USMC Radio Reconnaissance Teams

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Marine Times 
Published: 03-06-00

JUNGLE-ING ACT / BATTLEFIELD SNOOPS HONE SKILLS 
By Gidget Fuentes

MARINE CORPS BASE, Hawaii -- In the shade of the hangar, the Marines suited up for their training mission. 

Loaded down with weapons and high-tech communications and electronics equipment, the team later would rappel from a helicopter into Drop Zone Lightning, deep in the Kahuku mountains northwest of here. 

The men would live in the thick tropical area, honing their skills in patrolling, maintaining defensive perimeters and performing battlefield reconnaissance. 

It's the 1st Radio Reconnaissance Battalion's version of pre-deployment workups. Later this year, this radio recon team will join Marine expeditionary units in Japan and California before deploying to the western Pacific and the Persian Gulf. 

Their mission: serve as the eyes and ears of battlefield commanders -- collecting tactical information about the enemy by using satellites, sensor monitoring, electronic jamming systems and communications systems.



All in a day's work

Radio Reconnaissance Teams belong to the Radio Reconnaissance Platoon, a specialized unit with 1st Radio Battalion based at Kaneohe Bay.

Radio battalions -- the Corps has one on each coast -- provide units with a variety of skills, such as electronics maintenance, communications, electronic warfare and network analysis. 

For years, many Marines -- including unit commanders -- just didn't know what the battalion does. Lt. Col. Mike J. Donovan, 1st Radio Battalion's commander, noted that just 12 years ago, the battalion's organizational document was classified. Also secret were the unit's doctrinal publications, missions, structure and equipment. 

With the declassification of government documents over the past decade, the radio battalion has been more accessible.

"Everything was a fly-in echelon," said Donovan, an experienced tank officer. "Hopefully, we're improving."



Short-handed and busy

Radio battalions supply teams to deploying units and special purpose Marine air-ground task forces. First Battalion supports four MEUs -- the 11th, 13th and 15th at Camp Pendleton and 31st MEU in Oki- nawa, Japan. Second Battalion at Camp Lejeune, N.C., supports the 22nd, 24th and 26th MEUs. 

Retention is OK, but still a concern. First Radio Battalion should have nearly 700 personnel -- 44 officers and 645 enlisted -- but is short by about one-third to one-quarter of enlisted Marines. But with technical skills in heavy demand -- in the Corps and in high-paying civilian jobs -- the unit suffers its share of manpower shortages. 

Add that to the constant demand for training and deployments and it's hard to fill all the billets within radio recon.

Those Marines who want to join the platoon -- usually lance corporals and corporals within radio battalion -- must first pass the tough physical requirement: score at least 250 on the physical fitness test, a run with a 40-pound rucksack and a timed obstacle course run. Then they must pass several written tests.

Selection isn't automatic. 

"Everybody here is a volunteer," said Master Sgt. Scott Laasenen, the platoon's top enlisted.

Once they make the cut -- and get the necessary security clearances -- Marines spend six months to a year in required training: Jump School, Basic Reconnaissance Course and SERE School, short for survive, evade, resist and escape.

And before they go to an MEU, the radio recon battalion puts them through a 14-week pre-deployment training package. 

Preparing for deployments, and deploying keeps these Marines busy, is tough for families though radio recon platoon has more single men than the rest of the battalion. 

Even so, Donovan said: "A lot of the Marines enjoy it. The single Marines enjoy being deployed, because they're out doing what they want to do."