• The Marine Corps is rolling out an array of new weaponry in the near future.
• One important piece of that is the Corps' new sniper rifle, which replaces a rifle that's been in use since the mid-1960s.
• Marines are touting the new rifle as "an incredible win" that will give snipers an edge on the battlefield.

The Marine Corps confirmed in early April that its snipers would get the Mk13 Mod 7 sniper rifle to replace the M40 rifle, versions of which the Corps' snipers have been carrying since the early days of the Vietnam War.

The Mk13 is scheduled to be fielded in late 2018 and throughout 2019, according to a Marine Corps release. And after Marines from active duty, reserve, and training units tried out the new rifle at the beginning of April, they were pleased with the new addition to the arsenal.

"After the first day on the range, they were sold," project officer Capt. Frank Coppola said in the release.

Lt. Col. Paul Gillikin, Infantry Weapons team lead at Marine Corps Systems Command, said the most recent version of the M40, the M40A6, would remain in use for training and as an alternate, but, he noted, "When the Mk13 Mod 7 is fielded, it will be the primary sniper rifle in the Marine Corps."

Putting the Mk13 into wider use will also add commonality to the Corps' equipment and give Marine scout snipers the same capabilities as NATO forces.

The bolt-action Mk13 was already the primary sniper rifle for Marine Corps Special Operations Command. Feedback from MARSOC use, as well as an assessment by MCSC and a year of use by scout snipers from 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, who took it on a deployment, led the Corps to adopt the new weapon.

Former snipers told Marine Corps Times that the M40's range — nearly 1,000 yards, less than the military's other rifles — wasn't sufficient for battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan. One said the April decision was a "long time coming." (Fighting in Afghanistan has also revealed the shortcomings of the standard 5.56 mm rifle round.)

The Mk13 will add more than 300 yards to scout snipers' range, taking it beyond 1,000 yards, and the rifle's .300 Winchester Magnum caliber round is heavier and leaves the gun at a faster speed.

"The .300 Winchester Magnum round will perform better than the current 7.62 NATO ammo in flight, increasing the Marine Sniper's first-round probability of hit,” Chief Warrant Officer 3 Tony Palzkill, the battalion gunner for Infantry Training Battalion, said in the release. "This upgrade is an incredible win and will allow snipers to engage targets at greater distances."

The rifle will also be deployed with a better day optical device that offers better magnification and will improve snipers' ability to locate and fire on targets.

"The new day optic allows for positive identification of enemies at greater distances, and it has a grid-style reticle that allows for rapid reengagement without having to dial adjustments or 'hold' without a reference point," said Sgt. Randy Robles, Quantico Scout Sniper School instructor and MCSC liaison.

"With this type of weapon in the fleet, we will increase our lethality and be able to conceal our location because we are creating a buffer between us and the enemy," Robles added.

Marine Corps documents for the fiscal year 2018 defense budget included nearly $4.3 million for the Mk13, according to Marine Corps Times, which reported that the service plans to buy 356 of the new rifles.

The Corps' 2019 budget proposal included a little less than $1 million to acquire 116 of the M110A1 Compact Semi-Automatic Sniper System rifles that the Army is adopting, though the Marine Corps said at the time that the M110A1 was not intended to replace the M40A6. Marines themselves were also critical of the CSASS, which has a maximum range less than the M40A6.

New sniper rifles are just one change the Marine Corps is seeking to make.

The service is distributing the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle to more Marines — and buying them at a lower cost after lawmakers complained about the price — and has made room in its budget to buy 35,000 of the new sidearm the Army has acquired. It's also looking at a new antitank round, eyeing a new version of the 84 mm Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle, and requesting information about lightweight .50-caliber rounds.

The Corps is also shaking up its unit formations, getting rid of the 0351 infantry assaultman specialty and lowering the number of Marines in each squad to 12 from the current 13, while adding two new leadership positions.

SEE ALSO: US Marines are stationed in Norway to help deter Russia, and Norway may ask them to stay longer

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NOW WATCH: Step aboard the USS Kearsarge, the US Navy workhorse that takes Marines to war

The US Marine Corps started issuing the Glock 19M pistol to marines, which they call the M007, in May 2017.

