Trainers pass on hard lessons of combat
Vets draw on war background
When the men of the 1/24th Marines go into Iraq, they'll be led by quiet heroes and schooled by savvy veterans.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060924/NEWS05/609240613
BY JOE SWICKARD
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER
September 24, 2006
Honing these 1,000-plus men into the sharp point of U.S. foreign policy in the so-called Sunni Triangle in Iraq, the Marine Corps has turned to the likes of Capt. Michael Mayne and Warrant Officer Brenden Reilly of the Australian Army.
Reilly taught the men in the Mojave, and Mayne, just one of more than a dozen combat veterans assigned to help the unit as it first faces fire, will lead them in action by example.
On Oct. 11, 2004, Mayne was a first lieutenant and a platoon leader in Iraq when he and his men were ambushed by attackers positioned across a canal. Mayne set up a fire base and then waded across the canal, killing two enemies as he led the pursuit of the routed ambushers.
A month later his platoon was attacked by 100 insurgents, and, in the face of 4-1 odds, he led a charge to clear the enemy from a house. In the fight he killed one enemy and captured three others. Then the insurgents counterattacked with rockets and machine guns. From a new position, Mayne coordinated the platoon's defense and broke up the assault.
"His efforts defeated the enemy attack and killed 40 insurgents," according to Marine records. Mayne won a Bronze Star for his actions.
Also pitching in with the Michigan unit's training are a handful of Australian soldiers, who share the hard-learned lessons of brushfire wars in Somalia, the Balkans, East Timor and Rwanda.
One of them is Reilly, who showed the Marines how to survive and prevail in close-quarter gunfights.
As Marines armed with M16s -- and firing 9mm paint ammo with enough force to break unprotected skin or leave a welt through clothing -- assaulted a building held by instructors posing as insurgents, Reilly shouted encouragement and warnings.
"Take that window! Cover it, cover," he yelled.Reilly directed a gruesome bulky ballet of sweating, swearing armored men piling through hallways and rooms.
"You're dead, you're dead," he shouted in a Crocodile Dundee-like accent to a Marine suddenly tattooed red by paint-filled ammo fired by the AK47s of their opponents.
He focused on Marines ready to grenade their way forward: "Look and throw! Look and throw -- fast!"
A final burst of pop-pop-pop and curses, and the building was taken.
"An urban setting like this is the most dangerous environment for infantry to fight in," said Reilly. "This is the place to make your mistakes and fix them. Here, you can get up and walk away."
Contact JOE SWICKARD at 313-222-8769 or jswickard@freepress.com.
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