https://d3.static.dvidshub.net/media...422877_q75.jpg
Lance Cpl. Justin Vandershaaf, a rifleman with 1st Battalion, 25th Marines Regiment, Alpha Company, cleans an AK-47 during a foreign weapons course with the Advisor Training Group at Range 314 here, June 30. The training gives Marines a basic understanding of weapons like the Singular Valve Decompression Rifle, Kalashnikov’s Machinegun-Modernized rifle and the AK-47.
https://d3.static.dvidshub.net/media...422876_q75.jpg
Marines, with 1st Battalion, 25th Marines Regiment, Alpha Company, learn how to handle and operate foreign weapons during a foreign weapons course with the Advisor Training Group at Range 314 here, June 30. The Advisor Training Group instructs deploying Marines on weapons like the Singular Valve Decompression Rifle, Kalashnikov’s Machinegun-Modernized rifle and the AK-47.
https://d3.static.dvidshub.net/media...422875_q75.jpg
Lance Cpl. Thomas Smyth, a rifleman with 1st Battalion, 25th Marines Regiment, Alpha Company, prepares to fire an AK-47 during a foreign weapons course with the Advisor Training Group at Range 314 here, June 30. The training gives Marines a basic understanding of weapons like the Singular Valve Decompression Rifle, Kalashnikov’s Machinegun-Modernized rifle and the AK-47.
https://d3.static.dvidshub.net/media...422874_q75.jpg
Lance Cpl. Thomas Smyth, a rifleman with 1st Battalion, 25th Marines Regiment, Alpha Company, prepares to fire an AK-47 during a foreign weapons course with the Advisor Training Group at Range 314 here, June 30. The training gives Marines a basic understanding of weapons like the Singular Valve Decompression Rifle, Kalashnikov’s Machinegun-Modernized rifle and the AK-47. The Marines are preparing for an upcoming deployment where they will be working closely with the Afghan police and military.
https://d3.static.dvidshub.net/media...422873_q75.jpg
Lance Cpl. Justin Vandershaaf, a rifleman with 1st Battalion, 25th Marines Regiment, Alpha Company, fires an AK-47 during a foreign weapons course with the Advisor Training Group at Range 314 here, June 30. The training gives Marines a basic understanding of weapons like the Singular Valve Decompression Rifle, Kalashnikov’s Machinegun-Modernized rifle and the AK-47.
https://d3.static.dvidshub.net/media...422872_q75.jpg
Lance Cpl. Justin Vandershaaf, a rifleman with 1st Battalion, 25th Marines Regiment, Alpha Company, loads and prepares to fire an AK-47 assault rifle during a foreign weapons course with the Advisor Training Group at Range 314 here, June 30. The training gives Marines a basic understanding of weapons like the Singular Valve Decompression Rifle, Kalashnikov’s Machinegun-Modernized rifle and the AK-47. The Marines are preparing for an upcoming deployment where they will be working closely with the Afghan police and military.
https://d3.static.dvidshub.net/media...422871_q75.jpg
Lance Cpl. Justin Vandershaaf, a rifleman with 1st Battalion, 25th Marines Regiment, Alpha Company, prepares to fire an AK-47 assault rifle during a foreign weapons course with the Advisor Training Group at Range 314 here, June 30. The training gives Marines a basic understanding of weapons like the Singular Valve Decompression Rifle, Kalashnikov’s Machinegun-Modernized rifle and the AK-47.
---------- Post added at 19:07 ---------- Previous post was at 19:04 ----------
FORWARD OPERATING BASE INKERMAN, Helmand province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan - Marines with 1st Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, patrol past Afghan laborers returning from a night observation post in Sangin, June 8. Night observation posts compounded with multiple patrols enable the Marines of 1st Platoon to provide a 24-hour security presence in their area of operations.
FORWARD OPERATING BASE INKERMAN, Helmand province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan - Sgt. Michael P. Hodge, a squad leader for 1st Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, looks out over a compound wall to determine the sectors of fire during a night observation post in Sangin, June 7. “Night OP’s prevent the enemy from putting in improvised explosive devices or pre-stage ammo and weapons in fighting positions,” said Hodge. “Us being around at night also prevents the enemy from being able to do their murder and intimidation of the people.” Hodge, 23, is from Lemoore, Calif., and graduated from Lemoore High School in 2005.
FORWARD OPERATING BASE INKERMAN, Helmand province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan - Lance Cpl. Christopher B. Greig, an M-249 Squad Automatic Weapon machine gunner with 1st Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, holds security from a demolished compound during a night observation post in Sangin, June 7. “I expected to do night observation posts every once and a while, here we do them every night,” said Greig. Greig, 19, is from Los Altos Hills, Calif., and graduated from Los Altos High School in 2009 before enlisting in the Marine Corps.
FORWARD OPERATING BASE INKERMAN, Helmand province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan - Marines with 1st Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, patrol into a tree line at dusk maneuvering to a night observation post in Sangin, June 8. When not accompanied by the Afghan National Army, the Marines have to set up night observation posts in tree lines or abandoned compounds in order to provide a 24-hour security presence in their area of operations.
FORWARD OPERATING BASE INKERMAN, Helmand province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan - Cpl. Nicholas D. Pelusio, a team leader for 1st Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, shakes hands with a local Afghan boy while patrolling out to conduct a night observation post in Sangin, June 7. Pelusio is from Las Vegas and a 2006 graduate of Bonanza High School. “Despite the lack of kinetics, we have to get off the base to observe the environment and the populace. We are always trying to be one step ahead of the enemy.”
FORWARD OPERATING BASE INKERMAN, Helmand province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan - Cpl. Nicholas D. Pelusio, a team leader for 1st Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, sights in on suspicious activity while patrolling out to conduct a night observation post in Sangin, June 7. Night observation posts enable the Marines of 1st Platoon to maintain a 24-hour presence in their area of operations. “A 24-hour presence means that there is always a patrol out walking the area of operations. We are trying to walk around and hit every area of every sector at least once a day while talking to the people,” said Pelusio, from Las Vegas and a 2006 graduate of Bonanza High School. “We are constantly patrolling the area because we are seeing how the enemy is reacting to us and our 24-hour presence.”