Marines on the Combat Center are participating in an integrated training exercise with the British Royal Marines, but instead of fighting together against a common enemy, the U.S. Marines and the U.K. Marines are fighting each other. Managing editor Tami Roleff was on the base during the training exercise, and explains why…
The U.S. Marine Corps is fairly confident that it can defeat smaller forces that don’t have the equipment and training that Devil Dogs go through. Brigadier General Roger Turner explained on Saturday the kind of training the Marines do need. “Force on force training, really putting two forces that have similar capabilities against each other, and letting that play out.”
To reach those goals, Marines have been fighting about 800 British Royal Marines in the old “Iraqi Village” on board the Combat Center.
In the first iteration of Integrated Training Exercise, the Brits decisively beat the Marines 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, who were said to be too slow and who didn’t change their strategy to fit the circumstances. During a second war game with 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, the U.S. forces adapted better to changing conditions and were poised to defeat the British. A key weapon for both sides has only come into use in the last few years: drones—drones that you can buy off the shelf in your local store.
Both U.S. and U.K. Marines have command centers set up which monitor drone videos in real time. Drone operators can see where the enemy is, how many there are, what weapons they have, and where they are traveling to and from, and that information is relayed to the grunts on the ground. The drones can fly hundreds of feet above the ground, making them virtually invisible to the forces below. In addition, the drones can be modified to carry bomblets, which are dropped on the enemy. Add GPS tracking units that are inserted into each Marine’s flak vest, and the military strategists have a real-time picture of what’s happening on the battlefield.
The weapons of war may be the same—machine guns, missiles, grenades, mortars, and aircraft—but the way wars are fought is quickly changing.
Reporting for Z107.7, this is managing editor Tami Roleff.
