POHAKULOA TRAINING AREA, ISLAND OF HAWAII, Hawaii -- POHAKULOA TRAINING AREA - Lieutenant Gen. Robert R. Blackman, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force commanding general, visited MCB Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, July 29 and 30, to familiarize himself with the base and local training areas in the Hawaiian islands.
Lt. Gen. Blackman, who recently took command of III MEF, began his visit Monday with a tour of the island training areas aboard a CH-53D Sea Stallion helicopter, accompanied by the commanding general of MCB Hawaii, Brig. Gen. Jerry C. McAbee.
The two general officers and their staff flew over Oahu training sites before landing at the Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island for a guided, four-wheel-drive tour through to the many range locations.
The convoy's first stop was at Pu'u Pohakuloa, where the officers and staff were introduced to the overall layout of the training area atop the tall hill.
Army Lt. Col. Fred Clarke, PTA commander, and Mr. Steve Troute, PTA operations officer, guided Lt. Gen. Blackman around the training area, pointing out various different live-fire ranges from Pu'u Leilani and Pu'u Kailua.
"This is a great range for a platoon to work on," said Lt. Gen. Blackman as he peered off Pu'u Kailua at the multiple ranges grouped underneath.
According to the III MEF sergeant major, Sgt. Maj. Michael W. McClure, Lt. Gen. Blackman hadn't yet seen the Hawaiian training areas, and he was excited to see what types of training opportunities the Marines of the Pacific were receiving at PTA.
After discussing possible upcoming changes and additions to the training area, the PTA staff led the group back to Bradshaw Army Air Field for the return flight to Oahu and MCB Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay.
"I had a great time," said Blackman. "Marines should be getting some good training [at PTA] because these ranges have certain criteria that Twenty-nine Palms' [California] ranges do not, and our Marines can use these different aspects to train with our newer weapons systems."