Temecula Valley Young Marines Winter Encampnet I

January 16th & 17th 2010

Which way is North

On January 16th the unit underwent a winter survival encampment, this was the first of two planned by the CO for 2010. The Young Marines met at their CP at 1100, The CO held a promotion formation for some Young Marines who had passed their promotion exams. After the promotion formation Young Marine 1st Sgt. Guiles held a quick gear inspection to ensure the Young Marines had what they needed for the encampment . The CO had the Unit staff inform the parents that their Young Marines may be leaving early the next day due to a storm that was fast approaching. When the inspection was completed the CO gave the word and the Young Marines packed up all their gear, the unit started their 6 mile uphill march to the top of Oak Mountain (428 feet high) ,, . After a few breaks the unit got closer to the mountain the Young Marines could see Young Marine Sgt. Major Guiles standing on top of a huge rock guiding us in. The YM/Sgt. Major was set-in to watch the gear while the unit marched up the mountain.

When the unit arrived on top of the mountain Young Marine Sgt. Major Guiles had everything set up for the Young Marines to start setting up their camp site . Within about an hour all of the tents were set up , , Young Marines 1st Sgt. Guiles Pvt. Bowker, and Pvt. Rubio were building the Land Navigation course. When the CO could see that the Camp site was setup he gave the word to find fire wood for the night, all of the Young Marines and the staff collected a lot of dead branches that were lying around.

Young Marine 1st Sgt. Guiles and his team completed the first Land Nav course and away he took his Young Marines as they all tried their best to complete the Land Nav course with a Lensatic compass , , , . When the Young Marines completed their course the CO gave them a quick class on Mountain survival and weather prediction . The CO was showing the Young Marines the mare’s tails in the sky and telling them that usually means rain within 24 to 48 hours. With the CO’s class complete the Young Marines enjoyed an MRE dinner and prepared themselves for night Land Nav , .

            As the Temperature dropped the CO had the Young Marine put on protective layers. The Young Marines got their teams ready and away they went on night Land Nav , , . The CO was using a Night Vision scope so he could keep an eye on the Young Marines and where they were at during the night Land Nav , . When the Land Nav course was completed the CO had all of the Young Marines gather around the camp fire for some bonding time all of the Young Marines either asked the CO questions or talked between each other , .

            As the Young Marines slept the CO, Young Marine Sgt. Maj. Guiles, Young Marine 1st Sgt. Guiles and Sgt. Noe stayed up until the wee morning hours making sure the fire watch was ok and listening to the NOAA broadcast on the radio. In the early morning hours the CO told the staff that they would have to pack up and leave the mountain top due to an inbound storm that the CO said would hit around 1600 or so.

            The Young Marines packed up their gear , and headed down the mountain and back to the CP , .  The Unit Adjutant Mrs. Guiles arrived and met the unit as the Young Marines ate lunch the archery course was set up. Mrs. Guiles taught the Young Marines archery for the rest of the day , . The Young Marines held their final formation of the day and went home with their parents. As the Young Marines left the rain started falling a little after 1600 the storm lasted for nearly 5 days it would have been awful to have been on the mountain for another day. Thank you NOAA for providing us the weather report. In all the Young Marines experienced a very cold night and morning for their first winter encampment of 2010.

Great job Young Marines!!! See you at the next encampment.

The promotion pictures can be seen here