MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. — -- It’s about teamwork.
It’s about other things of course; like learning to use combined arms effectively, and how to maneuver under fire and the importance of communication. But at its base, the company assault exercise at Range 400 here is about working as a team, seeing how more than 200 individuals all contribute to the whole.
If there’s one person who knows what it’s like to give of yourself for the big picture, it’s Lance Cpl. Justin M. Bator.
An hour into the two and a half hour assault, India Company ran into an obstacle. Razor-sharp concertina wire lay across their path. Marines from 2nd Platoon threw down a breacher’s blanket, a foam sleeping mat no thicker than a half-inch. The wire barely drooped under the weight of the mat. Marines and sailors needed to cross the wire, sooner than later, so Bator, an engineer attached to 2nd Platoon, took one for the team.
“The first thing that came to my mind was lie on it, get everyone through quicker,” the Youngstown, Ohio native said. “The machine guns were running out of ammo for suppression, so that was the quickest thing I could think of — just lie down on it.”
At least twenty sets of boots crossed the human bridge, by then there was a pause in movement and the wire had been trampled down into place.
“It didn’t feel too good, but it got them through, so that’s the biggest thing; I’m glad about that,” he said. “I was able to get right back up and fall back in with the squad I was in.”
Bator is new to India Company, which is the case with most of the company’s Marines. He’s only been with 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment for three months. The company commander Capt. Francisco X. Zavala estimates that most of the men in India Company have either joined the company or battalion within the past six months, maybe 20 or 30 percent of the men have previously deployed with the battalion.
With so many new joins, the company assault was even more important.
“This is the most robust company attack we’ve done to date,” Zavala said. “The company assault challenges the leadership at all levels to assess and make decisions in a chaotic environment, especially when the plan changes as a result of enemy contact. It teaches small unit leaders from the fire team leader all the way to the company commander to communicate not just up and down the chain of command, but laterally to all adjacent forces. The bottom line is it helps you realize that you must understand how your plans and actions are going to affect Marines to your left and right.”
India Company ended up with an average rating during the assault exercise. Lt. Col. Giles Boyce, Tactical Training Exercise Control Group Team East officer in charge, said their performance was, “fairly consistent with what we see out here on this range.” He said they did some things very well and were challenged by other aspects.
The rating is impressive when the average experience of Marines in the company and the four month turnaround from the last deployment is factored in. India Company’s commander is happy with the results.
“They did very well,” he said. “I’m impressed by how aggressive they were and at the same time how controlled they were with their decisions. As a company commander, I couldn’t ask for much more.”
Zavala wasn’t the only one pleased. Staff Sgt. Daniel S. Cassel, 2nd Platoon sergeant, was impressed with what he saw during the challenging exercise.
“Out here is the best training that we’ll get before we go to combat anywhere,” the Norristown, Penn. native said. “Squad leaders surprised me. They were all on point. Everything went smooth exactly like we rehearsed. Range 400 is obviously the most difficult course at Mojave Viper, but it all came together. We rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed and because of the rehearsals, everybody from the fire team level up had their plan and scheme and maneuver together. There wasn’t confusion at all and everything fell into place where it needed to be.”
There are still 13 days left in the Enhanced Mojave Viper exercise, still more training to go through. Training that Bator calls, “A real kick in the b---s. Really good training, more realistic than most training I’ve been through.
“It’s challenging, mentally and physically, you know,” he said. “As much as I’d like to say I love being out in the field, no one loves being out in the field. You’re worn out, but at the end of it you feel better. You know you did something and you’ll be ready to go to country.”
India Company is getting ready to go — as a team.