“The M007 has a smaller frame and is easier to conceal, making it a natural selection to meet the Marine Corps' conceal carry weapon requirement,” Gunnery Sgt. Brian Nelson said in a November 2017 Marines Corps Systems Command press release. 

And since the Corps continually upgrades and adds new weapons to its arsenal, we reached out to the Marines Corps Systems Command, which is in charge of all acquisitions for the Corps, to find out which standard issue weapons it currently gives to Marines. 

Check them out below:

SEE ALSO: Here's every weapon the US Army gives to its soldiers

1. Beretta M9 pistol

The Beretta M9 is a 9mm semi-automatic pistol.

2. Beretta M9A1 pistol

Specifically designed for the Corps, the Beretta M9A1 is an upgrade to the M9.

The M9A1 a little heavier than the M9, and has extra features, such as a sand-resistant magazine and a Picatinny MIL-STD-1913 rail under the barrel for accessories and more. 

3. Colt M45A1 close quarters battle pistol

The Colt M45A1 is .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol that the Corps started purchasing in 2012. 

• More than 20 people went missing in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, between February and mid-May.
• The area is one of the most violent in Mexico, and marines deployed there to fight crime have been accused of involvement in the disappearances.
• Tens of thousands of people have gone missing in Mexico over the past decade, and official involvement is often suspected.

The United Nations and Mexicans have called on the Mexican government to end a wave of disappearances in Nuevo Laredo, a violence-wracked city on the border with Texas.

The UN said at the end of May that 21 men and two women had disappeared in Nuevo Laredo between February and May 16 and that there are "strong indications that these crimes have been committed by federal security forces." Other groups have put the number much higher.

"We have documented 56 forced disappearances from January 20 to May 21," Raymundo Ramos, president of the nongovernmental Nuevo Laredo Human Rights Committee, told the Associated Press. "The majority are attributed to personnel from special operations of the navy."

Mexico's National Human Rights Commission said it had received complaints regarding the disappearance of 31 people since February, seven of them minors.

Families of some of those missing told the UN their relatives had been taken away by personnel in uniform, often at night, at dawn, or as they walked along roads around the city.

"Many of these people are reported to have been arbitrarily detained and disappeared while going about their daily lives," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said. "It is particularly horrific that at least five of the victims are minors, with three of them as young as 14."

"These crimes, perpetrated over four months in a single municipality, are outrageous," he said.

Nuevo Laredo sits at the northern end of Tamaulipas, a particularly violent area in one of Mexico's most violent states. It was long the stronghold of the Gulf cartel and its armed wing, which broke away and became the Zetas cartel in the late 2000s. Fighting between and within those groups has plagued the state.

Those groups are believed to have extensive ties to the government and local security forces. They have expanded beyond drug trafficking, targeting extractive industries, exploiting migrants, and developing extortion rackets.

Nuevo Laredo, where a Zeta faction called the Northeast cartel is dominant, has been a focal point for violence. The Mexican navy, of which the marines are part, is the primary security presence in the city, and civilians have been caught in their clashes with criminal groups.

On March 25, marines were ambushed by gunmen three times, killing a marine and wounding several others. A helicopter was called in during the third shootout, and a car carrying a family of five was fired upon, killing the mother and two daughters.

The Mexican navy initially denied responsibility, but after an expert said the shots came from overhead, it admitted the helicopter had accidentally fired on the family.

Ramos said the disappearances started after that.

On March 27, Jessica Molina, a US citizen, said"six men in official Mexican marine uniforms" stormed into her home in Nuevo Laredo and interrogated her and her husband. She said the marines, who did not identify themselves, asked if they knew about the helicopter incident and then took her husband away.

"They were aiming at our heads the whole time," she told the AP. "They can deny what happened, but what I saw were well-trained, uniformed personnel."

She and other families have joined to search for hidden graves along dirt roads around the city. Federal police and the navy have offered help but have mostly failed to follow through.

During the last week of May, there were reports of attacks and threats against witnesses and relatives of the disappeared. "They want them to stop making complaints," Ramos told Reuters.

"If the navy is here to protect us, what are they doing to avoid these disappearances?" Molina said. "How can this be happening in spite of their presence here?"

At the beginning of June, Mexican federal prosecutors said investigations of the disappearances in Nuevo Laredo would be taken over by the federal prosecutors' office on forced disappearances.

'Nuevo Laredo is a litmus test'

More than 200,000 people have been killed since Mexico ramped up its war on drugs and organized crime in 2007.

Over that period, more than 30,000 people have gone missing — nearly 6,000 disappearances have been officially recorded in Tamaulipas, more than any other state, though many say the real number is much higher.

State officials began a first-of-its-kind exhumation project in early 2017, examining the remains of an estimated 350 people buried in a grave in Miguel Aleman, just west of Nuevo Laredo. A similar initiative is underway in Chihuahua state, which saw some of the most intense violence in Mexico between 2008 and 2012.

Such sites exist around Mexico, and security forces and government officials are often suspected of involvement in disappearances or of stymieing investigations.

In early June, a court in Tamaulipas recently ordered another investigation into the 2014 disappearance of 43 college students from the Ayotzinapa normal school in Guerrero state, saying the original investigation was sloppy, lacked independence, and suspects' rights were violated through torture.

The bodies of the disappeared Ayotzinapa students have not been found, and the incident has galvanized intense public backlash against the government.

The spate of disappearances in Nuevo Laredo comes after the federal government passed the General Law on Disappearances, which created a national commission to track and investigate such crimes.

"It is extremely worrying that these enforced disappearances are taking place just a few months after" the law's adoption, saidAl Hussein, the UN high commissioner.

"What has been happening in Nuevo Laredo is a litmus test of whether this new law actually represents the change its adoption promises or whether enforced disappearances, followed by impunity and a lack of reparation to the victims, will continue."

SEE ALSO: Another major Mexican company is shutting down some of its operations amid record levels of violence

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NOW WATCH: Here's what 'Narcos' and 'Sicario' get right and wrong about drug cartels

Since 1996, "the Crucible" has been the subject of Marine recruits' nightmares. It serves as the final test you must complete in order to officially and finally earn the title of United States Marine. During this 54-hour event, your platoon is split into squads, each led by one of your drill instructors, and each recruit must take a crack at being squad leader.

Throughout boot camp, you become accustomed to getting 8 hours of sleep and enjoying 3 meals per day, but during the Crucible, you'll get just 6 hours of rest and three MREs to last you the whole 54-hour period. You'll have to face down physical challenges throughout the day to test your mettle and see if you really have what it takes to be a Marine.

Here are some tips for surviving.

SEE ALSO: Marines took tanks out of secret caves to do military exercises near Russia's northern border for the first time

1. Work as a team

Most of the challenges you're going to face are team-based. You and the other recruits have developing individual strengths throughout boot camp, but you may not yet have developed great teamwork skills. The Crucible will, essentially, force you to figure it out.

2. Take charge

When you're selected to be the squad leader, be loud, be firm, and don't be afraid to use the powerful voice you've spent the last three months perfecting.

3. Plan your meals

For the love of Chesty Puller, don't scarf down your only meal for the day. Divide up your snacks and save the main meal. It sucks, but it's better than going hungry in the second half because you ate everything during the first.

One of the warships that the US Navy showed off at Fleet Week in New York City in May was the USS Arlington, a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship. 

And I got a chance to go aboard. 

Amphibious transport dock ships (LPDs) "are used to transport and land Marines, their equipment and supplies by embarked Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) or conventional landing craft and amphibious assault vehicles (AAV) augmented by helicopters or vertical take-off and landing aircraft (MV 22),"according to the US Navy. 

The US Navy also displayed an AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter and a UH-1Y Venom helicopter on the Arlington's flight deck. 

Check it out below:

SEE ALSO: Step aboard the Admiral Kuznetsov, Russia's aircraft carrier that's considered one of the worst in the world

Built by Northrop Grumman, the USS Arlington was commissioned in 2013.

Northrop Grumman is one of the largest defense contractors and political donors in the US.

