All stations this is Apache 4
Greetings from Camp Pendleton, CA. I’m sorry I haven’t written in so long, but I’ve been pretty busy since we last talked. I graduated the Infantry Officer Course in September 2011 and checked into 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment in October 2011. After a short stint as a Rifle Platoon Commander, I took command of a Weapons Platoon (same Company, call sign now APACHE 4). We are scheduled to go on a Pacific cruise in December for several months. We will train with some allied militaries as well as hit a few ports of call. If anything should happen in that part of the world, we will respond.
As the Weapons Platoon Commander I am responsible for training the ~50 weapons specialists organic to the Rifle Company. My Platoon is organized into 3 sections: Machine Guns (M240G Medium Machinegun), Mortars (M224 60MM Mortar), and Assault (responsible for rockets and demolitions). The Platoon itself will never run its own missions, rather I will attach my Marines to rifle platoons that need weapons support. Once I give my guys up, I assume the duties of the Fire Support Team Leader (aka FiST). I will be responsible for planning, coordinating and executing all fire support for the Company. I have at my disposal a team of observes and radio operators. I will work with Mortars, Artillery, air support, Weapons Company (really heavy weapons), snipers and naval guns. I also help the Executive Officer run the Combat Operations Center. If it sounds like a job with a bunch of varying responsibilities, it is. The billet is supposed to be filled by a 1st Lt, but we do not have enough. It was a real challenge at first because the job requires a quantum leap in technical knowledge, but I’ve got a handle on it now and am doing just fine. Some links if you’re interested:
-Mortars: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M224_mortar
Being a Platoon Commander has been one of the most demanding yet rewarding experiences of my life, and I would not trade it for anything. I have had the opportunity to lead between 50 and 55 young men while in this position. It’s taken a lot of work, much of it tedious, but I am really glad with how the guys have come along. Our Company has been pretty successful during evaluations, and it is in no small part due to the skill and hard work of my guys.
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Every Friday Platoon Commanders are required by Marine Corps Order to give what is called a “Liberty Safety Brief”. The idea is that a senior member of the unit talks about staying out of trouble. Many units treat these as a perfunctory “check in the box” activities before securing to the weekend. Liberty safety briefs happen to be my favorite time of the week, because I use it to talk tactics with the guys. I execute what are called “tactical decision games” or “sand table exercises.” I brief my men a situation over a large terrain model. These terrain models are measured in yards and the height of the buildings reaches knee high. For the next 30 minutes or so Marines talk about what they would do. The emphasis is on junior Marines to offer their ideas. It is a great way to teach tactics, build the public speaking skills of junior Marines, and demonstrate that your Marines opinions matter to you. At first the situations I briefed to the men fell flat and participation was minimal. Now every Friday they fight to give their opinion during the limited time we have. It is pretty cool to see the Marines take an interest and speak their minds.
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Our Battalion Commander places a significant priority on being able to move on our feet – he believes in old school infantry. About every month we go on a Battalion Hike, working our way up to 26. Our last hike was 20 miles. It took 8 hours and 44 minutes. Since we are a Weapons Platoon, we carried our all of our guns. We marched through the nigh because of the heat. It was quite an experience.
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If I had to single out an important event from the last several months it would have to be our live-fire Company attack at Marine Corps Base 29 Palms. Out in the middle of the California desert we executed a full attack on 3 trenches with M16’s, medium and heavy machineguns, rockets, 60mm mortars and 81mm mortars. As the FiST leader I played a significant role directing all the supporting arms. Throughout planning and execution I was in my CO’s hip pocket making sure that our big guns were helping his scheme of maneuver. When he briefed the order to the reinforced company (over 200 Marines) I had the opportunity to brief my fire support plan to the Company.
This was my first major live-fire operation as a FiST. I, therefore, planned everything by the book. I had every stage of the attack detailed on a scheduling worksheet. I plotted every target and safety rings on a 1:10,000 map. Before the attack the CO and me were called to the Battalion Command Post to brief the scheme of maneuver and get the safety approval. Our audience was the soft-spoken yet imposing Major Brock. He asked numerous specific questions, particularly regarding the safety of dropping 81mm shells in such close proximity to friendly troops. He seemed satisfied with the ground scheme of maneuver, but continued scrutinizing the fire support (bigger booms are more dangerous afterall). He expected sharp 1 sentence answers to his questions. After a long emotionless scan over my work he said, “Good job Bea.” As soon as Major Brock turned away my Captain grinned with relief as if he’d been holding his breathe the whole time. If there was a problem with a plan Major Brock would find it. Getting his approval without corrections was a big morale boost for the both of us. We would have high-fived had we not been standing right outside the CP.
My small team of observers and radio operators started the attack. We climbed to the reverse slope of a dominating hill and took cover in the crags. I crept up to the crest, surveyed the area, and gave the sign to the team to set up. With a clear view of the objective area we absolutely pummeled the objective with 81mm Mortars. Before the fight was over I would expend 270 rounds from Mohawak (81’s platoon).
As the Company moved forward my radio operator and I went with them. I planned to coordinate the fires of my 60mm Mortars and M240 Machineguns closer to the fight. A funny thing happened though. When both these sections arrived they went straight into action. I watched as the section leaders made all the right decisions and took all the right actions in accordance with the order. Throughout the last 2/3 of the attack I quietly tracked the flawless execution of my mortarmen and machinegunners. I did not issue any orders – I didn’t have to. On the last trench we planned to employ a mortars smoke screen in support of the final push. I turned to my Artillery Forward Observer and mentioned how the wind was perfect to push our smoke screen in the right place. The next thing I heard: “This is Apache mortars, smoke shot!” The smoke landed in the right spot and laid perfect obscuration for the last assault. My section leader nailed it. I saw the evaluators give nods of approval and furiously scribble notes.
The company attack was a great learning experience for me. I worked very hard on the fire support plan, but it went off without a hitch because of my subordinates. As a pretty junior officer I’m walking away with a valuable lesson and appreciation for my superb section leaders.
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Camp Pendleton has a lot of Buffalo. We were driving up through the mountains to the Southeast and when the fog cleared – sort of – we found that we had driven into a heard of about 200.
Picture of my platoon at the Mountain Warfare Training Center. I am far right.
All of our training is done now. We will turn in gear, take leave and head off to Japan on 1 Dec. For those of you in the Bay Area I’ll be around 12 Nov - 15 Nov and 21 Nov – 25 Nov. I’m sorry I have been so bad about keeping in touch. The last year has just been an incredible amount of work. I miss you all very much.
Semper Fidelis,
Dom
