week, followed by three consecutive weeks in the field, progressing from an urban exercise to a patrolling exercise, with offensive and defensive tactics. Marines trained in multiple areas on the island, from high in the mountains of the Kahuku Training Facility to the Military Operation in Urban Terrain facilities on Marine Corps Training Area Bellows. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Lance Cpl. Jesus Sepulveda Torres) - KAHUKU TRAINING FACILITY – Lance Cpl. Rick Mercer, a rifleman with Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, and a St. Clair Shores, Michigan, native, loads his M240 Machine Gun for a patrol as part of a training exercise aboard the Kahuku Training Facility, Sept. 20, 2016. The exercise is part of a 7-week-long training event known as the Advance Infantry Course. The Advance Infantry Course, which is conducted by the Advance Infantry Battalion, Detachment Hawaii, is an advanced 0311 (Rifleman) Military Occupational Specialty course for squad leaders who are currently serving in the operating field. Originally only for 3rd Marine Division, the course here has opened up to various infantry units throughout the Marine Corps. Marines start with a week of proofing their prerequisites that are required for the course, confirming their basic skill sets, and then spend two weeks in a garrison environment doing course work and physical training routines geared toward the squad leader. Towards the second half of the course, Marines conduct one live fire week, followed by three consecutive weeks in the field, progressing from an urban exercise to a patrolling exercise, with offensive and defensive tactics. Marines trained in multiple areas on the island, from high in the mountains of the Kahuku Training Facility to the Military Operation in Urban Terrain facilities on Marine Corps Training Area Bellows. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Lance Cpl. Jesus Sepulveda Torres)