PHNOM PENH, Kingdom of Cambodia —
Marines from Okinawa traveled to Cambodia to refresh their skills and
increase combined-joint interoperability by providing support for a U.S.
Army jumpmaster course here Aug. 14-21.

Marines with Marine Aerial
Refueler Transport Squadron 152, Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine
Aircraft Wing, III Marine Expeditionary Force, conducted training, while
providing support to soldiers with 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces
Group (Airborne), during the course.

“The communication (was) really smooth on our end, and the Army’s as well,” said Marine Capt. Chad Magro, a pilot for VMGR-152.

The training helped prepare U.S.
and host nation service members to work together in future humanitarian
assistance and disaster relief efforts or contingencies.

“The purpose of combined-joint
exercise training is to work with host nation forces and build rapport
to better understand the area of operations that special forces work
in,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jose Castro, communications staff
noncommissioned officer in charge, 1st Bn., 1st Special Forces Group
(Airborne).

“We get a better understanding of their unit breakdown and their day-to-day activities,” he said.

During the training, soldiers
participated in a static line personnel jump and free fall with nearly
40 members of the Royal Cambodian Army.

A static line is a cord attached
from an aircraft to the top of an individual’s parachute. The static
line mechanism opens the parachute automatically once the passenger
jumps from the aircraft.

“You perform jumpmaster
parachute inspections before they can jump to ensure they rigged their
parachutes properly,” said Sgt. 1st Class Vince Tracy, a parachute
rigger with 1st Bn., 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne). “You have to
control the actions inside the aircraft to ensure that everything is
done safely for the paratrooper to exit the aircraft and most
importantly, to instill confidence in the jumper.”

VMGR-152 Marines also conducted
internal aerial delivery training while in Cambodia, including cargo and
military freefall to prepare their Marines for future deployments to
Afghanistan and to meet annual readiness requirements.

The communication between
Marines, soldiers and the Royal Cambodian Army was beneficial in all
aspects of the training, according to Magro.

“It was great working with the
Cambodians,” said Tracy. “They are very professional. They took what we
had, incorporated it into their airborne operations and showed us
different ways of doing things. Hopefully it can help us improve our
operations and strengthen the relationship between our two countries.”