Source: US Navy

It's about 684 feet long, 105 feet wide and has a maximum displacement of 25,883 tons.

Source: US Navy

Powered by four Colt-Pielstick diesel engines, San Antonio-class ships have a maximum speed of 24.2 miles per hour.

Source: US Navy

Every Marine is a rifleman — we all know this to be true. One Marine and his rifle can deliver a world of hurt unto the bad guys. But it's been a long time since Marines have relied on rifles alone to complete the mission.

In fact, Marines often employ guns that are a heck of a lot bigger than an M16 rifle, like the M777 howitzer. The M16 fires a 5.56mm round. The M777 fires 155mm rounds — nearly 28 times larger. If a Marine delivers a world of hurt with a rifle, then they deliver an entire galaxy of pain with a howitzer.

But, just as with rifles, learning how to use a howitzer requires practice — the sort of practice best done at large-scale war games.

Believe it or not, it's a lot more complicated than just pointing the howitzer at the enemy, loading it, and pulling the lanyard.

The M777 weighs over 8,250 pounds and fires shells at targets up to 19 miles away with a normal HE round (other rounds have a longer range). This gun is operated by a crew of seven, each of whom play an essential role in sending rounds (very far) down range.

This howitzer has been used by American troops since 2005 and has seen plenty of action in Iraq and Afghanistan, where both soldiers and Marines have used this big gun to take out al-Qaeda, ISIS, and the Taliban. This British design has also been acquired by Australia, India, Saudi Arabia, and Canada. Funnily enough, British troops don't use this big gun.

One motivated Marine with his rifle is bad news for the enemy — now imagine what seven motivated Marines can do with a howitzer!

Check out the video below to watch Marines practice with the M777 howitzer during this year's Saber Strike exercise in Latvia.

SEE ALSO: The US Army is taking part in a massive exercise to practice moving around Europe, and 4 of its Strykers ran into each other in Lithuania

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NOW WATCH: We went inside the giant desert base where Marines are trained in artillery warfare

A Marine who was accused of marching with white supremacists and attacking a protester at last year’s “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, was found guilty a summary court-martial on Monday, officials told Task & Purpose.

• Lance Cpl. Vasillios Pistolis was sentenced to 28 days of confinement, reduction in rank to E-1, and forfeiture of two-thirds pay for one month, 1st Lt. Samir J. Glenn-Roundtree told Task & Purpose, adding that the Marine will be afforded seven days to submit a request for clemency.
• Pistolis had been charged with failure to obey an order or regulation and making a false official statement under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, T&P was informed on earlier on Monday.
• ProPublica reported in May that Pistolis is a member of a neo-Nazi group and bragged in an online chat room about attacking a woman at the Aug. 12, 2017 rally.
• Pistolis is assigned to Combat Logistics Battalion-8, Combat Logistics Regiment 2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
• Two other Marines from Camp Lejeune were arrested in May 2017 for flying a white supremacist banner at a pro-confederate rally in Graham, North Carolina. Sgt. Michael Chesny was administratively separated from the Marine Corps on April 11 for taking part in “extremist activities;” and Staff Sgt. Joseph Manning was discharged on Dec. 8, 2017, Corps officials told Task & Purpose.

SEE ALSO: Marines took tanks out of secret caves to do military exercises near Russia's northern border for the first time

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NOW WATCH: Neo-Nazi groups let a journalist in their meetings and rallies — here's what he saw

The M16A4 was the standard service rifle for the Marine Corps until October 2015, when it was decided that the M4 Carbine would replace them in infantry battalions. For whatever reason, civilians tend to think the M16A4 is awesome when, in reality, it's actually despised by a lot of Marines.

Now, the M16A4 is, by far, not the worst weapon, but it didn't exactly live up to the expectations laid out for it. They're accurate and the recoil is as soft as being hit in the shoulder with a peanut, so it certainly has its place. But when Marines spend a considerable amount of time in rainy or dusty environments, they'll find it's not the most reliable rifle.

