UNITAS: IN EVERY CLIMB AND PLACE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MARINE FORCES UNITAS PAO

BY STAFF SGT. SAM KILLE

BY STAFF SGT. SAM KILLE

ABOARD THE USS PORTLAND—You can’t learn to survive in the woods while humping across a barren desert. Likewise, it’s impossible to train for extreme cold weather while beads of sweat run down your face in a hot and humid jungle.

Determined to maintain its value as a force in readiness—capable of waging war in any clime or place—the Marine Corps conducts training exercises throughout the world, in every environment imaginable.

Marine Forces Unitas, currently deployed to South America in support of Unitas 43-02, took that determination one step further during the last weeks of September—they trained in three varied climes, all at once

“The training was indicative of the Marine Corps’ ability to operate in different climates,” said Lt. Col. Anthony Hattey, the commanding officer of MARFOR Unitas. “It was a small reflection of how the Corps, as a whole, has a lot to offer when it comes to operating worldwide.”

The bulk of MARFOR Unitas took part in a full-scale amphibious assault in Salinas Bay, Peru. Once ashore, the Marines moved inland to train in the desert there. 

“This was a really good training exercise,” said Lance Cpl. Drew Neilson, an assault amphibian vehicle crewman. “Training like this, in this kind of environment, shows us what it could be like in actual combat.”

Meanwhile, 1^st Platoon conducted riverine operations in the Amazonian jungle near Iquitos, Peru, as 2^nd Platoon ascended the snow-capped heights of the Andes Mountains in Chile.

“It’s a really rugged environment, full of challenges,” said Staff Sgt. Carlos Walker, commander, 2^nd Plt., of the cold weather training “The elevation was so high that we had people get altitude sickness. You learn quickly that you really have to work as a team to survive.”

Because the majority of the nearly 300 Marines are members of the Marine Reserve, Hattey hopes that the training will have a far-reaching effect.

“I hope they’ll come back from this float as better prepared Marines,” said Hattey, “able to share the knowledge they’ve gained with their individual units, wherever they may be, in case they are ever needed to respond to a real world contingency.”

And in today’s world—as the war on terror rages on—being prepared has never been more important.

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