Protecting free trade and supply lines takes partnerships, even when those partners are on the other side of the world.
For 10 days, Camp Pendleton-based Charlie Company of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion is training with a dozen members of Indonesia’s Marine Corps, the KORMAR. NBC 7’s Dave Summers got to tag along for a training session and got a unique look at the joint military exercise.
“We’ve been able to learn a lot from them. I hope they learned from us as well," Platoon Commander Captain John Ferguson said.
Ferguson is pleasantly surprised to see how similar the KORMAR train and fight.
They practiced live-fire drills, combat marksmanship skills and spent time in both the pool and ocean to complete this most important test, amphibious reconnaissance.
“The higher the waves, the shorter the intervals of the waves, the more difficult it is to bring in that craft safely onto the beach landing site without capsizing it," Captain Ferguson said. “It is especially important as we look toward the Pacific region, really any littoral region where we anticipate coming from sea to shore."