(Left to right) Lance Cpl. Gustavo Moreno, Marine Aircraft Group 12 aviation operations specialist, Sgt. Ryan Harris, MAG-12 intelligence specialist and Sgt. Cristhian Santana, MAG-12 administration specialist, set up concertina wire around the perimeter of an expeditionary command operations center aboard Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni Oct. 17, 2012. The COC was built to ensure the Marines could deploy a system in an efficient and timely manner.

Photo by Lance Cpl. J. Gage Karwick

'The Ready Group' practices readiness aboard station

17 Oct 2012 | Lance Cpl. J. Gage Karwick Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan --

Marines with Marine Aircraft Group 12 constructed an expeditionary command operations center near the skate park, XtremeWorks, here throughout the week of Oct. 17, 2012, in preparation for future exercises.

An expeditionary COC is a multi-element system with the capability to be set up or loaded up at a moment’s notice.

“We are setting the expeditionary Command Operations Center up for accountability of all the gear, making sure our Marines are trained to operate this gear properly and effectively,” said Sgt. Timothy J. Brant, MAG-12 intelligence analyst. “Not only do we get to practice skills we know, but also learn some new ones or brush up on the ones we may be less familiar with.”

When it comes to setting up equipment in the field, preparation is essential.

“I specialize in training Marines on the proper construction and functional capabilities for this system,” said Justin Grove, Marine Air-Ground Task Force communicative systems training engineer, Mystic Okinawa Command Operations Center equipment trainer. “We start by teaching them how to set up the tents, then grounding the trailers and connecting the power, then connecting the servers in the operations trailer, setting up all the electronic tables, making sure they are connected to the servers as well.”

According to Grove, the gear the Marines are working on is complex equipment and it is imperative they an assemble and disassemble all the elements of this equipment as quickly as possible.

“You never know when it is going to be time to pick up and move on,” said Grove.“They are going to go out and set this up from start to finish, they need to be able to do it in less than an hour. It’s a tall order, so we do it once then we tear it down, then we do it again and again and again, until they can do it as quickly and proficiently as possible.”

With this training evaluation, MAG-12 shows that training for possible unknown future operations or impending exercises is a common thing aboard Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni.