I am not a journalist or a writer, nor am I a political pundit. Although opinionated, I am simply the wife of a retired Marine Officer. When we met, my husband had already retired after 27 years of service that included a China tour as an enlisted Marine, a tour in Korea as a second lieutenant and time in Vietnam as a Lt Colonel.
Though never an active duty wife, our residence in this Marine Corps town has introduced me to many on a social level and it was as a member of the Retired Officers' Spouse Club that I was invited to attend a VIP Tour of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, California.
Before I get into what I saw there, I should let you know that we were strongly urged to report on what we saw and that all photos were taken with the express consent of the Marine Corps.
It was hot on Friday morning as we gathered to board the bus (thankfully air conditioned) at 0800 hours. A couple dozen men and women ages 40 to 82 armed with hats, sunscreen, water and cameras were about to get an inside look at how the Corps trains its troops for desert warfare.
After all of their standard infantry training Marines are sent here, to the largest Marine Corps base in the world for their final five weeks of training before being deployed. Of the 935 square miles of this base, 7 square miles, known as Mainside, is reserved for all of the housing, offices, shopping, schools, recreation areas and hospitals. With a constant population of about 15,000 the base has its own water supply (via aquifer), power supply, waste water treatment facility, law enforcement and fire protection. The first thing you notice is that speed limits are obeyed. In California that is so unusual as to be remarkable.
The other 928 square miles are dedicated to training. And there is not enough room. They train 60,000 Marines every year - processing them through an intensive 35 day total immersion class in how to survive in an Arab culture where they know that the Iraqis are not the enemy, but that the enemy hides among the Iraqis.
In 2003 one of the Generals decided that his Marines needed a more realistic setting for training in preparation for this new type of desert warfare. He found like minded general officers and together they sketched out, on a cocktail napkin, according to legend, the idea of a new combat town. They were able to obtain surplus shipping containers. He had a contractor deliver them out to the desert not far from mainside where they were painted, sometimes stacked two and three high, holes cut out for windows and doors and internal walls built. And the first mock Iraqi village was born. All for about $150,000.
Our approach to the Combat Town in the Mojave Desert
The Town Square
Mock Iraqi Police Station
That early success was followed by more combat towns, complete with actors paid to portray local Iraqis. In these towns in the desert, our troops learn about fighting a war and protecting a population half a world away.
The troops are taught, for instance, that the male Marines never address a female Iraqi, not even with a smile. There are special all- woman Marine units that are tasked to handle all female contacts to avoid inflaming local passions.
The officers, of all ranks, are also provided training in working with mock local officials. They learn how the slightest mistake or clumsy wording can doom their talks to failure.
There is a "blood house," a container used to test the troops abilities to deal with the traumatic injuries that can occur in a war fought with improvised devices. Volunteer actors, some with limbs already lost in this war, are made up to look like the limbs were just lost to test the abilities of the troops and the medical corpsmen (all Navy Sailors) to react and respond in an emergency. Although not in use on the day we visited, the lifelike blood stains still decorated the walls.
They get used to seeing pictures of themselves taken surreptitiously and posted above reward amounts in the local cafe. Everything that can safely be reproduced is in order to give them the preparation that they will need.
There is a road where mock IEDs are planted and ambushes planned to show them how to detect and avoid trouble. There are 600 EOD (Explosive Ordinance Demolition) Techs in the Marine Corps. It is said by other Marines that you can tell the good ones by how many fingers they have. The Master Sergeant that spoke to our group had all his fingers and thumbs (I counted). He told us how the insurgents had gained an initial advantage through the use of some very primitive IEDs.
Turns out that the walkie talkies that were sold at the military exchanges as children's toys were being used to detonate roadside bombs. Timers have been stripped from washing machines throughout the country. But it didn't take long to jam the frequencies and otherwise disable these methods.
So the enemy created new ones, expanding their repertoire to include shaped demolition charges. As these were defeated new ones were used. Today, after receiving a new device of word of one from the battlefield, the EOD techs can reverse engineer them and have them out in the training field within 72 hours. Combined with improved gear that resulted from the EODs work, that training is part of the reason why casualties from IEDs have dropped so much. This chart is from iCasualties.org
Each Marine unit is now equipped with a couple of these lightweight (25 lbs), inexpensive ($25,000) robots that are operated remotely. They are trained to look for the signs of IED placement and activity.
Robots made by the same company that makes your Roombas
Marines live in camps near these mock combat towns, out in the field for days on end, with an occasional break that allows them time at Camp Wilson which is only a little less primitive than their combat town quarters. For five weeks they train with live ammunition and devices designed to teach them how to see what they are looking at.
By the time they are sent to Iraq, they know what they are getting into. They are familiar with the intense heat, the constant sun, the aridity and the wind. They learn about the summer monsoons and flash floods and the bitter cold of a desert winter night, and they know a little of the language and as much as possible about the culture of the people that they are going to protect. Respect for the traditions and the religion of the Iraqi people is taught along with the techniques that can help them gather information without getting their informants in trouble.
Seeing all of the training, and talking to some of the trainers as well as a contractor who is responsible for the after action reports has reassured me and eased some of the fears that I entertained about our troops. I hope sharing this info has done the same for you.
I have always admired the United States Marines, even when I was an anti-war protester in the sixties, matter of fact, I had a Marine pen pal back in the day. Seeing how hard the Corps works to train and protect the young men and women that are placed in their care makes me proud of my tangential connection.
I have to keep an appointment this afternoon, but will be back later this evening if there are any questions that people may have.