Trainers pass on hard lessons of combat

Members of the 1/24th training before deployment

When the men of the 1/24th Marines go into Iraq, they'll be led by quiet heroes and schooled by savvy veterans.

Honing these 1,000-plus men into the sharp point of U.S. foreign policy in the so-called Sunni Triangle in Iraq, the Marine Corps has turned to the likes of Capt. Michael Mayne and Warrant Officer Brenden Reilly of the Australian Army.

Reilly taught the men in the Mojave, and Mayne, just one of more than a dozen combat veterans assigned to help the unit as it first faces fire, will lead them in action by example.

On Oct. 11, 2004, Mayne was a first lieutenant and a platoon leader in Iraq when he and his men were ambushed by attackers positioned across a canal. Mayne set up a fire base and then waded across the canal, killing two enemies as he led the pursuit of the routed ambushers.

A month later his platoon was attacked by 100 insurgents, and, in the face of 4-1 odds, he led a charge to clear the enemy from a house. In the fight he killed one enemy and captured three others. Then the insurgents counterattacked with rockets and machine guns. From a new position, Mayne coordinated the platoon's defense and broke up the assault.

"His efforts defeated the enemy attack and killed 40 insurgents," according to Marine records. Mayne won a Bronze Star for his actions.

Read the rest at the Detroit Free Press

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