Mojave Viper training - Mortar rounds inbound!
Lance Cpls. Justin Downing and Patrick Walker, mortarmen with Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, brace themselves while firing a 60mm mortar round during Exercise Clear, Hold, Build 3 on Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., Sept. 21, 2011. The two-day evolution — part of the Enhanced Mojave Viper training exercise — enabled “America’s Battalion” to improve its capabilities as the ground combat element of a Marine Air-Ground Task Force. The exercise is their final pre-deployment training event before deploying to Afghanistan’s Helmand province next month to support Operation Enduring Freedom. Downing, 18, is from Huntingtown, Md. Walker, 25, is from Clearwater, Fla. Original public domain image from Flickr