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Marines and police officers with Security Battalion conduct their final active shooter training for 2013 at combat town aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico on Nov. 20, 2013. The exercise was conducted with the help of simulation rounds, stationary and moving targets. The moving targets were volunteers from Combat Camera, this proved a more realistic scenario for the shooters.

Photo by Lance Cpl. Cuong Le

Marines, officers practice active-shooter training at combat town

25 Nov 2013 | Lance Cpl. Cuong Le Marine Corps Base Quantico

Security Battalion conducted their final active shooter training of the year, at combat town on Nov. 20, 2013, to help prepare the officers and Marines for real world emergencies.
 
The most recent example would be the Officer Candidate School shooting, which took the lives of three Marines. 
 
“We conduct at least two active-shooter classes every year to meet our annual requirement,” said Matt Koziol, instructor, Security Battalion. “The training helps both the Marines and officers keep their skill sets sharp in the case of an actual shooting.” 
 
The training started with each Marine clearing a house stocked with brown and green silhouette targets.
 
“The Marines and officers have to show they can effectively clear a house while shooting at the correct targets,” said Koziol. “Once they have finished that, they were separated into groups of two. From there they must show they can clear a house effectively with distractions from live role players.”

The Marines and officers used M9 Beretta’s with simulation rounds to make the exercise as real as possible.

“You train as you fight and anyone can shoot at a paper target, but being able to hit your target when there is a person who can shoot back at you, is completely different,” said Lt. Troy Parker, watch commander, Alpha Section, Provost Marshal’s Office. “You also need to practice your skills because, just like everything else, shooting is a perishable skill.”
 
According Lance Cpl. William Tarazonachirinos, an administrative specialist with, Security Battalion, the training conducted at combat town was very realistic and did a good job preparing the Marines and officers for when the situation arises in real life.
 
“We don’t get a lot of chances to train the entire section as a group so, when we get the chance to do something of this magnitude, it really does bring everyone together as a team,” said Police Officer Randull Minden, Alpha Section, Provost Marshal’s Office. “There is always more training that we could do, because you can never be too prepared.

“If anything, we should practice with the other units of Security Battalion like SRT and the K-9 unit so everyone is on the same level if a situation arises in real life.”
Correspondent: cuong.le@usmc.mil
Marine Corps Base Quantico