Frigid Alaska Air Tests Freefalling Pendleton Marines

By Airman 1st Class Omari Bernard, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Public Affairs

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska - Reconnaissance Marines from the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion's Force Reconnaissance Company performed a high-altitude low-opening jump and parachuted in through the frigid Alaska air for training last month.

For four days, the Camp Pendleton Marines stayed in the subarctic elements where platoon-mates evaluated them, before the unit was picked up.

The Marines left San Diego, with 86-degree balmy weather, said Marine Capt. Christopher Brock, future operations officer with 1st Recon. They embarked on a four-hour flight and arrived in Alaska airspace via C-130 Hercules.

There, they had to transition from the warm temperature of San Diego to the subarctic temperatures of the JBER-Richardson Range.

"Next thing they know, they are jumping out of the back of a C-130 at 11,000 feet into negative 15 degree winds," Brock said. "It was a big deal the first day or so. A lot of it was survival mode, how they were going to deal with the temperature with the gear they have. What things worked and what things didn't."

He gave examples of things the Marines had to overcome, from things like layering their clothes and keeping warm to the issues of batteries not lasting as long. After that first day, they validated their tactics, techniques and procedures for the elements they encountered and began the reconnaissance and surveillance portion of their temporary deployment training.

They went through various training missions such as urban raid training, where they forcefully breached buildings. The Marines also performed room clearing with buddy teams and live-fire training as well as their bread and butter reconnaissance and surveillance mission.

In one training scenario, the Marines planned a tactical recovery of aircraft and personnel, where both 176th Pararescue Airmen and the Reconnaissance Marines parachuted into an aptly named landing zone in a valley between mountains code named Drop Zone Geronimo.

With grace and precision, they performed a HALO free-fall jump from the plane at 10,000 feet and popped parachutes at 4,500 ft. From there, they glided along separate wind currents, which were blowing in different directions above the mountains and in the valley of the simulated crash site. The pararescuemen immediately attended to the "deceased" aircraft crew dummies and injury-moulaged Marines, while the Marines who parachuted in secured the area amidst gunfire sounded that was simulated by a strategically placed Co2 tank and one of the training overseers firing blanks.

The training overseers perched on high ground with the sun at their backs and fired off blank rounds.

"It was like a scene from The Patriot," one of the Marines said. "One of them would yell 'I got him,' and then the trainer would vanish and reappear at the bottom of a ridge."

Benefits of training in Alaska
"We can't duplicate this weather anywhere," Brock said. "Down in southern California, things are warm and the terrain is different. This is a dynamic mission set in a place these Marines are unfamiliar with. Not only are they operating with the normal friction of their tactical operations, but there are a lot of environmental and external factors that are giving them a hard time with operating."

"We have a cold-weather training facility in California called Bridgeport," added Gunnery Sgt. Mike Stevens, of Force Recon. "It's a lot different between there and here during the winter time. The difference is the cold. It snows and gets cold down there but for some reason it seems a lot colder here. We've been out in field operations out there and have gotten away there with a lot less gear."

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