MARINE CORPS MOUNTAIN WARFARE TRAINING CENTER, BRIDGEPORT, Calif. -- The Lava Dogs of 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, wrapped up an arduous training regime in the frigid, high-altitude mountains that make up the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center in Bridgeport, Calif., Sept. 26, with the completion of a Battalion Field Exercise that some Marines called the hardest training they had ever been through. Sept. 27 was spent cleaning weapons, hot washing gear, and conducting a massive battalion-wide field day at the base camp before being treated to a warrior’s barbeque and hitting the racks for the first warm, full-night’s sleep many of the Marines had had since arriving in California, Sept. 13.On Wednesday, the Marines departed en masse by bus for a nine-hour drive to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif., where they will continue their pre-deployment training by taking part in a Combined Arms Exercise in preparation for their upcoming deployment to Afghanistan where they will serve in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. “I’ve been in the Marine Corps over 25 years, and this is some of the hardest, most challenging training the Marine Corps has to offer,” said Sgt. Maj. Michael Berg, 1/3 sergeant major and Iraq veteran from Plymouth, N.H. “Marines haven’t had a shower in over a week. They’re dirty, they’re filthy, and they need haircuts, but the motivation and morale has been just unbelievable. It’s definitely hard, challenging training up here — training that tests your mind and intestinal fortitude — that’s for sure.”Marines of various ranks throughout the battalion echoed the sentiments of their sergeant major.“At times it was almost unreal being here. It was like my body and my mind were in a constant struggle, arguing with each other on who was going to quit first,” said Pfc. Richie Butcher, a 1/3 Nuclear Biological and Chemical specialist from Cook, Wash., who already has one combat tour to Iraq behind him. “At times I didn’t think I was going to make it, but that Marine Corps pride just gets a hold of you and won’t let go, and you just keep pushing forward.”1st Lt. Matt Bronson, an Iraq veteran from Berry, Mass., and the executive officer for 1/3’s Headquarters & Service Company, said that while he understands the physical pain and mental torment that sometimes seeped into the Marines’ heads, the bottom line remained that “no matter how hard the terrain is, they’ve got a job to do, and they can’t let the terrain and cold mess with their minds into thinking it’s too difficult for them.”Still, Bronson was quick to admit that the training was no joke.“It is intimidating,” said Bronson. “Down at base camp (6,700 feet down) you look up to the mountains — the highest one we train on is 11,000 feet (Lost Cannon Mountain) — and they are definitely intimidating. Then, you look on a map, and the contours are pretty nasty, but once you get out there and start hiking up them, you gain confidence in your ability to make it to the top.”One 1/3 company, Alpha, made it to the top — literally.“During the Battalion FEX, all the companies had their orders and their missions to accomplish,” said 1st Sgt. Jerry Fowler, Alpha Company first sergeant and a Iraq veteran from Moore, Okla. “All the companies worked in coordination as a team during the FEX, sweeping, clearing, patrolling, and setting up LPs (listening posts), OPs (observation posts), and establishing defensive perimeters against other Marines who were posing as aggressors. While Charlie Company held a blocking position, it was Alpha Company’s job during the training scenario to search a hostile village, at which point our intel (intelligence) discovered information that there was a weapons cache on the top of Lost Cannon Mountain.”Lost Cannon Mountain. If the Marines of Alpha Company had never heard of it before, they surely won’t forget it now — all 11,000 feet of it.“If this is the type of mountain we’ve got to operate on in Afghanistan, I don’t think I’m going to like Afghanistan,” quipped Pfc. Daniel Kembe, a wry smile forming through his alternately sun-baked and half-frozen cracked lips. The 1/3 shoulder-fired multipurpose assault weapons gunner from Seattle was quick to get serious; however, when discussing the feeling of accomplishment he and his fellow Marines felt upon locating the hidden weapons cache after reaching the summit.“There is no quit in the Marines from 1/3,” said Kembe, who is preparing to make his first combat deployment. “As much as we joke around, like, ‘Hey, carry my pack for me,’ I’ve yet to meet a Marine who would actually let another Marine hump (carry) their gear for them unless they were seriously, and I mean seriously, hurt. All of us making it to the top, and accomplishing our mission by finding the insurgents’ weapons cache gives us a feeling of confidence that’s hard to describe. We know what we are doing here. We are training for war. There’s no way around that. It’s serious business, and we will be ready.”And though the training was serious and difficult, when the mission was accomplished and the weapons cache destroyed, the Marines of Alpha Company gathered atop the summit of Lost Cannon Mountain, and — like conquering mountaineers who had just scaled Mt. Everest — unfurled the company colors and posed for a group photo to commemorate their feat.“Everyone feels good about it,” said 2nd Lt. Will Mangham, 1/3 Alpha Company forward observer and a native of Mobile, Ala. “We made it to the top of the highest peak in the training area. These views are so expansive, almost like a painting. I am sure that years from now the Marines will remember the majesty of them long after they have forgotten the physical hardship it took to get here.”Capt. Thomas Kisch, company commander for Alpha Company and a native of St. Louis Park, Minn., said he couldn’t be prouder.“I am proud of my Marines from Alpha Company, of course,” said Kisch, “but I’m equally as proud of all the Marines from 1/3 who are out here getting trained and ready for combat. “The Battalion FEX was a culminating event where we put all the knowledge and hard work we’ve received, since arriving here, into one evolution. The performance of the Marines was outstanding, but we still have to not only maintain this level, but more importantly, build on it as we move on to Twentynine Palms and back to K-Bay.”For his part, 1/3 Commanding Officer Lt. Col. James Bierman, from Virginia, said he couldn’t agree more, but with one caveat.“Our training evolution at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center here in the mountains of Bridgeport was a success overall,” said Bierman. “The battalion came a long way in a lot of critical areas. This is a great foundation to build on, but it is only a foundation. We will continue our training and continue perfecting what we have learned. Our Marines need to realize that however hard they thought the training was here, it is not as hard as Afghanistan will be.”