W WWW.CAMPLEJEUNEGLOBE.COM WW.CAM MPL
VOLUME 75, EDITION 34
The
GL BE SERVING CAMP LEJEUNE AND SURROUNDING AREAS SINCE 1944
22nd MEU
participates in mass casualty evacuation exercise | 6A
22nd MEU completes Urban Sniper Course| 3A
THURSDAY AUGUST 15, 2013
WWW.LEJEUNE.MARINES.MIL
Eagle Eyes keeps community safe CPL. CHARLIE CLARK
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune
In the fight against terrorism, it’s important to always remain vigilant. The Eagle Eyes program, launched in 2004, is a hotline for anyone in the military community to report and raise awareness of suspicious activity. Through intelligence gathering, the United Nations learned Al Qaida, an international terrorist organization, usually conducts three to eight surveillance operations before each attack. During at least one of those surveillance operations, an insurgent is physically at the possible location. “They don’t want to fail,” said Jeffrey Strohman, the mission assurance training program manager. “(The terrorists) know having someone physically survey a location is the weakest point of the whole preplanning operation because they could get caught. That’s their vulnerability, and we want to exploit that.” Disseminating the hotline information throughout the military community is the goal of the program, Strohman added. “All (service members, dependents and DoD civilians) become force multipliers for the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, MCAS New River and MCAS Cherry Point areas,” Strohman said. “(The program) is inserted into all the training evolutions so everybody knows how to use it.” Eagle Eyes is used as a training tool for the local police and Provost Marshal’s Office personnel at the entry points of Camp Lejeune to report suspicious activity during exercises. A simulated suspect performs suspicious activity during an exercise and the gate guards report it using the hotline or website. SEE EAGLE 7A
Photo by Sgt. Alisa Helin
Sgt. Matt Pike, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit force reconnaissance radio operator, provides security for his team during a close quarters tactics course at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, recently.
Force recon platoon completes close quarters tactics course SGT. ALISA HELIN
22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit
F
orce reconnaissance Marines with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit completed a close quarters tactics course at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Aug. 9. The five-week course, which covered weapons firing, room clearing and breaching techniques, followed 18 days of advanced combat training with Tier 1 Group at the end of June. 22nd MEU security element Marines were also attached to the platoon throughout the course. “I really want us to focus on good integration with the security element and getting them up to our level,” said Capt. Alex Usztics, force reconnaissance platoon commander. The platoon practiced clearing rooms with two-man teams, then increased to platoon-sized building clearings. “A two-man clear is the very minimum amount of people you can go into a room with,” said Sgt. Brandon Temple, assistant team leader. “When only two men go into a room, each person has to do everything correctly.” The Marines added more men to the
teams, completing five-man room clears before moving to platoon-sized building clears. Special Operations Training Group instructors worked with the Marines to instill muscle memory. Getting everyone to act as one can be tough, said Temple. “You have people with different experience levels and different schools that they’ve been to,” said Temple. “It’s never smooth sailing, but you’re always learning something new.” The platoon also practiced how to enter a breached room and breach a blocked doorway using mechanical tools, explosives and an exothermic cutting rod. It is essential for every Marine and sailor in his platoon to have a good foundation, since any member of the platoon could be the one entering the room first, said Usztics. The force reconnaissance platoon is also scheduled to take part in an upcoming two-week visit, board, search and seizure course, training in maritime boarding actions and tactics. The MEU is scheduled to deploy in early 2014 to the U.S. 5th and 6th Fleet areas of responsibility with the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group as a sea-based, expeditionary crisis response force capable of conducting amphibious missions across the full range of military operations.
Photo by Sgt. Alisa Helin
Sgt. Nicholas Schmidt, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit force reconnaissance Marine uses an exothermic cutting torch during a close quarters tactics course at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, recently.
Maj. Gen. Juan G. Ayala visits Camp Lejeune
Inside
Photo by Cpl. Charlie Clark
Maj. Gen. Juan G. Ayala, Marine Corps Installations Command commanding general, shakes hands with Cpl. Theodore S. Verona, a mortarman with 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, during a command visit aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Aug. 8. Ayala took time out of his schedule and talked with Marines one-on-one in their barracks. Ayala was briefed by base officials and commanders about the recent and future construction efforts to improve living conditions and modernize Camp Lejeune facilities. “I love getting out to the Marines and seeing what I can do to help them complete the mission,” Ayala said. “Marines have never let me down, so I’m going to continue to push and help them maintain their expeditionary readiness training in a safe and timely manner.”
2013 Cherry Point Sprint Triathlon 1B
Pirates invade 1C Beaufort