Cpl. Dajuan Mingo fires a M249 Squad Automatic Weapon during a live-fire exercise at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Sept. 22, 2025. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP HANSEN, Okinawa — Marines who normally man a desk stepped behind machine guns at a firing range on this northern Okinawa base recently to hone their skills defending a command post.
About 30 members of the 5th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, or ANGLICO, sharpened their shooting skills on the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon light machine gun and the M2A1 .50-caliber heavy machine gun during a live-fire drill Monday and Tuesday on Range 2.
The training allowed Marines with the unit’s Headquarters Brigade Platoon, who normally work in logistics, communication, supply and administration, to gain proficiency on the weapons.
The 5th ANGLICO’s primary job is coordinating gunfire from ships and artillery, range officer-in-charge 1st Lt. Keyon White told Stars and Stripes on Monday between bursts of M249 fire.
“While these guys are doing that really important thing to make sure all those fires are coordinated, these are the people that move them, keep them fed, keep them able to communicate with each other, keep them administratively operational,” he said. “And then these are also the people who defend those command-and-control posts.”
Cpl. Elijah Murphy of the 5th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company demonstrates how to fire an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon at Range 2 on Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Sept. 22, 2025. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)
A Marine with the 5th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company fires at a target about a half-mile away during a live-fire exercise at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Sept. 22, 2025. (Brian McElhiney/Stars and Stripes)
Pfc. Cyrus Sitton fires a M2A1 .50-caliber machine gun during a live-fire exercise at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Sept. 23, 2025. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)
Marines fire an M2A1 .50-caliber machine gun from a vehicle during a live-fire exercise at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Sept. 23, 2025. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)
The unit’s “ability to integrate fires, link sensors to shooters, and enable joint and allied forces” helps support expeditionary advanced base operations, III Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group spokesman 1st Lt. Lance Comer said by email Wednesday.
The concept is a key tenet of the Corps’ Force Design reorganization that calls for small, mobile groups of Marines to disperse within the range of enemy missiles to seize and hold islands and sink enemy vessels.
“Our Marines are trained to plug into any fight and make our partners more lethal and effective,” 5th ANGLICO commander Lt. Col. Joshua Freedman said in a statement relayed by Comer. “This training ensures we can operate alongside allies and joint forces in any environment, providing commanders flexible options to deter aggression and maintain stability in the Indo-Pacific.”
The Marines took turns Monday firing four light machine guns at targets as far as 750 yards away, rehearsing to provide cover for other unit elements to move through enemy territory during a real-world battle, White said.
As Marines waited their turn to shoot, they drilled for safety on unloaded M249s under a pavilion with range safety officer Gunnery Sgt. Andrew Patz.
“I want every Marine to have the confidence when they go up to their weapon system,” he told Stars and Stripes between rounds of shooters. “They’re confident, they know how to use it, manipulate it, to get rounds downrange, rounds on target and be as lethal and as effective as they can.”
On Tuesday, they fired at the targets with one fixed M2A1 and a second gun mounted to a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle. The heavier weapon would be used against larger groups of people or non-armored vehicles, White said.
Sgt. Anthony Black, of Belleville, Ill., called the heavy machine gun “top-tier” for maximum effective range — just more than a mile.
“We want to be able to reach out and touch [an adversary] a whole lot sooner than they can do us,” he said Tuesday as shooting started up again.
AloJapan.com