MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, North Carolina — Marines with 2nd Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, in conjunction with the United States Army, French Army, British Army and Dutch Marines, conducted joint terminal attack control training at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, March 25.
The training enhanced interoperability between U.S. forces and their NATO allies, demonstrating ANGLICO’s ability to bring fire and aviation support to coalition and joint partners.
“This training exercise for us is about integrating with the joint fire side of it, making sure we can complete accurate and successful missions in order to support ground troops,” said Ian Maxwell, a British soldier with 148 Battery, 29 Commando Royal Artillery.
The mission of 2nd ANGLICO is to provide Marine Air-Ground Task Force commanders a liaison capability with foreign area expertise to plan, coordinate, employ and conduct close air support and direct fire from ground positions in support of joint, allied and coalition forces.
“The training gives our junior Marines, who have never worked with foreign forces before, the opportunity to work with our NATO allies in order to learn from them just as they are learning from us,” said Staff Sgt. Sean Lassiter, a fire support Marine with 2nd ANGLICO.
JTAC's direct fires during close air support in conjunction with allied forces maneuvers. This capability provides service members the ability to fire on targets in conjunction with aviation assets.
Familiarization with foreign forces allows personnel to learn different ways to operate in a deployed environment. U.S. Marines are often working with various allied forces and flexibility is required to operate alongside partner nations, said Cpl. Mason Newbury, a fire support Marine with 2nd ANGLICO.
While this was the first time for some Marines with 2nd ANGLICO to work with allied forces, it will not be the last.
“The training was a huge opportunity to increase interoperability with allied partners and get [everyone accustomed] on a small scale in order to build up to bigger exercises,” said Capt. Chad Ernst, a field artillery officer with 2nd ANGLICO.
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