U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. David Steele, right, a small arms technician with Combat Logistics Battalion 31, teaches the specifications of the M240G/B medium machine gun and the M2 .50-caliber Browning machine gun to Marines of CLB-31 aboard the dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD 48) in the East China Sea, Feb. 6, 2019.
Steele, a native of Dallas, graduated from J.J. Pearce High School in May 2010 before enlisting in February 2013. In the near future, CLB-31 plans to incorporate machine gun proficient Marines into fire teams composing vehicle convoys, with medium and heavy machine guns mounted on 7-ton truck turrets. CLB-31 provides security, logistics, and transportation as the Logistics Combat Element for the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit. The 31st MEU, the Marine Corps’ only continuously forward-deployed MEU partnering with the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group, provides a flexible and lethal force ready to perform a wide range of military operations as the premier crisis response force in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Harrison C. Rakhshani) Original public domain image from Flickr