The Four War Pigs

Charlie Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance (LAR) "War Pigs" from the 13th MEU (Special Operations Capable) pose 02/14/2002 for a group photo with their number one War Pig aka Light Armored Vehicle-25 (LAV-25) after live fire training at EDGED MALLET '02 in Kenya, Africa. USMC photo CPL Bryant V. Cox

The African War Pig

Up to the axles in African mud, on 02/14/2002 a Light Armored Vehicle-25 (LAV-25) gets hooked up to a wench by Staff Sergeant Charles R. Dozer, Maintenance Chief, Charlie Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance (LAR) "War Pigs" from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) (MEU (SOC)). The vehicle got stuck during EDGED MALLET '02, a training ops in Kenya, Africa. USMC photo CPL Bryant V. Cox

Return to Camp Owen Dec. '04

After operations in Fallujah, Iraq, the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion regroups at Camp Owen 12/16/2004 with an inventory of ammo and other items on their Light Armored Vehicles (LAV-25) during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM II. Op I-F Two is the name for the second year in Iraq. USMC photo JEREMY W. FERGUSON

First LAR-Tikrit, Iraq

1st Light Armor Reconnaissance Battalion use Light Armored Vehicles (LAV-25) "War Pigs" to provide security in front of the Sadaam Hussein Palace, 04/17/2003, Tikrit, Iraq, during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. USMC photo Nicholous Radloff

Convoy

LAV-25 "War Pigs"/ 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, escort an convoy on the road to Baghdad on Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.
USMC photo GYSGT MATTHEW M. SMITH

First LAR At 29 Stumps Oct 17-30

DVIDS
photos/Story by Lance Cpl. Andrew Thorburn
MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. -- Marines with Combat Logistics Battalion 7 are working round the clock to make sure the 1st Tank Battalion and 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion have the supplies they need to complete a pre-deployment exercise here, Oct. 17-30.

CLB-7 is joining forces with CLB-5, based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., to deliver supplies by convoy to the training battalions partaking in Operation Steel Knight.

Operation Steel Knight is a battalion level training exercise which allows battalions to come together under scenarios similar to those likely to be encountered in theater.

"This is great experience for the new guys working in the desert and Afghanistan," said Lance Cpl. Salvador Portillo, a Transportation operator for Support Company, CLB-7. To assist 1st Tanks and 1st LAR with their mission, the Marines of CLB-7 set up a forward operating base to help coordinate the convoy's objective during the operation. Within the FOB, the logistics Marines plan the routes for the convoys and the supplies they will be carrying.

Marines with the Motor Transport Co. were given details on convoy routes and safety prior to kicking the plans into motion. After loading the necessary supplies onto Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacements, the convoys set off into the desert.

"The convoys have to keep a lookout for [notational] IEDs [improvised explosive devises] the closer we get to Oct. 24," said 1st Lt. Jeremiah Hartley, watch officer for CLB-7, Headquarters and Service Co. Hartley explained as the exercise draws closer to its end date, the battalion can expect higher chances of notional IEDs being added to the mix.

"The convoys have been taught what to do in case of an IED and know that it's a possibility during the operation," he said.

The element of surprise may add to the authenticity of the training since the drivers have no indication of any notional IEDs during the training operation.

"We have already been doing this for about a week and it's been the same thing everyday," said Lance Cpl. Emery Langley, a motor transportation operator with Support Co., CLB-7. "I hope things change up a little bit."

As Operation Steel Knight runs its course, CLB-7 will continue to offer support to units expecting to deploy in the near future.