FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. –
Active-duty Marines from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, spent about two weeks training here recently.
Marines from the 2nd Air-Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, part of the II Marine Expeditionary Force, conducted a variety of training exercises while at Fort Indiantown Gap, including individual and team level training.
The training included air assaults with UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from the 28th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade and close air support training with MQ-9 Reapers from the 111th Attack Wing and A-10 Thunderbolts from the Maryland National Guard’s 175th Fighter Wing.
“The individual skills we’re working on are basic infantry skills and long-range communication, and all that is nested under our overall mission as fire supporters providing fire support for joint and allied partners to the Marine Corps,” said Capt. Kevin Redmond, a team leader for Supporting Arms Liaison Team (SALT) Bravo.
The 2nd ANGLICO's mission is to provide Marine air-ground task force commanders a liaison capability with foreign area expertise to plan, coordinate, employ and conduct terminal control of fires in support of joint, allied and coalition forces, according to the unit’s website.
In other words, the units’ teams provide direct support to joint, allied, coalition and special operations forces working within Marine Corps battlespace and conduct the coordination and deconfliction required in order for their commanders to access Marine Corps close air support, artillery, rockets and naval gunfire.
Redmond said the mission of ANGLICO Marines is similar to mission of Air Force tactical air control party specialists. Like TACPs, a fire control team from and ANGLICO will embed with joint and allied forces to provide fire support from the Marine air-ground task force, he said.
“Let’s say you have the Army and the Marine Corps operating in the same battle space,” Redmond said. “The ANGLICO will attach with those Army units operating alongside the Marine Corps, and we will be that liaison so the Army can use Marine Corps fire support assets.
“We’re very heavy on the CAS (close air support), because that’s what the customer wants most times,” he added. “But not just CAS, also Marine artillery, both rocket and cannon artillery, and then Naval gunfire.”
Redmond said he chose to come to Fort Indiantown Gap for the training because, as a Pennsylvania native, he was familiar with the installation and what it offers training-wise.
“I know it’s a small area, but the joint units that are in the area provide a lot of training value to us – the 28th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade here at the Gap, the 104th Fighter Squadron down in Maryland and the 103rd Attack Squadron here in Pennsylvania,” he said. “So, looking at all those and saying if we want to accomplish all of this, we can go to where the units are at at Fort Indiantown Gap.”
Additionally, Redmond said, there's plenty of maneuver space for the unit’s teams to train in when they weren't conducting CAS training at Bollen Air-To-Ground Range.
The opportunity to train on terrain that is different from Camp Lejeune's was also extremely beneficial, Redmond said.
“Lejeune is very flat and swampy with very dense vegetation that you can’t patrol through,” he said. “Here, it’s open woods, but it’s hilly, it’s rocky, we’re going up and down elevation.”
Cpl. Hunter Turk, a fire support Marine with 2nd ANGLICO, agreed that it’s beneficial to get away from their unit’s home station and train on unfamiliar terrain and in different climates. Camp Lejeune is often hot and humid, he said.
“The facilities here are really nice, and it gives us an opportunity to train on new terrain,” Turk said. “At Lejeune, we’re dealing with swamps and thick vegetation. Here, it’s more open, more rolling hills. It’s pretty flat at Lejeune so there’s not a lot of elevations changes.”
A native of Shinglehouse, Pa., Turk said it was nice to be back in Pennsylvania, even if it was just for two weeks for training.
“I usually only get up here once a year when I go on leave for Christmas, so it’s nice to be back up here in an area I’m familiar with,” he said.