POHAKULOA TRAINING AREA, Hawaii -- Last summer, 30 or so riflemen stepped on a plane headed for Marine Corps Base Hawaii, expecting to build on the skills they had just learned at the School of Infantry. Little did they know, 15 of them would be cross trained as mortar men with 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, Weapons Company, which would lead to an entire company with dual Military OccupationalSpecialties.
“At first, we didn’t know what to think,” said Houston, Texas native Pfc. Eron S. Clarke, a rifleman/mortarman. “But then we got hands on time [with the mortar systems], realized we were proficient in two MOSs and ultimately are carrying two fights to the enemy.”
These riflemen/mortarmen duos are picking the job up at a very fast rate, said 3rd Platoon’s operations chief Gunnery Sgt. Steven E. Zellers of North Hollywood, Calif.
“They are performing very well,” Zellers said. “With all the experience I’ve had with training Marines, I’m impressed with how fast they’re picking it up considering the little amount of training.”
According to Clarke, he and other cross-trained Marines even perform as well as some of the original mortarmen.
“Yesterday, we 11s [0311 MOS] saw rounds go off for the first time,” Clarke said. “Gun four has an 0311 with them and are actually the fastest gun. Also, my gun, gun three, has two 0311s on it and is the second fastest gun.”
The gun has to perform this well for a reason, said a leading NCO from 4th Platoon Sgt. Nicholas J. Sadowski, a Jacksonville, Fla. native.
“There’s a huge amount of weight the gun line carries,” he said. “One of two things could happen. You could end up killing a Marine and have to live with it for the rest of your life or you could save someone’s life.”
But that’s their job, he said.
Sadowski knows how important the gun line is in providing riflemen support while doing combat operations because he is also a cross trained 0311.
“When I was a young riflemen I didn’t understand what the mortars did,” he said. “But I soon learned that when we needed someone’s help, they were the first to be there for us.”
A rare thing that’s happening in this company is that a large number of Marines are getting training in two infantry MOSs.
“This rarely happens in the infantry MOS,” said Pfc. Dillon A. Cambriaso, a Houston native. “The whole company is being cross trained, mortarmen to riflemen and vice versa, we’re all teaching each other.”
Although it’s different, the Marines admit they’re enjoying the change of pace and learning something new.
“It motivates me to drop mortars because I like the impact and the sound,” Cambriaso said. “It’s an upgrade from grenades times about 30.”