Here are some of the major complaints Marines have about the weapon:

SEE ALSO: The Marine Corps is rolling out its first new sniper rifle since the Vietnam War — and 'this upgrade is an incredible win'

1. They get rusty very easily

For a weapon that's supposed to be used in "every clime and place," these rifles seem to get rust like boots get married — way too quickly. This just means that you should carry some CLP and scrub it off regularly — another task to add to the pile.

2. Cleaning is a headache

Outside of problems with rust, the chamber gets caked with carbon after firing a single magazine. This is yet another thing you'll have to spend time cleaning. And when you break the rifle down, you're going to find carbon has found its way into every possible small space.

3. Jams are too common

If there's a bit of dirt in the chamber, prepare for some double feeds or stove-pipe jams. This might just be the fact that many of these rifles have been worn down from participating in two separate combat theaters, but the fact remains: your gun will jam.

• A U.S. Army artillery unit is pounding Islamic State fighters inside Syria from a remote desert camp just inside Iraq.
• About 150 Marines and soldiers appear to be stationed at the base, in addition to Iraqi forces.
• Little has been made public in recent months about the U.S. military's use of temporary fire bases to continue the ISIS fight.

A U.S. Army artillery unit is pounding Islamic State fighters inside Syria from a remote desert camp just inside Iraq.

Soldiers from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment artillery unit have been operating alongside Iraqi artillery units at a temporary fire support base in northwest Iraq near the Syrian border for the past several weeks, according to a recent Defense Department news release.

U.S. soldiers, Marines and sailors helped Iraqi forces build the camp by as part of Operation Inherent Resolve's support of Operation Roundup, a major offensive by Syrian Democratic Forces aimed at clearing the middle Euphrates River Valley of entrenched, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria fighters.

The U.S. military previously made use of rapidly built fire bases to insert artillery power earlier in the campaign against ISIS. In 2016, a detachment of Marines departed the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group to establish such a location, Fire Base Bell, in northern Iraq. The position, which was later renamed and manned by Army forces, helped U.S. troops intensify the assault on the ISIS stronghold of Mosul.

It would come under enemy attack soon after its establishment, resulting in the death of Marine Staff Sgt. Louis Cardin, the first Marine to die in combat against ISIS.

Little has been made public in recent months about the U.S. military's use of temporary fire bases to continue the ISIS fight. But NPR published a brief report Monday about a "remote outpost" on the border of Iraq and Syria that seems to be the one described in the recent Defense Department release.

Some 150 Marines and soldiers are stationed there, NPR reported, in addition to Iraqi forces.

In the release, troops stationed at the fire base described the satisfaction of working side-by-side with Iraqi units.

"The most satisfying moment in the mission, so far, was when all three artillery units, two Iraqi and one U.S., executed simultaneous fires on a single target location," said Maj. Kurt Cheeseman, Task Force Steel operations officer and ground force commander at the fire support base, in the release.

Language barriers forced U.S. and Iraqi artillery units to develop a common technical language to coordinate fire missions that involved both American and Iraqi artillery pieces.

"This mission required the use of multiple communications systems and the translation of fire commands, at the firing point, directing the Iraqi Army guns to prepare for the mission, load and report, and ultimately fire," 1st Lt. Andrea Ortiz Chevres, Task Force Steel fire direction officer, said in the release.

The Iraqi howitzer unit used different procedures to calculate the firing data needed to determine the correct flight path to put rounds on target.

"In order to execute coalition fire missions, we had to develop a calculation process to translate their firing data into our mission data to validate fires prior to execution," Cheeseman said in the release.

Sgt. 1st Class Isaac Hawthorne, Task Force Steel master gunner, added that Iraqi forces are "eager to work with the American M777 howitzer and fire direction crews and share artillery knowledge and procedures," according to the release.

It’s not clear from the release when the base was created or how long it has been active. With little infrastructure and no permanent buildings, troops face temperatures above 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the desert.

"They are enduring harsh weather conditions and a lack of luxuries but, unlike previous deployments for many, each element is performing their core function in a combat environment," Cheeseman said in the release. "The fire support base is a perfect example of joint and coalition execution that capitalizes on the strengths of each organization to deliver lethal fires, protect our force and sustain operations across an extended operational reach."

Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force units provided planners, personnel and equipment to create the austere base, built on a bare patch of desert and raised by hand. Coalition partners from several different nations participated in the planning and coordination of the complex movement of supplies.

"Supplies were delivered from both air and ground by the Army, Air Force and Marines, and include delivery platforms such as medium tactical vehicles, UH-60 Black Hawks, CH-47 Chinooks, CV-22 Ospreys, C-130 Hercules and a C-17 Globemaster," 1st Lt. Ashton Woodard, a troop executive officer in Task Force Longknife, said in the release. "We receive resupply air drops that include food, water, fuel, and general supplies."

One of the most vital missions involved setting up a security perimeter to provide stand-off and protection for the U.S. and Iraqi artillery units.

"Following 10 days of around-the-clock labor in intense environmental conditions, the most satisfying moment was seeing the completion of the physical security perimeter," said one Marine working security at the fire base, according to the release.

SEE ALSO: This is the huge M777 howitzer that US Marines burned out while fighting ISIS in Syria

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If you've read the book Saipan: Suicide Island, watched the movie Hell to Eternity, or you're a World War II buff, then you may have heard of the heroic actions of Corporal Guy Gabaldon.

However, there are many who don't know about the remarkable, true story of Corporal Gabaldon, a US Marine who earned the Navy Cross after single-handedly capturing around 1,500 Japanese soldiers during the Battles of Saipan and Tinian.

Here is his full story:

NOW READ: 75 years ago, US Marines waded into 'the toughest battle in Marine Corps history' — here are 25 photos of the brutal fight for Tarawa

SEE ALSO: It's been 78 years since the Battle of Britain — here are 14 photos of the Nazi onslaught in the skies of England

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NOW WATCH: Startling facts about World War II

The Barrett M107 .50-caliber long-range sniper rifle is a firearm made for the modern war on terrorism. Officially adopted by the U.S. Army in 2002 and boasting a 2,000-meter range, a suppressor-ready muzzle brake, and recoil-minimizing design, the semi-automatic offers "greater range and lethality against personnel and materiel targets than other sniper systems in the U.S. inventory," according to an assessment by Military.com.

While Barrett's reputation of "flawless reliability" has made the M107 the sniper weapon of choice, the rifle is just like any other essential tool: It often breaks when you need it most. And that's apparently what happened to one Marine Corps unit pinned down in a firefight, according to one of Barrett's longtime armorers.

Don Cook, a Marine veteran who's been maintaining M107s for more than two decades, told National Geographic in 2011 that he one day received a call to Barrett's workshop from a harried young Marine. During maintenance of the unit's M107, the Marine had bent the ears of the rifle's lower receiver; the next day, after engaging the enemy, they discovered the rifle wouldn't fire consistently.

Despite the unit's lack of tools (and time), Cook knew exactly what to do. The armorer instructed the Marines to use the bottom of the carrier to bend the ears back down. Within 45 seconds, the weapon was firing properly. "Thank you very much," Cook says they told him, then he heard a dial tone. They had a firefight to get back to.

"It's probably one of the biggest highlights of my life, to be able to help a Marine unit during a firefight," Cook told National Geographic.

Watch Cook describe the phone call (starting at 9:26):

SEE ALSO: Here are all the standard issue weapons given to US Marines

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• Marines in Romania deployed to Bulgaria for combined-arms training this month.
• During the exercises, they worked on a little-used tactic to counter armor and other vehicles.
• It comes as US forces boost their presence in Europe to prepare for a potential conflict with a near-peer military like Russia.

The US Marine Corps' Black Sea Rotational Force left its base in Romania for training in Bulgaria this month, carrying out exercises that are another sign the US military is preparing for a kind of conflict that's different from what it has faced in recent decades.

A Marine Forces Europe and Africa release issued earlier this month said units from the rotational force were headed to Bulgaria's Novo Selo training area, "where they would be able to take advantage of the rough, verdurous terrain for multiple training events."

"We deployed from the place where we're stationed at in Romania to this training area in Bulgaria. That way we can utilize the training areas out here that are a little better suited for the training that we're trying to accomplish," an unidentified Marine said in a video released this week by the command, first spotted by Marine Corps Times.

