MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII -- Rep. Richard Nugent, a congressman with the 11th Congressional District of Florida, met with Marines from the 3rd Marine Regiment and representatives from Marine Corps Base Hawaii to attend a demonstration inside the Combat Convoy Simulator, March 31, 2015 aboard MCB Hawaii.
The congressman’s visit was meant to provide a better understanding of naval programs, equipment and facilities located within the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s 3rd and 7th Fleet area of responsibility, including Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, Naval Base San Diego, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and U.S. Pacific Command. The stop aboard MCB Hawaii brought the visitors to the CCS, an immersive environment designed for convoy operations and tactical scenario training.
“Being up in the gun turret is amazing,” Nugent said. “You have a 360-degree view and you are constantly on the lookout for targets and potential danger. While there may not have been anybody out there that was going to hurt me, I had started to sweat — you are constantly under that stress. People can read, watch videos, look at pictures, but only after they do something will they have a better understanding of what is necessary.”
The congressman said that not only did the CCS provide a great learning (opportunity), but it also gave him a chance to experience some of the things his sons have been through.
“They often lived in humvees outside the wire for 15 days at a time — this was their home,” Nugent said. “This training really puts it all into perspective. From a father’s (point of view), I know what it’s like, having two kids downrange in Iraq and one in constant combat in Afghanistan … you really appreciate what the families go through. By the grace of God, they came back, while, (unfortunately) a bunch of their friends didn’t. We want (our family members) to make it home and that’s why I worry about making sure the warfighter has the training, equipment and compensation they deserve. For me, I’m all for anything that helps the warfighter and this is money well spent.”
Cpl. Michael Dolezal, an indoor simulated marksmanship instructor with India Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, said the CCS provides the Marines with a great training opportunity.
“(The CCS) is beneficial to us because it gives us real-life scenarios,” Dolezal said. “It helps us to better our standard operating procedures within each level, whether it’s in the squad, platoon or company. The purpose of this training is to allow us to put the fundamentals and our tactics to use.”
The practice is critical to the Marines, in the sense that they must be comfortable with the tactics in order for them to ensure the safety and well-being of the Marines to one’s left or right, Dolezal said.
“Sometimes, (the Marines) might freeze and get scared, worried they might mess things up if they take initiative,” Dolezal said. “This helps us focus on our individual actions. I think this is an under-utilized asset that we have and people don’t train in there enough. It’s really easy, but still provides great training and we get to put our tactics to use without needing to spend excess amounts of fuel or ammunition.”
Nugent said that, sometimes, bad things may happen in training, so it’s beneficial to the Marines to eliminate those shortfalls while still getting the chance to conduct realistic and accurate training.
“It doesn’t wholly substitute doing the real thing, but it certainly builds on their capacity to train,” Nugent said. “This visit was to see more of the Marines’ abilities, as well as talk to the commanders and people about sequestration and how it affects their ability to train and the morale of the troops. This (experience) has lived up to every expectation. (The Marines here) are blessed with great leadership and we are blessed with the ability to groom good leaders. That’s important for this nation.”
Nugent said he has been very impressed with the leadership of all the service members he has interacted with during his visit and he is more than happy with the quality of service the Marines provided.
“I am absolutely always proud of the Marines,” Nugent said. “The number of those who choose to serve their country is less than one percent, and that is a very big deal in my book.”