Description:
Marines with 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit wrapped up initial pre-deployment training at Fort Pickett, Va., April 5. The Camp Lejeune, N.C.,-based unit traveled more than 230 miles March 22 to conduct their training here. They fired nearly every weapon in their inventory and conducted other events like Humvee egress assistance training in which Marines and Sailors belted into a Humvee cab were rotated several times and then had to emerge from the inverted or side-turned vehicle cab. They also conducted foot and vehicle maneuvers, urban operations, breaching and demolitions and many other types of training. Capt. Nicholas Gregson, action officer for the Pickett training, said this first unit-wide exercise in the MEU's pre-deployment training program, or PTP, laid the groundwork for more complex training. "The training here was very successful. We got a lot accomplished. The Marines were able to do a lot of live fire, and we feel confident going into the rest of the PTP cycle that we're going to have a successful training evolution and we'll be ready to go when it's over.” From Fort Pickett, the MEU returns to Camp Lejeune, but no rest is scheduled for the Marines and Sailors. Elements of the MEU will begin more advanced training there and at other locations, including aboard the ships of the Kearsarge amphibious ready group on which the MEU will deploy in the fall.