Published by Pacific Daily News on December 23, 2015
Marines from Okinawa plan to conduct urban environment
training in Guam next month, which could create noise in some villages. The
Marine Corps officer in charge of the operation, Col. Daniel H. Wilson, on
Tuesday issued the following open letter to Guam in connection with the
training:
By now you may have heard that a small force of Marines and
sailors are scheduled to conduct a training exercise in Guam next month. As the
Officer in Charge of this exercise, I would like to explain to you what we have
in mind and why your community is so important to us.
The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) is the fighting
force for the Okinawa-based Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group, set to
deploy in the Asia-Pacific region. Typically, a MEU’s mission is to serve as a
sea-based quick-reaction force, ready to respond to any crisis that occurs in
its area of operations.
Many of the Marines you may see in the coming few weeks have
served all over the world but we also have new Marines preparing to make their
first deployment. Their lives and the success of our future missions depend on
the training we accomplish during our work-ups in your community.
Months prior to deploying, an MEU begins training
intensively for a multitude of separate and distinct missions which it must be
ready to execute at any time. We conduct much of that training at our home
bases in Okinawa and aboard Navy ships at sea; however, we cannot adequately
prepare to operate in an unfamiliar environment without moving out of our
comfort zone and into areas like yours with which we are not familiar.
Marines are trained to fight in every clime and place. For
desert training, we go to Twentynine Palms, California. For cold-weather and
mountain-warfare training, we head to Bridgeport, California, or Norway. For
jungle-warfare training, we’ve sent Marines to Panama, the Philippines,
Thailand, and Okinawa.
Training in an urban environment, though, is the most
challenging situation we are likely to face. Maneuvering in a heavily congested
area, identifying threats lurking in windows and around street corners, trying
to tell whether a car speeding toward a vehicle checkpoint is a real threat or
a simple mistake, are just a few examples of the challenges Marines face in an
urban setting.
Our aim in Guam is to expose our Marines to realistic scenarios
and stresses posed by operating in an actual urban environment, thereby
increasing their proficiency in built up areas. Operating in Guam provides us
with conditions we are not able to replicate aboard our home base.
The exercise runs from January 6 to 16. While most of the
activity will take place aboard Navy installations, residents of the island
could see Marines periodically throughout the exercise and are likely to notice
increased military activities on the 13th and 15th of January.
We have coordinated our plans through the appropriate
territorial agencies and village officials including the Guam Police
Department, Guam Fire Department, the Office of Homeland Security, and Village
Mayors to ensure the safety of residents and to minimize any impact on the
community.
We understand that our presence may briefly raise the noise
level in some villages and we greatly appreciate your patience and
understanding. We hope you will bear with us as we complete this critical
training exercise. Finally, we hope that what you observe will make you as
proud as we are to serve on your behalf.
