MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. --
More than 30 Marines with Alpha Company, 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, worked alongside Marines with 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, during a demolitions exercise on Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Sept. 22.
Marines with 2/2 increased their proficiency and knowledge with various explosive devices and techniques with the help of 2nd CEB.
“One of the primary missions of an assaultman is breaching,” said Gunnery Sgt. Josh Grayek, the company gunnery sergeant for Golf Company, 2/2. “We cannot go get the bad guys if we can’t get access into the building. Same with wire-traps and barricades. If we can’t get through them, we cannot close with and destroy the enemy. This allows the battalion to gain a foot hold into the next stage of the fight.”
During the exercise, Marines constructed urban charges to blow off wooden doors from the hinges, water charges to destroy metal doors and Bangalore’s, which are used to destroy consertina wire and barbed wire foot-traps.
“There are no limits,” said Cpl. Justin Johnson, squad leader of first squad, Alpha Company, 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion. “You’re only as confined as your mind can conceive. If you think of something that can effectively get you through an obstacle or close something out, try it. This is how we learn new things.”
2nd CEB worked alongside 2/2 during the training and assisted them in numerous aspects of the exercise to increase their confidence and knowledge with the charges.
“As a squad leader, my job is to train my guys, get them ready to attach to infantry units and to be able to handle themselves and train other Marines,” Johnson said. “My role is to oversee the training and make sure everything is moving fluently.”
Grayek felt the same about his Marines when conducting the demolitions training.
“What I am looking for in my Marines is confidence with demolitions and setting wires and charges,” Grayek said. “This is something very important with our job since it correlates with making the charges and taking them directly to the enemy and setting them in order to breach and gain access to the building.”