CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. --
The Camp Pendleton Provost Marshal Office’s Special Reaction Team conducted live-fire training at Range 300, Oct. 23.
The team handled several weapon systems to include shotguns, rifles and pistols. The weapons they fired are used in critical operations, including hostage situations, breaching structures and unconventional weapons handling. The SRT is the military version of a Special Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT team.
“Our mission is to handle anything critical that falls outside the realm of ordinary law enforcement on the base,” said Staff Sgt. Johnnie Creel, the team leader for the Camp Pendleton SRT.
Members of the team are trained in various operational skills each week to ensure they are proficient and always prepared for any one of the unique tasks that fall under their jurisdiction.
The entry team, or the element responsible for breaching structures, executed the avalanche drill, a technique used to tactically withdraw from an area where a team has been overrun.
“We are held to an exceptional standard of training, and we have more advanced equipment,” said Creel. “When all else fails, we don’t.”
In addition to this high caliber training, the SRT is also responsible for making the emergency reaction plan for their operations, conduction personal security details for VIPs as well as executing patrols around the base perimeter to ensure everything is secure and safe.
“We schedule as many training events as possible seven days a week,” said Cpl. Myles Waybrant, an enter team member with the SRT. “We strive to be perfect because when we are called on, there is no room for error.”
Despite the fact that the SRT is not called on every day to solve a crisis, the means justify the ends for these Marines.
“The job may seem like 100 years of headache, but the two minutes of joy after a successful operation make it all worthwhile,” said Creel.