Marine Corps Auxiliary Landing Field Bogue, N.C. -- Marines and sailors with Combat Logistics Battalion 2 participated in the battalion’s certification exercise from March 6 through 11, at Marine Corps Auxiliary Landing Field Bogue, North Carolina, in preparation for their upcoming deployment on Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Africa.
More than 30 Marines and sailors with the unit were selected to be a part of the Evacuation Control Center team, which is designed to set up an ECC in an area of instability due to hostility or humanitarian disaster.
“The training being conducted today is an [ECC] in preparation for [SPMAGTF-CR-AF]. We are doing a certification exercise in order to certify that we are able to conduct an evacuation for a military assisted departure in any country,” said 1st Lt. Emani J. Decquir, the Evacuation Control Center team officer-in-charge.
The ECC is broken down into nine sections to include: the entry point, receiving, security checkpoint, administration, embarkation, medical, holding, V.I.P., and the command operations center. In the scenario, Marines in civilian attire acted as displaced American citizens.
The notionally-displaced role players were briefed on how the process will go and what is expected of them while traveling through the center. If any citizen was injured, they would be checked into medical for further examination. If any citizen displayed defiance or became unruly they would be placed into holding until further notice.
Not only does the training qualify the Marines and sailors for the deployment, but it also builds team cohesion and confidence in themselves and each other through their challenges.
“This training definitely allows my Marines to be confident in their jobs because it is a new job, it’s not their original [military occupational specialty] so they are out of their comfort zone. This builds confidence and helps them be prepared for anything we may face during the deployment,” Decquir said.
The Marines overcame the challenges utilizing specific training for the upcoming deployment as well as relying on the innate professional nature found in every Marine.
“The skills being honed in this exercise are non-lethal weapons training, searching and screening, and processing and embarking evacuees no matter what category they fall in, whether it is American citizens or third-party nationals,” said Decquir. “With any type of training or any type of mission, anything is possible when you put a group of Marines together.”
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