Photos

Corporal Christian Bills, gunner, Company A, 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division, nicknamed “America’s Company,” performs maintenance on his M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank named Star Lord during Exercise Desert Scimitar aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., April 11, 2015. Desert Scimitar enables 1st Marine Division to test and refine its command and control capabilities and ensures 1st Marine Division units remain committed to consistently improving the quality of their training efforts and their resultant warfighting capabilities.

Photo by Sgt. Christopher J. Moore

Marines with Company A, 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division, nicknamed “America’s Company,” load main gun rounds on to an M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank during Exercise Desert Scimitar aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., April 11, 2015. The training gave the Marines the opportunity to refine and rehearse essential combat skills needed in a battlefield environment. Desert Scimitar is an annual exercise that includes elements from the I Marine Expeditionary Force. The exercise focused on conventional operations and provided realistic training that prepared Marines for overseas operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Christopher J. Moore/Released)

Photo by Sgt. Christopher J. Moore

Marines with Company A, 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division, nicknamed “America’s Company,” put their M1A1 abrams main battle tank into a defensive position during Exercise Desert Scimitar aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., April 11, 2015. The training gave the Marines the opportunity to refine and rehearse essential combat skills needed in a battlefield environment. Desert Scimitar is an annual exercise that includes elements from the I Marine Expeditionary Force. The exercise focused on conventional operations and provided realistic training that prepared Marines for overseas operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Christopher J. Moore/Released)

Photo by Sgt. Christopher J. Moore

Lance Cpl. Patrick, left, loader, Company A, 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division, and a native of Houston, Texas, ground guides his tank named “Star Lord” during Exercise Desert Scimitar aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., April 10, 2015. The training gave the Marines the opportunity to refine and rehearse essential combat skills needed in a battlefield environment. Desert Scimitar is an annual exercise that includes elements from the I Marine Expeditionary Force. The exercise focused on conventional operations and provided realistic training that prepared Marines for overseas operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Christopher J. Moore/Released)

Photo by Sgt. Christopher J. Moore

Corporal Christian Bills, gunner, Company A, 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division, nicknamed “America’s Company,” hands a main gun round to Cpl. Jeffrey Buttler, tank mechanic, Co. A, during Exercise Desert Scimitar aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., April 10, 2015. The training gave the Marines the opportunity to refine and rehearse essential combat skills needed in a battlefield environment. Desert Scimitar is an annual exercise that includes elements from the I Marine Expeditionary Force. The exercise focused on conventional operations and provided realistic training that prepared Marines for overseas operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Christopher J. Moore/Released)

Photo by Sgt. Christopher J. Moore

A line of M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks are put into a defensive position during Exercise Desert Scimitar aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., April 12, 2015. Desert Scimitar enables 1st Marine Division to test and refine its command and control capabilities and ensures 1st Marine Division units remain committed to consistently improving the quality of their training efforts and their resultant war fighting capabilities.

Photo by Sgt. Christopher J. Moore

Clockwise from top left, 1st Lieutenant John Neail, tank commander, Cpl. Christian Bills, gunner, Lance Cpl. Robert Benaridez driver, Lance Cpl. Patrick Bellinger, loader, the crew for the M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank named “Star Lord” participated in Desert Scimitar aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif. Desert Scimitar enables 1st Marine Division to test and refine its command and control capabilities and ensures 1st Marine Division units remain committed to consistently improving the quality of their training efforts and their resultant warfighting capabilities.

Photo by Sgt. Christopher J. Moore

A Marine with Company A, 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division, refuels an M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank during Exercise Desert Scimitar aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., April 13, 2015. The training gave the Marines the opportunity to refine and rehearse essential combat skills needed in a battlefield environment. Desert Scimitar is an annual exercise that includes elements from the I Marine Expeditionary Force. The exercise focused on conventional operations and provided realistic training that prepared Marines for overseas operations. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Christopher J. Moore/Released)

Photo by Sgt. Christopher J. Moore

M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks line up for a resupply during Exercise Desert Scimitar aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., April 14, 2015. Desert Scimitar enables 1st Marine Division to test and refine its command and control capabilities and ensures 1st Marine Division units remain committed to consistently improving the quality of their training efforts and their resultant war fighting capabilities.

