Marine Corps Base Quantico -- The call came in without warning, alerting the forward communications team at the Sniper Control Center that one of the three operational Marine Scout Sniper teams in the field had been compromised.
It was part of a training exercise to conclude the Scout Sniper Unit Leaders Course, but the four Marines braving the chilly Jan. 28 temperatures from the roof of a makeshift three-story building in the training area in the remote west side training area of Marine Corps Base Quantico wasted no time in relaying critical information back to the Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center. A second lieutenant serving as the sniper platoon commander was awaiting further instructions from battalion higher-ups.
The quick and effective communications between the Marines in the field and their headquarters proved critical in the compromised team’s being able to improvise and still successfully complete its surveillance and reconnaissance mission. The four-day exercise, which preceded the students’ graduation Friday, stressed the importance of effective communications between the young officers who might be commanding scout sniper platoons in the future and the noncommissioned officers set to possibly serve as their platoon sergeants.
Mission accomplished on this particular day.
“They progressed nicely this week,” said Capt. Pat Kimener, officer in charge, Scout Sniper Instructor School, Weapons Training Battalion.
As is the case with anything else, the young Marines became more efficient as the week progressed and they accrued more hands-on experience. There were still a few initial communications setbacks even in the exercise’s third day, but the four-man communications team of Sgt. Collin Rinderer, instructor, Marine Corps Intelligence School; and second lieutenants and ground intelligence officers Kenneth Sullivan, Tom Soeller and Dylan Warnick adapted to every unexpected challenge that arose.
The foursome acted decisively when word came in that one of the three operational teams had been compromised.
They were among the 22 Marines spread out among five different teams to take part in the three-week course, with planned rotations in team and leadership billets in the final exercise that gave each student a taste of the entire process. The training will come in handy when and if the participants join Scout Sniper teams.
“It’s the same mission, but four different commanders and ways of doing things,” Sullivan said. “We’re learning something each time.”
Each of the four daily surveillance and reconnaissance missions began with a stealthy insertion, with three teams operating in the field and a fourth acting as a forward operating communications team that relayed back critical real-time verbal reports and visual images on secured channels.
The fifth team remained back at the SARC to quickly pass along the gathered intelligence to battalion command.
Rinderer, a veteran of two tours in Afghanistan, called the exercise as a great learning experience.
“People in my field [intelligence], we never get to go out and see what it’s like on the ground,” he said. “[The exercise] puts a really good perspective on things.”
All recent graduates of the Officer Infantry Course, the three second lieutenants joining Rinderer on the rooftop said they welcomed the opportunity to add to their combat proficiency.
“It was pretty good,” Warnick said. “Every day we’re learning new [communications]. For all of us, that’s the biggest part.”
—Writer: jhollis@quanticosentryonline.com