Marine Corps exercise moves to AWC next month
WTI organizers explain details of april 16 humanitarian training
When the Marine Corps humanitarian assistance training returns to Yuma on April 16, there will be one notable change. Some of the training will now take place on the Arizona Western College campus as well as some of the other longtime locations.
Students of the Weapons and Tactics Instructor course, which occurs twice a year in Yuma, will train on an AWC practice field, replacing the previously used Centennial School.
Marines in civilian clothes, wearing yellow reflective belts, will play victims and displaced people. Just like happens at Kiwanis Park, spectators will be allowed to view the Marines as they train. Capt. Kyle Olsen, WTI coordinator, noted that WTI organizers coordinated with the AWC Police Department to create a safe viewing area. The exercise will also be visible from the roadside.
Spectators are welcomed, but they are asked to follow instructions and the directions of local authorities and exercise personnel for their own safety.
MCAS officials appeared before the Yuma City Council on Wednesday to update them on the upcoming foreign humanitarian assistance exercise. The exercise will take place concurrently with a non-combatant evacuation operation training in Twentynine Palms, California.
The purpose is to provide WTI students with realistic training for a mission they may execute in real-world operations. Recent examples of these operations occurred in the Philippines, Nepal and Haiti.
Noting that this past winter eight squadrons participated in various training in Yuma, Col. Charles Dudick, MCAS commanding officer, called this exercise a “very critical element” of the WTI course.
“It cannot be overstated, in my humble opinion, all that Yuma offers to our
service in terms of readiness and combat efficiency,” Dudick said.
He thanked the city for the “partnership and continued dialogue.”
Col. Steve Gillette, commanding officer of Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One, explained that the COVID-19 mitigation measures introduced last year are still in place.
“We bring many Marines from around the globe here to Yuma to support the WTI course, and our preemptive as well as reactive measures are in effect, in fact, even more robust for this class than the last one,”Gillette said.
He told the council last year that “first and foremost” they ensure that the students and support personnel that come to Yuma for the class are healthy. They are all tested before departing their home stations.
The vast majority arrive on military aircraft, and the few that travel by commercial air must follow
restrictive protocols as well as undergo asymptomatic testing. For the classroom sessions, students sit spread out and wear masks.
In case someone develops symptoms during the course, rapid test kits with quick turnaround are made available and lodging is reserved to keep the infected isolated.
In addition to AWC, landing zones will include two outlying areas as well as Kiwanis Park as the main hub, Crane Middle School and Yuma Regional Medical Center.
More than 30 aircraft will take part in the exercise, five over Yuma from 4-10:30 p.m.
“During execution, you can expect from my pilots professionalism, adherence to all FAA regulations and rules, as well as communicating frequently with tower and air traffic control and always being in coordination with myself and the site coordinators on the ground,” said Capt. Kyle Olsen, WTI evolution coordinator.
“Safety of the participants and any spectators is paramount,” Olsen noted, adding that no ordnance
will be carried on any aircraft or personnel.
Training organizers did “an excessive amount of coordination” with the police and fire departments as well as the parks and recreation department to ensure the safety of participants and spectators.
Site commanders will be at each site 30 minutes prior to the start. They are responsible for ensuring their site is clean prior to departure.
Each site commander will be in communication with local authorities, including the Marine Expeditionary Firefighting and Rescue and Yuma and military police.
As “good stewards of your property,” the training organizers will take steps to ensure the cleanliness of each site. Drip pans will be placed beneath forklifts at Kiwanis Park, and vehicle movement will be limited for grass preservation.
“We thank you for allowing us to create this worldclass training evolution for our students. It wouldn’t be possible without the past and continued support of the city,” Olsen said.