The Marines carried out a number of exercises focused on combined-arms proficiency and on building operational capacity.

"During this training event we had snipers conducting everything from unknown distance ranges to live-fire stalks," said 1st Lt. Daniel Kult, a combined anti-armor team (CAAT) platoon commander. "We also had our 81 mm mortar platoon conducting dismounted and mounted live-fire operations, both day and night."

"We have our combined-anti-armor platoon conducting high-angle Mark-19 fire, which is a new thing for us," the Marine said in the video. "It's not really done in the Marine Corps anymore."

High-angle fire with the Mark 19, an automatic grenade launcher that can fire up to 60 40mm grenades a minute, could come in handy if Marines engaged enemy personnel behind walls or other barriers, Marine Corps machine-gunners told the Times. Such fire could also be useful against Russian armor or other vehicles.

The gunners said that with skilled observers and good communications, high-angle fire — a skill taught at the Corps' advanced machine-gunner course — from Mark 19s could quickly be walked onto a target.

According to the release, platoons from Weapons Company from the 1st Battalion of the 6th Marine Regiment, typically work independently, making the joint exercises at Novo Selo a valuable opportunity.

"We don't always get together as a company and do these combined training events, so as a whole, it improves our unit cohesion," said Cpl. Benjamin Lepla, a forward observer. "Now we know how long it takes for every section to set up their equipment and assault the objective from different positions."

"The most important event that we're doing out here is the combined attack utilizing the entire company," Kult said. "It’s a unique opportunity because normally we’re all away from each other, either supporting other companies, or in direct support of the battalion."

NATO forces have increased their presence in Eastern Europe in the years since Russia began its incursion in Ukraine in 2014, and US military units in Europe have been boosting their capabilities.

Earlier this year, the Army's Ironhorse Brigade arrived for a rotation in Eastern Europe — but instead of sailing to Germany, the unit disembarked in Belgium for the first time in decades to practice traveling across the continent by road, rail, and barge.

During the most recent iteration of the Saber Strike Exercise, US armored units also practiced traveling across Eastern Europe and the Baltic states. During the exercise, Air Force A-10 Thunderbolts practiced rough landings on a highway in Estonia — a drill only recently restarted after being discontinued in the 1980s.

The US military has been shifting its attention to preparations for a potential conflict with near-peer competitors like China or Russia — a change outlined in the National Defense Strategy released earlier this year.

For the Marines, it also likely means a change in operational focus, away from the Middle East and toward the Pacific and northern and eastern Europe, Neller told Marines in Norway late last year.

He stressed that amid that shift, Marines should remain ready for a potential conflict, predicting a "big-ass fight" on the horizon, according to Military.com.

"I hope I'm wrong, but there's a war coming," he told the Marines in Norway, who are part of a new rotational force meant to expand training and boost readiness. "You're in a fight here, an informational fight, a political fight, by your presence."

SEE ALSO: The US Navy is returning to a Cold War submarine flash point, but the real action may be much farther north

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NOW WATCH: How Russia's most advanced military equipment stacks up against NATO hardware

The Marines want to give infantry riflemen the deadliest automatic rifle available, but Congress is holding up the plans, concerned that the Corps and the Army may end up fielding the weapons in completely different calibers.

Over the next five years, the Marines plan to buy 15,000 automatic rifles from the Germans small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch, which makes the HK 416 that the Corps uses as the M27. Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller believes the IAR will make 0311s more deadly on the battlefield. The Corps expects to spend a total of $29.4 million on the IARs.

But a provision in the fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act withholds 20% of that money until the commandant lays out for lawmakers how the Marine Corps plans to update its small arms — and how the purchase of more M27s fits in with the Army’s study on modernizing small arms. Marine Corps Times first highlighted the provision on Wednesday.

Lawmakers want to know if it makes sense for the Marines to purchase automatic rifles that chamber a 5.56mm round, because the Army is testing a weapon that fires 6.8mm rounds to replace the M4 carbine, a congressional staffer told Task & Purpose on Thursday.

