US Marines have conducted what the service describes as the first overhead live-fire range at Camp Schwab in Okinawa, with machine gunners firing while other members of the platoon manoeuvred forward of the firing line, according to the US Marine Corps.
The training was carried out by Alpha Company, 12th Littoral Combat Team, 12th Marine Littoral Regiment, part of the 3rd Marine Division, and involved controlled platoon attacks using live ammunition.
During the event, machine-gun teams engaged targets while the remainder of the platoon advanced beneath and beyond the line of fire. According to a US Marine Corps news update, the exercise was intended to test fire discipline, accuracy, communication and trust between members of the unit.
The range followed around 120 days of planning and progressive training. Preparations covered range reservations, the scheme of manoeuvre, training objectives and the safety arrangements required before live rounds could be fired over personnel moving ahead of the supporting weapons.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Joshua Larson, a Marine Gunner with 12th Marine Littoral Regiment, said, as quoted in a news update: “Planning consisted of making range reservations, choosing the scheme of maneuver, highlighting the training objectives, and deciding what we needed to incorporate. Every little detail was briefed to the proper authority level 30 days prior, which in this case is the Marine Corps Installation Pacific commanding general, U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Brian Wolford.”
Overhead live-fire training places greater demands on range control and weapons handling than a conventional firing exercise because supporting weapons continue firing while friendly troops move forward. It is designed to replicate conditions in which one element suppresses an enemy position while another manoeuvres to close with it.
The Marine Corps said the Camp Schwab event established a new overhead live-fire capability on Okinawa, creating additional training options for both permanently based and rotational forces.
The 12th Marine Littoral Regiment is one of the units being reorganised around the Marine Corps’ littoral warfare concept in the Indo-Pacific. Based in Okinawa, the regiment is intended to operate in dispersed formations across islands and coastal areas while supporting wider naval and joint operations.
That concept places emphasis on relatively small units able to operate from austere locations, move between positions and contribute to surveillance, targeting and sea-denial missions. Infantry skills and the ability to integrate supporting fires remain part of the force’s training alongside newer capabilities associated with the littoral regiment structure.
Larson said the performance of the unit’s machine gunners during the exercise had met his expectations.
“As the Regimental Gunner, I’m thoroughly pleased with the LCT,” he said, as quoted in the news update. “The speed at which the machine gunners gained proficiency in this particular employment technique of setting up, doing all the appropriate checks, and the communication. They picked it up very quickly, it’s impressive.”
Camp Schwab, on the eastern side of Okinawa, is one of the principal US Marine Corps installations on the island and supports infantry and field training by units assigned to III Marine Expeditionary Force.
