Camp Buehring, Kuwait -- For almost a week the Marines of Company E, Battalion Landing Team 2/6, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, conducted bilateral training with different members of the Kuwaiti military.
The exercise was held in order to share training and experience between the Marines and Kuwaiti military, said Sgt. Zachery Walters, a squad leader with Co. E.
“We’re conducting bilateral training with the Kuwaitis, helping build international relations with them and improve their defense capabilities," he said.
During the training the Marines and Kuwaitis practiced weapons failure drills, proper weapons maintenance, maneuver under fire, proper weapons handing, maneuver from house to house and close quarters battle drills, said Cpl. Michael Clawson.
“It’s been interesting working with (the Kuwaitis); hopefully they’re learning a lot,” he said. “They’re picking up on some of the training, their progress has been improving over the last couple of days and hopefully by the time we’re done they’ll have all learned something from this experience.”
The Marines worked hard to ensure quality training took place, regardless of cultural differences.
“One of the biggest hurdles has been the language barrier … them understanding exactly what we want them to do and them actually executing it,” Clawson explained. “We got past it by using the interpreters, taking our time, keeping it real slow and keeping it real basic and real simple.”
Despite the language barrier, Walters said that he felt the training was a success. Overall the training has been going really well with the Kuwaitis, he said.
The 26th MEU is currently in Kuwait conducting sustainment training as part of the last leg of its 2008-2009 deployment.