U.S. ARMY BASE CAMP MOBILE, South Korea -- The participating Marine squadrons concluded their portion of exercise Foal Eagle 2011, March 26. Portions of the exercise involving other U.S. and Republic of Korea units are scheduled to run until April 30.
Foal Eagle is a joint and combined defensive military training evolution designed to exercise the defensive field and air capabilities of the participating service members. U.S. military forces from around the world, combined with the ROK military forces, participated in the annual Foal Eagle 2011 exercise to improve their abilities to defend South Korea against any regional contingency. All training conducted during the exercise was defensive in nature.
This year, the Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron 1 Watchdogs, based out of Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif., participated in the exercise. The squadron works primarily with vehicles that can fly autonomously or piloted remotely to conduct aerial reconnaissance missions against enemy aggressors. The RQ- 7B UAV Shadow is their primary piece of equipment.
“This is the first time we’ve actually had Marine Corps UAVs operate out of Korea,” said Maj. Alfred Alvarez, VMU-1 operations officer. “We got to see that there are significant challenges.”
In light of the approximately 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that devastated northern Japan March 11, many Iwakuni and Okinawa-based squadrons slated to arrive in South Korea were unable to operate from here and instead had to run missions out of Japan while supporting the humanitarian effort.
Alvarez said despite not having the other Marine squadrons here, his squadron was able to adapt and accomplish their training mission in South Korea by working closely with their U.S Air Force, Army and ROK counterparts.
During the exercise, VMU-1 participated in various scenarios that involved countermeasures against missile launches, chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear attacks and ground invasions. As the scenarios unfolded, the Watchdogs were tasked with obtaining imagery of an area or directing weapons to targets via powerful lasers mounted on the UAVs.
Before arriving in South Korea, the Watchdogs were limited to the weather and terrain experiences of Afghanistan and Twentynine Palms. This was the first time the aerial recon unit was confronted with the harsh environment and cold temperatures South Korea had to offer.
“What we discovered out here was actually a system limitation,” said Alvarez. “At a certain altitude, our engine starts to work less efficiently because the oil starts to coagulate. I’ve never seen that before.”
The VMU-1 Watchdogs were confronted with the task of maneuvering around the mountainous terrain of South Korea without reaching the altitudes and temperatures that affected their UAVs.
Sgt. Chad Pohl, a VMU-1 internal RQ-7B Shadow UAV operator, had direct experiences with those challenges.
“We are used to a completely dry climate and zero humidity,” said Pohl. “Coming to a really mountainous terrain, high humidity and unpredictable weather gave us a lot more training and we now know how to operate, not only in desert operations, but in the conditions South Korea has to offer. It’s been a big learning experience. It was challenging but we were able to adjust to the climate.”
The language barrier with the ROK forces and reacting to a threat in a timely manner were other challenges the Watchdogs needed to adapt to.
“We sent the information to somebody and they sent it to somebody and then they translated it to somebody else,” said Pohl. “For them to act on the information we gave them in a timely and efficient manner, it has actually been working pretty well.”
Despite all the new challenges VMU-1 was faced with, the Watchdogs quickly realized they needed to adjust to the given situation rapidly and find new ways to accomplish the mission.
“It’s basically making sure you are always on your feet,” said Pohl. “Always make sure you are ready to go. That’s what we did when we first got out here. We knew what we were supposed to do and what was expected of us and we took it full force and went straight forward.”
U.S Army and Air Force units also have their own UAV systems. Their UAV’s are larger and bulkier. The Marine UAVs way of operating fits with the Marines’ expeditionary capabilities.
“The Air Force and the Army, they have the (UAV) Predator,” said Cpl. Nathanael Shoemate, a VMU-1 air maintenance UAV maintainer and UAV collateral duty inspector. “(Because of its size) it’s almost like a manned air craft. We can set up almost anywhere and fly because the RQ-7B Shadow is so expeditionary.”
The training conducted during Foal Eagle helped to validate the expeditionary capabilities of the Watchdogs.
“If (a conflict) ever happened, we’d be able to go out there, set up wherever and quickly get eyes in the sky,” said Shoemate. “We are very expeditionary. We were flying in 140 degree weather in Afghanistan and we’ve been flying in South Korea at near zero degree weather.”
There are currently only four UAV squadrons in the Marine Corps.