Okinawa's jungle premiere training
Submitted by: MCB Camp Butler
Story Identification #: 200422219848
Story by Cpl. Ryan D. Libbert



CAMP GONSALVES, Okinawa, Japan (Feb 20, 2004) -- Marines serving on Okinawa take pride in the fact that they are serving in the home of III Marine Expeditionary Force and Marine Corps Bases Japan. However, another thing that makes the military community on Okinawa unique is that it is home to the Department of Defense's only jungle warfare training grounds.

The USMC Jungle Warfare Training Center, Camp Gonsalves was established on Okinawa in the late 1950's. Since that time the 20,000 square acre-facility has seen changes in structure, curriculum, area, and name (formally titled Northern Training Area until 1998). The Marines currently serving in this isolated corner of Okinawa carry on the mission that was set for them when the facility opened in 1958, according to Lt. Col. Antonio B. Smith, commanding officer.

"The mission of JWTC is to provide instruction to units and personnel in jungle operations," the Atlanta native said. "We have six training packages to train all military personnel. They are the jungle warfare course, jungle skills course, combat tracking course, medical trauma course, survival evasion resistance and escape course, and we are currently developing a squad leader's course as well."

The jungle warfare course is specifically designed for the ground combat units stationed on Okinawa via the Unit Deployment Program. It consists of 26 days of rough terrain movement, land navigation, jungle survival, patrolling, and engagement.

The jungle skills course, a six-day training package, is a lighter version of the jungle warfare course teaching only land navigation, patrolling and survival. The jungle skills course is available to all units.

The combat tracking course is an 18-day period of instruction where JWTC instructors teach Marines how to track individuals or military units through jungle terrain by looking at signs left behind in the environment.

The medical trauma course is designed for Navy medical corpsmen attached to Fleet Marine Force units. The five-day course teaches Sailors medical operations in the jungle as well as jungle skills and survival.

The survival evasion resistance and escape, or SERE course, teaches Marines what they need to know to survive in the jungle to include evading capture by the enemy and how to adapt to conditions as a prisoner of war.

Some of the packages include JWTC's most demanding and best-loved event, the endurance course. The endurance course is a 3.2 mile journey that tasks Marines to navigate through every obstacle JWTC has to offer to include rope bridges, stream-crossing, and a casualty carry through the famous "peanut butter mud alley."

Throughout all the courses, the JWTC staff stays busy all year supporting the units training there. "We have 10-20 major units that come up here every year that range from the battalion to company level. We train between 7,500 _ 10,000 personnel here annually," Smith said.

Not only do the training packages offer team-building and confidence, but the environment in which they are conducted prepares Marines for any situation.

"The type of environment here is primarily single and double canopy jungle with very steep cliffs and a number of streams," Smith said. "The terrain is very demanding and challenging. You're not going to find anything like this anywhere else in the Marine Corps."

Training at JWTC is very important for any unit because it prepares them for future contingencies.

"When you're training in a very demanding environment, it makes it easier when you operate in a less-demanding environment," Smith added. "Terrain and weather have an impact on a unit's ability to accomplish its mission. Once you get to a certain level of proficiency in the environment here, it's easier to leave here and operate anywhere else."

To make sure units get the full advantage of the JWTC experience, the staff commits itself to the units' training objectives.

"The goal here is to train units to a higher level of expertise in jungle operations so they are capable of fighting in a jungle environment," Smith continued. "We're committed to that. We can tailor our training packages to give units more land navigation or survival instruction if the unit desires."

The instructors who teach the individual courses at JWTC are pulled from other units across Okinawa to serve in either a six-month rotation period or a permanent billet.

"We have an instructor's training period for six weeks that we have internally designed to teach all the required skills and teaching techniques to become an instructor," Smith said. "They are taught how to tie knots, rappel, patrol, lead a class in survival and we basically show them examples of how lessons are done in each course. The instructors are primarily noncommissioned officers and are usually FAPed (fleet assistance program) here from 3rd Marine Division units."

The Marines who work at JWTC do more than just instruct. The small cadre of devildogs serving there range from cooks and motor transportation operators to engineers and administrators.

"Currently we have 34 Marines serving here," Smith explained. "We are a little understaffed right now because of the high operation tempo of UDP units. Fleet Assistance Program Marines from UDP units make up 80 percent of JWTC's personnel."

After the jungle warfare training grounds in Fort Sherman, Panama closed in 1999, JWTC on Okinawa became the only jungle training grounds in the entire DoD by default. But as Smith claims, he and his Marines still work on becoming the best-run installation in the military.

"Jungle Warfare Training Center will always be viable to both the Marine Corps and the DoD," Smith concluded. "Not only are we committed to giving units the training they deserve, but we continually develop and hone our own basic skills to keep this place strong."