Photo by Sgt. Christopher J. Moore

Marines with 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment clear a building in a simulated combat town during the culminating event of Division School’s Urban Leaders Course aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., April 22, 2015. The three-week course is designed to prepare Marines to lead in an urban environment.

Photo by Lance Cpl. Danielle Rodrigues

Marines with 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment provide security in a simulated combat town during the culminating event of Division School’s Urban Leaders Course aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., April 22, 2015. The three-week course is designed to prepare Marines to lead in an urban environment.

Photo by Stock

Marines with 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment provide security in a simulated combat town during the culminating event of Division School’s Urban Leaders Course aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., April 22, 2015. The three-week course is designed to prepare Marines to lead in an urban environment.

Photo by Lance Cpl. Danielle Rodrigues

Marines with 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment provide security in a simulated combat town during the culminating event of Division School’s Urban Leaders Course aboard Camp Pendleton, Calif., April 22, 2015. The three-week course is designed to prepare Marines to lead in an urban environment.

Photo by Lance Cpl. Danielle Rodrigues

Corporals Augusto R. Carlin and Deneaga D. McMillian, supply Marines with Headquarters Battalion, 1st Marine Division, take a moment during Exercise Desert Scimitar 2015 to take a photo before both Marines return home as the exercise comes to a close aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., April 15, 2015 . Carlin was inspired to join the military by his grandfather, George Carlin, who was a general in the Peruvian army. Although he was originally inspired to join the military by his family, he never anticipated the family he would find in the Marine Corps.

Photo by Lance Cpl. April Price

Marines with Battery A, 1st Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division embrace the impact from the M777A2 155 mm, medium, towed howitzer during Exercise Desert Scimitar 2015 aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., April 20, 2015. The tough, realistic live-fire training central to Desert Scimitar allows Division units to train in order to maintain readiness and meet current and real-world operational demands.

Photo by Pfc. Alvin Pujols

Marines with Battery A, 1st Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division provide direct fire support during Exercise Desert Scimitar 2015 aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., April 20, 2015. The tough, realistic live-fire training central to Desert Scimitar allows Division units to train in order to maintain readiness and meet current and real-world operational demands.

Photo by Pfc. Alvin Pujols

Lance Cpl. Tyler S. Griffith, a field artillery cannoneer with Battery A, 1st Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, discards a charge sleeve after loading charges during Exercise Desert Scimitar 2015 aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., April 20, 2015. The tough, realistic live-fire training central to Desert Scimitar allows Division units to train in order to maintain readiness and meet current and real-world operational demands.

Photo by Pfc. Alvin Pujols

Corporal Osmar S. Gorish, a gun section chief with Battery A, 1st Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, prepares the next series of live-fire missions during Exercise Desert Scimitar 2015 aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., April 20, 2015. The tough, realistic live-fire training central to Desert Scimitar allows Division units to train in order to maintain readiness and meet current and real-world operational demands.

Photo by Pfc. Alvin Pujols

Marines with Battery A, 1st Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division provide direct fire support during Exercise Desert Scimitar 2015 aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif., April 20, 2015. The tough, realistic live-fire training central to Desert Scimitar allows Division units to train in order to maintain readiness and meet current and real-world operational demands.

Photo by Pfc. Alvin Pujols

Marines with Force Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, set security and assemble the canopy and mounted weapon of the Internally Transportable Vehicle during a training exercise aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., March 16, 2015. Reconnaissance Marines can be inserted not only with ITVs, but by parachute jumping or even on foot.

Photo by Pfc. Alvin Pujols