POHAKULOA TRAINING AREA, Hawaii -- Tension is high and adrenaline is pumping for the Marines of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, as the inevitable probability of a close combat conflict becomes more and more prevalent. Charlie Co. finds itself in the country of Erita at the bequest of the nation's ambassador, where all attempts to ease tensions of an already rapidly deteriorating situation have pretty much failed. New intelligence comes down from the higher command: A small contingent of the enemy force known as the Ogdenese has taken over a nearby airport and a large enemy's weapons cache is believed to be there. To make matters worse, there is also reason to believe that this enemy contingent has the capability to create weapons of mass destruction.As expected, the order to move is authorized. The stage is set and the mission becomes clear. Charlie Co. is to insert and infiltrate the enemy stronghold under the cover of darkness. It must capture, interrogate or eliminate all hostile aggressors at the site, find and destroy the enemy's weapons cache, and seek out all forms of intelligence or things that have been identified as high interest to the intelligence community. Last, but not least, the intelligence community says there are two high priority people who must be found and extracted. One is a possible chemical weapons expert, and the other is an embassy employee who has been identified as missing by the ambassador of Erita.As the sun hides behind the mountains of PTA, darkness creeps in and the time for action approaches. Charlie Co. gets its final intel brief, filled with the latest information from the sniper platoon, which has already set a perimeter around the objective and double checked all gear and personnel to ensure all are ready for the events that are about to unfold.When darkness falls, a group of helicopters with Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463, "The Mighty Pegasus," arrives at the landing zone. Marines file into the aircraft, and with the ease of the wind from which they arrived, the helicopters depart and the raid is underway."I went with the assault element [that] moved in front of the hangar and to the company objective," said Cpl. Steven Ullom, the acting section leader for the assault section with Charlie Co., 1/3. "Our mission was to destroy the weapons cache and gather intel. My team and I found the weapons cache in a small perimeter fence at the objective. "We found two stinger missiles and 20 or so RPK 47s alongside three briefcases deemed to be of some importance. We relocated the weapons cache, took down the serial numbers on the stingers and destroyed the weapons, " Ullom explained. "I thought everything went well; we did everything as fast as we could.""I think the raid went well due to the small-unit leadership," said Sgt. Michael Chambers, platoon sergeant for Charlie Co.'s 1st Platoon. "This raid was definitely an eye opener for what we can expect to be tasked with while assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit Special Operations Capable, as the helo company.""This is the first time we have gotten to conduct a helo raid, so we have many learning points to cover being it's our first time," added 1st Lt. Jared Laurin, executive officer for Charlie Co., 1/3. "The Marines were aggressive and motivated. "We have a few months before we take over the 31st MEU. We should be able to focus our training on these type of missions."