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The action's in Iraq; The training, logisitics are in Kuwait

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Friday, May 11, 2007

ABU DHABI — The U.S. military, while focusing on operations in Iraq, continues to train for conventional warfare in neighboring Kuwait.

The U.S. Marine Corps has long been sending units to Kuwait for training in the open desert. The training has included live-fire by troops and main battle tanks.

"It really gives us a great chance to exercise our weapons systems, which can be difficult to do given their large size," Henry Parkin, a Marine MBT commander, said.

On April 27, the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit conducted a live-fire exercise at the Udairi range in Kuwait, Middle East Newsline reported. The unit's tank platoon fired a multitude of weapons systems, including machine guns, M-16A4 assault rifles and the 120 mm cannons of the M1A1 main battle tank.

The exercise, conducted under the Enhanced Marksmanship Program, was meant to enable the Marines to fight in conventional battle, something that has long ended in neighboring Iraq. During the exercise, Marines fired their rifles from distances that ranged from five to 25 meters from stationary and mobile positions.

Sgt. Michael Jones, a tank commander, said the Marines underwent an unconventional course of fire to prepare them for a range of scenarios. Platoon members operated inside and outside the Abrams MBT.

"We may not always be on or in the tanks," Jones said. "One day we could be rolling in the tanks, the next, manning a [vehicle control point], and the next conducting foot patrols."

The Marines also conducted screening fire with the M1A1's main guns. The exercise was meant to confirm correct trajectory and sight alignment as well as ensure the functioning of the Abrams's fire control systems.

"The best part of being a tanker is blowing things up," Lance Cpl. Jacob Maczynski, a crewman with the platoon, said. "The opportunities don't come all the time, but when we get the chance, it's always a blast."

Many of the Marines have been based on one of the two carrier strike groups deployed in the Gulf. Officials said the Marines spent a lengthy time at sea aboard the ships of the Bataan Strike Group in the Gulf and Horn of Africa.

About 15,000 U.S. troops have been deployed in Kuwait and provide logistics, training and other support for the military presence in neighboring Iraq. The 26th MEU, the landing force of the Bataan Expeditionary Strike Group, began deployment in January 2007 and trained in several areas of the Middle East.

"You can find members of artillery units in both the army and the Marine Corps who've never fired artillery because every tour they've gone on since their enlistments has been in Iraq and they've been focused on counterinsurgency," former Defense Department official Michelle Flournoy, now a researcher at the Center for a New American Security, said.


Copyright © 2007 East West Services, Inc.

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