MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Marine Wing Support Squadron 171 has joined other units including Marine Aircraft Group 12 and Combat Logistics Battalion 3 in exercise Lava Viper taking place in Hawaii Jan. 13.
Lava Viper is a biannual exercise which allows all Marines to train and improve proficiency in their respective duties; this allows mission accomplishment in a well-timed manner, safer and with less complications.
“We can exercise almost all six functions of a Marine wing support squadron in Lava Viper,” said Staff Sgt. Johnathan Spinosi, MWSS-171 operations chief. “This helps us keep the expeditionary portion or operation up to date with training which we cannot perform here on station.”
The six main functions of any MWSS-171 include assault support, anti-air warfare, offensive air support, and electronic warfare, control of aircraft and missiles, and aerial reconnaissance.
Lava Viper exercises are necessary for MWSS-171 to complete training and be ready for any mission which arises.
“There are two Lava Vipers per year with this exercise being 12.1,” said Spinosi. “There will be a Lava Viper 12.2 in July and hopefully we will be able to cycle more Marines through so everyone will get their tactical miles done and be able to experience that quality of training which we are able to offer.”
With a majority of Marines able to rotate through a cycle of Lava Viper it allows time for training and eliminates the need to rotate through different Marines while there with its twice-a-year setup.
“We get a lot of tactical miles driven, where the motor transportation Marines get convoy training with live ammunition and can also train in live-fire training while mounted on vehicles,” said Spinosi.
By completing multiple types of training it allows for a well rounded Marine who can perform a multitude of tasks.
“Sometimes we train with a moving convoy, but other times it is stationary in order to allow the Marines to familiarize themselves with the weapon system,” said Spinosi.
The weapons which were used for MWSS-171s training included Mk-19s, Mk2s which are .50 caliber machine guns, M-240 bravos, and also M-249s which are also known as Squad Automatic Weapons, or SAW.
“We shoot most of our .50 caliber ammunitions during Lava Viper so we may have fewer restrictions, this allows the Marines to traverse in the turret or on the tripod,” said Spinosi.
Within the past few years Lava Viper has expanded to allow more training to be accomplished.
“Prior to Lava Viper 10.2 combat engineers did not participate in the exercise,” said Capt. Mark Schouten, MWSS-171 engineer operations company commander.
The combat engineers don’t go through the same training as all other Marines, but with their unique skill set they help support the other Marines’ training.
“With a high deployment tempo, Lava Viper allows MWSS-171’s combat engineers another opportunity to increase proficiency in tasks such as building entry control points and southwest Asia huts,” said Shouten.
Although the combat engineers’ mission differs from others’ while at Lava Viper, theirs, like the rest of MWSS-171’s is vital to the success of the exercise.