MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- To Marines, certain tools of the trade are necessary to ensure victory: the rifles, bombs and knives of combat; the wrenches and hammers of fixing and building; the shovels and barbed wire of entrenchment and defense. The usefulness of these tools, the ability of Marines to employ them in defeat of an enemy or accomplishment of an objective, is amplified greatly by another tool: intelligence. Knowing where the enemy is and what he is doing allows the infantryman, mechanic and engineer to craft a strategy specific to the precise picture on the ground.
Gathering this intelligence usually falls to highly specialized units of reconnaissance Marines. The “recon” community is small and tightly knit. Parallel to this community, however, there is a smaller group of Marines who gather a specific brand of information called signals intelligence, or SIGINT. This mission falls to the leathernecks of radio reconnaissance platoons. One such platoon is here with 2nd Radio Battalion, II Marine Expeditionary Force.
Radio reconnaissance platoons, or RRPs, are units organic to radio battalions. They draw Marines from the SIGINT military occupational specialties, said 26-year-old Sgt. Jason D. Martinez, RRP platoon sergeant, 2nd Radio Battalion, II Marine Expeditionary Force.
“We’re basically signals intelligence Marines with recon training,” said Martinez.
RRP serves as the ears of the commander on the battlefield, said Martinez, gathering SIGINT to paint a picture of where the enemy is, what he is doing and how he is communicating.
“The mission is to basically provide a radio battalion asset where it’s not feasible for the entire battalion to go forward. We send in a six-man team that is capable of producing a view of the battlefield for the commander,” he said.
Not just anyone from the battalion can walk into RRP. Radio recon holds an intensive indoctrination for its Marines, on par with the indoctrinations held by battalion and force reconnaissance units, said Martinez. This intensity is designed to mentally and physically prepare the RRP Marines for the rigors of operating with other recon units, as well as readying the Marines for the RRP training pipeline, which includes some of the most difficult and highly-coveted schools in the military.
“We go through the amphibious reconnaissance school, jump and [Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape] school. From there they’ll go into more mission-specific stuff, to become analysts, or better qualified with language skills,” he said.
The indoctrination consists of five main events. On the first day of the indoctrination is a PFT. The candidate must achieve a first-class PFT. From the PFT course the candidates go directly to the pool, for a 500-meter swim in full camouflage utility uniform, a 25-meter underwater swim and retrieving and towing a 10-pound brick to simulate a rifle with full magazine.
The next day, Marines run a “boots and utes” run – running in camouflage trousers and boots -- to the obstacle course, which they must complete two times back-to-back in under six minutes. After a break, they do another boots and utes run, this time six miles, with mock rifles.
Directly from there is a strenuous 30-kilometer land navigation course. For the duration of the course, which can last up to three days, candidates will have on their back an 80-pound rucksack and a mock rifle. This course is an individual effort on the part of the Marine, who is sent out into the woods for the duration of the land navigation course alone, with only a two-way radio for use in an emergency.
“It’s a big judge of their character when they’re out there on their own,” said Sgt. Edward A. Tague, RRP operator, 2nd Radio Battalion, II MEF. “They’ll sit down to take a break and all kinds of crazy thoughts start running through their heads. It’s then they decide if they’re going to finish.”
Of the class of 8 Marines that began the indoctrination used in this story, only three remained one day into the land navigation course. All three were thoroughly exhausted from the days of physical effort exerted in completing the previous events.
One of those Marines, Cpl. Joshua N. Trigg, RRP candidate, reflected on the past four days’ events.
“Basically, everything wears you down before this,” said Trigg. “Eighty pounds, lots of miles. It’s rough. The last mile is miles away.”