Driving trucks while under fire

U.S. Marines with Combat Logistics Battalion 2, Marine Air Ground Task Force-8 (MAGTF-8) conducting a motorized fire and movement exercise (MFME) with their trucks and Humvees during Integrated Training Exercise (ITX) 5-17 at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, CA, last month.

The purpose of ITX is to create a challenging, realistic training environment that produces combat-ready forces capable of operating as an integrated MAGTF. The training time for a typical ITX session is almost a month in duration.

The motor transport Marines in this exercise are part of a convoy of Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement 6x6 seven-ton trucks (seen here), equipped with turret-mounted M240B machine guns, and smaller Humvees.

The Humvee seen here is being subjected to simulated artillery fire.

According to the Marines,tThe ITX, formerly known as Enhanced Mojave Viper and before that the Combined Armed Exercise, is the longest-lasting training exercise that occurs aboard the Combat Center and is comprised of an intense 29-day training cycle involving a series of progressive live-fire exercises that assesses the ability and adaptability of a force of approximately 3,500 active duty or reserve personnel.

Each training iteration spans across the Combat Center’s training area as well as Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, AZ, and the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range in Niland, CA. The units practice scripted exercises yet also allow commanders to employ forces on their own, giving a "cause-and-effect" decision-making balance to the combat training process. This allows units to not only highlight their successes, but learn from their mistakes, according to the USMC.

ITX focuses on the application of combined-arms maneuver warfare in the Marine Corps’ largest training installation. As battalions and squadrons progress through the training, they integrate together as a cohesive unit through planning, briefing, rehearsals, execution and debriefing.