Reply With QuoteAhh. memories. I went through there in 1995 and 1997.
Jungle Warfare Training Center
Jungle warfare training at JWTC in Okinawa, Japan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44wEXfKRu30
Ahh. memories. I went through there in 1995 and 1997.
Is it just for the Marines?
Assuming you didn't fail, what would be the reason for going through twice? Different qualifications or levels of mastery?Originally Posted by James
It's a unit course, not an individual course. I think every single USMC battalion that deploys to Okinawa goes through there, a company at a time. I want to say that it's two or three weeks, but it's been a long time. The first portion was about climbing and rappelling, crossing streams, land navigation (big part of the course, map and compass only, no GPS) and patrolling. Later there was a force on force exercise where we went out in squad sized patrols. At the very end was something called the endurance course. It was only about two miles long, but it had everything you did in the course, so it took a couple of hours to complete. The worst was making a litter from tree limbs and blouses and carrying the biggest dude through a hip deep mud pit. When we finished the course we had to use fire hoses to rinse off.
The mud in Okinawa is the most unbelievable I've ever seen.
I think so. For years, the USMC has been rotating battalions from Camp Pendelton, 29 Palms, and Camp Lejeune through Okinawa on 6 month deployments. In my case, I was in 3/7 (29 Palms) where we specialized in mechanized desert warfare. After spending time in Okinawa, we also became proficient in functioning as light infantry in the jungle. Back in the 90s the only ground forces in Okinawa other than USMC was a single battalion of the Army's 1st SF Group (and maybe a SEAL detachment, but I think they were always tasked to the 31st MEU). I suppose they could have gone through the NTA course as well, but they were always jetting off to Thailand, the Philippines, Korea, etc.
Another thing that might be out of date - in the mid 90s, each of the three rifle companies in a battalion was designated to have a special capability when the battalion was assigned to a MEU (SOC). One would be helo company (air assault), one would be track company (amtracs) and one would be boat company (sneaky zodiac boat raids, ala WWII USMC Raiders; I was in boat company). Weapons company would usually provide platoons for TRAP missions and the like.
Last edited by James; 04-25-2012 at 04:39 PM.
Same deal with us at Canungra and Tully, units used to go almost every year, with the turn over of people there was always people going for the first time, either as a Private soldier, or the first time as a Section, Platoon or Company Commander, so most people got something out of it.
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