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Bridgeport, California. (October 18, 2023): For scenic value, few places can compare to this remote training area near Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park with its numerous lakes and streams that are a fisherman’s paradise.
For the Marines, however, it serves a vastly different purpose.
In this photo by Lance Corporal Juan Torres, a Marine with 1st Battalion,1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, uses a zipline to cross a canyon during Mountain Training Exercise 5-23 at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center.
Nested in the Toiyabe National Forest, some 6,800 feet above sea level, the Mountain Warfare Training Center (MWTC) is a United States Marine Corps installation that trains Marines and allied forces to fight and survive in cold weather at high altitudes.
The center was established in 1951 to give cold-weather training for replacements bound for the mountain battlefields of frigid South Korea. After the war, the school was renamed the "Mountain Warfare Training Center" and dedicated to preparing Marines to defend NATO’s northern front.
This unique facility features stables with pack animals, specialized technical mountaineering and ski equipment, and multiple small arms and stream crossing sites.
Conditions are harsh.
With elevations as high as 11,500 feet, the Center is an exceptionally dry environment and winters here are long and unforgiving. The mountains accumulate up to eight feet of snow for trainees to negotiate as they evaluate wintry weather clothing and equipment traversing streams and other mountainous obstacles.
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Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany. (October 5, 2023): In this photo by Kevin Sterling Payne, Army Sergeant William Peters, a team leader assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, directs his troops while conducting a scout section live-fire exercise. This storied unit traces its history to the Seminole Indians Wars in Florida in the early 1800s and units of these “Dragoons” played a key role in the later invasion of Mexico.
Sixteenth Century infantrymen were called “Dragoons” due to the weapon they carried. The gun was a variant of the blunderbuss which was nicknamed the “Dragon” due to the hail of fire it emits. The 2nd Cavalry Regiment Dragoons are currently a Stryker infantry unit stationed at Rose Barracks in Vilseck, Germany, and it is assigned to the defense of Europe and Africa.
2nd Cavalry soldiers wear a distinctive 8-pointed star insignia that celebrates an episode in the Mexican American War. A squadron of the 2nd Cavalry was ambushed by Mexican soldiers who were later avenged at the battle of Resaca de la Palma. On May 9, 1846, Companies D and E under Captain Charles A. May were ordered to charge a battery of Mexican guns in what appeared to be a suicide mission. Prior to the charge, May issued a simple order; "Remember your Regiment and follow your officers." The attack destroyed the enemy battery and a Mexican general was captured in the bargain.
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San Diego, California. (October 10, 2023): It is the longest thirteen weeks in a young recruit’s life, one that transforms them from self-absorbed civilian to hard as nails Marine. In this photo by Corporal Alexander O. Devereux, a new U.S. Marine from Bravo Company, 1st Recruit Training Battalion, is greeted by a guest after a graduation ceremony at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego. This centuries old ceremony marks the complete transformation recruits achieve through grueling combat training, strict discipline, and adherence to the Marine Corps ethic. Recruit training is separated into four phases where students learn basic combat skills, marksmanship, and Marine Corps customs and traditions.
The first phase is the longest, and perhaps the most physically challenging for those not in excellent physical condition, centers around physical fitness, marital arts, and plenty of close-order drills. The primary goal of this phase is to distance the trainee from the physical and psychological habits developed as a civilian and to mold them into Marines who respond instantly to commands under pressure. They are not even allowed to refer to themselves by their own names. It is this “recruit” requests to speak.
Phase two is called “swim week” where Marines learn to negotiate water obstacles and develop the skills they will need to serve as seaborne infantry. The third phase consists of field training including ruck marches up to eight miles, living in austere environments, and extensive firearms instruction. Recruits do more jumping jacks, pushups, mountain climbers, and other exercises than they ever imagined possible during phase 3. Physical training is also used as discipline and to correct mistakes.
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Philippine Sea. (Oct. 4, 2023): It is a silent enemy confronting every sailor at sea, boredom, tedium, and loneliness. America’s Navy is enormous with 350,000 Sailors and Marines operating 299 deployable combat vessels and about 4,012 aircraft all over the world. Commanders know that a servicemember’s off time is just as important as their daily duties and take great pains to maintain morale. In this photo by MC3 Evan Mueller, Sailors play Magic the Gathering, a fantasy card game, during an event hosted by Morale, Welfare, and Recreation on the forward mess decks of the U.S. Navy’s only forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan.
Sailors and Marines aboard the Reagan enjoy crew lounges where they can kick back, watch T.V., or play video games and the cooks keep the kitchen open around the clock to prepare treats for the troops. Many vessels have ATMs, internet connectivity, and postal services so those aboard can stay connected with friends and family back home.
The Navy even goes as far as to deploy civilian recreational specialists to lead recreational and fitness programs aboard aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships, and sometimes Hospital ships. These efforts to promote personal welfare and to provide recreation activities are designed to attack boredom and loneliness our sailors experience as they serve across the globe.
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Keflavik, Iceland. (October 9, 2023): They were responsible for nearly half of all U.S. combat deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan costing over 2,600 brave Americans their lives. These killers are improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and the Marines are determined to end this scourge on our troops. In this photo by Corporal Kyle Jia, Staff Sergeant Mark Frick, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and explosive ordnance disposal team leader with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, photographs a neutralized simulated IED during Exercise Northern Challenge 2023.
Northern Challenge 23 involved 430 participants from Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, United Kingdom, the United States, and partner nations Austria, New Zealand, and Sweden evaluating their skills dealing with simulated IEDs in realistic scenarios.
The training covered the full spectrum of bomb disposal technology and techniques including using advanced tools like innovative robotic technology. Attendees learned explosives chemistry and how to safely detonate hazardous munitions, pyrotechnics and to neutralize various ordnance, including sea mines, torpedoes, or depth charges.
Marine bomb disposal professionals undergo 42 weeks training to perform missions that require incredible bravery, from jumping out of airplanes to blowing up underwater mines, all while wearing a 70-pound EOD suit. These fearless warriors use their nerves of steel to save lives from these insidious killers.
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Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia. (October 10, 2023): It appears the Marines are looking for a few good men an extraordinarily long way from American shores. In this photo by Corporal Trent A. Henry, U.S. Marine Corps Lance Corporal Megan Roundpoint, a motor transport operator with Task Force Koa Moana 23, speaks to Chuuk High School students during a recruiting event.
A former American territory, Micronesia is an Indo-Pacific nation made up of six hundred islands and islets that signed a compact in 1985 with the United States to provide financial assistance and to defend Micronesia’s territorial integrity. In return, the island nation provides the U.S. with unlimited and exclusive access to its land and waterways for strategic purposes. The U.S. has recently expanded its support for Micronesia – and the nearby Marshall Islands and Palau – in part because of Chinese efforts to build influence in the Indo-Pacific.
For citizens of Micronesia, this agreement opened multiple avenues to American citizenship including serving in the military. Most immigrants who serve with the U.S. military must first secure a legal permanent resident card, but Micronesians can serve without that requirement because the country is considered a trusted territory. That means its residents can work in the U.S. indefinitely without becoming legal permanent residents.