Lieutenant Col. Thomas Freel, the future operations officer for 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, points out notional enemy locations on a terrain model for a rehearsal of concept drill during Exercise Desert Scimitar here, May 2, 2013. Desert Scimitar is a combined arms exercise focused on the training and preparation of 1st Marine Division for deployment as the ground combat element of a Marine Air-Ground Task Force. Freel, a native of Grosse Ile, Mich., said the exercise is a return to live-fire combined arms tactics training which has been overshadowed by the focus on counterinsurgency operations training throughout the past decade. The "Fighting Fifth" exercised traditional warfare command and control tactics over infantry, artillery and armored assets during Desert Scimitar. - Lieutenant Col. Thomas Freel, the future operations officer for 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, points out notional enemy locations on a terrain model for a rehearsal of concept drill during Exercise Desert Scimitar here, May 2, 2013. Desert Scimitar is a combined arms exercise focused on the training and preparation of 1st Marine Division for deployment as the ground combat element of a Marine Air-Ground Task Force. Freel, a native of Grosse Ile, Mich., said the exercise is a return to live-fire combined arms tactics training which has been overshadowed by the focus on counterinsurgency operations training throughout the past decade. The "Fighting Fifth" exercised traditional warfare command and control tactics over infantry, artillery and armored assets during Desert Scimitar.
Lance Cpl. Nicholas Kien, a rifleman serving with 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, shakes hand with Samuel Tsosie, a retired Marine who served as a Navajo Code Talker during World War II, here at Camp San Mateo, March 27, 2013. Tsosie served with 2nd Bn., 5th Marines, during multiple combat operations including Peleliu, Okinawa, and Cape Gloucester. Kien's grandfather was also a Navajo Code Talker that served during World War II. - Lance Cpl. Nicholas Kien, a rifleman serving with 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, shakes hand with Samuel Tsosie, a retired Marine who served as a Navajo Code Talker during World War II, here at Camp San Mateo, March 27, 2013. Tsosie served with 2nd Bn., 5th Marines, during multiple combat operations including Peleliu, Okinawa, and Cape Gloucester. Kien's grandfather was also a Navajo Code Talker that served during World War II.