13th MEU raiders clear first training hurdle
Helicopter-borne infantry company hones its skills during predeployment phase

Sgt. M. C. Miller
13th Marine Expeditionary Unit

Elements that will soon make up the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit recently disabled a mock enemy radar station -- the first phase of Òover-the-horizonÓ capability training at Camp Talega during the helicopter-borne raid assault course.
The weeklong training, hosted by I Marine Expeditionary Force's Special Operations Training Group, gave the 13th MEU's future helicopter-borne infantry company and Aviation Combat Element Marines in-depth training in day or night helo raids. K Company, Battalion Landing Team 3/1, will serve as the 13th MEU's helo company. Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 161 (reinforced) from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar will be the 13th MEU's ACE.
Follow-on training will be conducted throughout the six-month predeployment phase to perfect their helo-raid skills before the 13th MEU deploys in mid-August.
Raids are different from a conventional attack, explained 1stLt. Craig Himel, K Company executive officer. "Instead of trying to take the enemy's position and stay there, like a normal assault, a raid force has a withdrawal planned to complete the mission, usually a few hours after they begin."
According to Himel, the course focuses on the withdrawal, since the Marines seldom practice this technique in regular training exercises. The concept of taking an objective and defending it has been ingrained in them since recruit training, he said. Now, the Marines are learning a whole new warfighting technique.
A raidÕs success depends on every Marine being involved in planning, Himel said. Unlike a conventional operation, each Marine has to know exactly what is supposed to happen in the helo raid. Once a mission timeline is established, everyone works together to determine individual and company actions, escape and evasion plans, and alternate actions if something doesn't go as planned.
After the planning stage, the Marines rehearse the raid several times.
"We rehearse so much the training becomes a reflex action," said PFC John Hight, 23, from Leland, Mo. "I know my job so well now that I can do it backward and forward and in my sleep. (The timetables and individual actions) are things that no one is allowed to get wrong, or everything would get out of sync." If one part goes wrong, the whole mission could be thrown off its timeline, he said.
The last step before the raid is the final brief.
Their first raid mission was to breach an enemy camp and destroy a radar site. The helicopters inserted the helo company just after dusk, and the Marines patrolled less than a thousand meters to the camp.
Using artillery and mortar support to hit planned targets, the company quickly breached obstacles surrounding the camp. Once inside, they searched the camp for the radar site. The raid force identified and destroyed the radar before the enemy knew what hit them. While destroying the radar site, the Marines captured a few prisoners of war, then assembled for a quick withdrawal.
Although taking prisoners is not the primary mission of a raid force, Marines can collect valuable intelligence information from them if time and mission permit.
After arriving at the extraction site, Marines counted heads and checked equipment before radioing the extract helicopters.
The raid went surprisingly well for a first run, said SSgt. Dirk Lens, Special Operations Training Group raid instructor. "They did an outstanding job, one of the best that I have seen come through here."
The 13th MEU's predeployment cycle will perfect their skill.
Last deployment, the company had trouble at first, because the Marines did not work well on such a tight schedule, said Cpl. William Rial, 29, a squad leader from Skaneateles, N.Y. "This time around, it seems to be clicking more and falling right into place."
Sgt. Ricardo Torres of Rocky Mount, N.C., attributed the raidÕs success to camaraderie. "That is one of the most important ingredients to making a mission like this work," he said.
The team has been together since August, said Torres, a 26-year-old squad leader. Most raid teams never get that much time to train together before they deploy, he said.
"You have to know what each other is thinking," he explained. "We can do that because of the camaraderie we have here."