Private first class Jesse C. Philbrick, rifleman, 2nd squad, 2nd
platoon, G Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine
Division, looks back to check on the rest of the platoon during a
patrol at the 3rd Marine Division's Super Squad Competition that
took place at the Central Training Area from April 29 to May 6. (By
Lance Cpl. Christian A. Gonzalez).
2/3 Super Squad a notch above the rest
Sgt. Chris Eriksen
CAMP GONSALVES (Nov 29, 2002) -- While taking on the best the Jungle
Warfare Training Center has to offer, a squad of Marines of Company
G, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, began
training for the upcoming 3rd MarDiv Super Squad competition.
The endurance course was used to test prospective squad members'
resolve to succeed under stress, and were evaluated by the squad
leader and fire team leaders, according to Cpl. Robert Dobbelaere,
Super Squad leader, 2nd Platoon.
"We picked Marines who were dedicated," said the Bermerton, Wash.,
native. "New Marines (to Company G) were screened via their PFT
(physical fitness test) and rifle scores. We also asked their squad
leaders about their motivation and attitudes."
Dobbelaere said the E-course and training at JWTC is just the start
on a long road to becoming a cohesive squad. The E-course helps the
squad members to tests their physical limits.
"The E-course is not the same as the Super Squad competition,"
Dobbelaere said. "The Super Squad focuses more on infantry tactics
such as marksmanship, patrolling and ambush drills. It's more of a
thinking competition than the E-course is, but there's nothing easy
about it."
It takes a lot of training and dedication to become a Super Squad,
according to Cpl. James Burns, automatic rifleman, 2nd fire team,
2nd Platoon.
"We worked six days a week; lots of Saturdays," said Burns, a
Pemeroke, Mass., native. "It was a lot of training, but it paid off
in the end."
The squad used the E-course as a warm-up for other battalion events
and small unit training that it will conduct over the next several
months that lead up to the battalion's competition, according to
Cpl. Stanley Llaban, fire team leader, 2nd fire team.
"We had a lot of rehearsals before the actual competition last
year," said Llaban, a Van Nuys, Calif., native. "There will be
constant training to work as a team. Squad and individual training
will focus on building team cohesion and team effort."
The new squad has to come together and function as one, according to
Dobbelaere. To accomplish this, the squad plans to conduct training
on the squad and fire team level.
"We will conduct a lot of squad-level training to include basic
marksmanship. The Infantry Trophy course on Hawaii is just one of
the ranges we intend to use for training." Dobbelaere said.
Dobbelaere, Burns and Llaban bring experience to the squad. All
three were on last year's winning squad.
"Throughout the past four years, Golf Company has represented 2/3 at
regiment and division," Llaban said. "Those Marines passed their
experience on to us, and now we're passing it on to the new squad."
Taking what they learned from last year's competition will be the
key to success for this year's team, according to Pfc. Jesse
Philbrick, rifleman, 2nd Plt.
"I'm going to bring to this year's team all that I learned from last
year's competition," the Biddeford, Maine native said. "I learned
that limits can be pushed further than you would think and that
motivation is the key to getting through anything. I also gained
leadership skills and knowledge of infantry tactics to help this
year's team."
There is a certain amount of pressure to follow in the footsteps of
last year's Super Squad, according to Dobbelaere. Building upon what
was learned from last year's competition will help the Marines
remained focused on their training for this year's Super Squad.
"We know what we have to do," Dobbelaere said. "We are up to the
challenge, and have experience that we can use."
All the members of last year's team agreed that the biggest
challenge for the new squad would be to come together and work as
one. That will come in time with each training session and at each
level of competition, according to Llaban.
"Last year, we had the mentality that we were going to win (the
Division Super Squad)," Llaban explained. "We came together as a
squad, and started functioning that way. We could see it more and
more as we progressed up each level of competition."
The squad members reflected on last year's accomplishments, setting
goals for this year's competition - win the Division's Super Squad
title again.
"Winning the Super Squad last year was the proudest moment for me,"
Philbrick said. "It's the best thing that has happened to me in the
Marine Corps so far. I hope that this year's squad gets to
experience the same thing."
Photo & article courtesy of
Marines In Okinawa
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