The Marine Corps is working to quickly provide lawmakers with the information they need “to satisfy the Congressional requirement and enable full execution of the M27 procurement plan,” said Richard Long, a Corps spokesman.

“The Army and Marine Corps work closely together to achieve common solutions for the majority of small arms capabilities, to include ammunition and fire control,” Long said. “Marine Corps participation in the Army-led Small Arms Ammunition Configuration (SAAC) study that examined optional ammunition configurations for the infantry squad is another example of this close collaboration and will lead to common requirements and materiel solutions for the next generation of squad weapons.”

The Army is testing both a new carbine and an automatic rifle to replace the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, Brig. Gen. Christopher Donahue, then-director of the Army’s soldier lethality cross functional team, told T&P in May. Donahue declined to say when the weapons would be fielded, but he said the Army plans to replace the SAW first.

“We will do everything to make sure that we as rapidly as possible get the right capability into the hands of our soldiers, but we will make sure that the capability that we give them is ready — it is tested, to include significant soldier test points — to make sure that we get is exactly what they need to fight, win, and survive in combat,” Donahue said.

But because the Marine Corps is a maritime service, its needs for weaponry are different than the Army’s, said retired Chief Warrant Officer 5 Christian Wade, former gunner for the 2nd Infantry Division. For example, the M27 can fire after being submerged in water, while M4 carbines can blow up if they get water in them.

“The Marine Corps and Army are divergent on their small arms programs because they are divergent on their doctrinal employment of the squad,” Wade told T&P on Thursday. “That’s not a judgment on the US Army. The Marine Corps has a different squad size with a different composition and different weapons.”

The Army can also take at least 10 years to field new weapons, while the M27 is available right now for infantry Marines, he said. And some of the Army’s ideas for weapons end up being abandoned, such as the 7.62mm interim rifle, he said.

To Wade, Congress’ decision to withhold 20% of the funding for the IARs makes no sense.

“It’s frustrating to me that they would go: ‘OK, we’re going to let you buy 80%. That’s fine. But we’re going to withhold 20% and let 20% of your riflemen not have that fine rifle,’” Wade said. “What the hell? That does not suggest to me that the motive behind withholding that money has anything to do with warfighting.”

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One of the benefits of serving in the military is having the chance to use all kinds of cool equipment like in Hollywood action movies and repetitive Call of Duty games. The Army has its hi-tech Strykers; the Navy has its powerful nuclear engines; the Air Force, its exquisite nine-hole golf courses; and the Coast Guard has, actually I don’t know, orange helicopters?

As for the Marines, well, we have our own things.

Like 30-pound radios with shrapnel from Vietnam still embedded in them and fleece beanies we’re not allowed to wear when it’s cold for some reason. The Corps doesn’t really get the gear on the higher end of the coolness spectrum. I know my people tend to brag that our branch is the tip of the spear, but the truth is we get the shaft.

Yes, it’s been a few years since I left active duty so the stuff being issued to Marines these days may have changed. Pfft, who am I kidding? We’ll keep getting the same crappy gear and Army leftovers for years to come. In a thousand years our descendants will be fighting giant squid people on Neptune and celebrating the F-35 finally being completed as they pick silk wedgies out of their asscracks during morning physical training.

Anyway, here are nine issued Marine Corps items that aren’t going away, even though they should.

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1. Canteens

Outside of training, I don’t think I saw anyone actually use a canteen. Between CamelBaks, Nalgenes, and the various other brands of water sacks and reusable bottles, there are a whole lot of ways to carry more water with greater ease than a pair of plastic flasks. And no matter what you do to clean them, the inside always smells like plastic and old swamp water.

2. Sword belt

Any time there’s an event — wedding, funeral, birthday ball, horse cavalry charge, etc. — where corporals and above might need to wear a sword, you just end up wearing the cooler looking Sam Brown belt.

So really, what’s the point?

3. Night vision goggles

For those who haven’t used night vision goggles, they don’t work like in the movies. In Hollywood, night vision paints the world in perfect detail with a green tint, but in reality, everything looks like an old Game Boy game: two-dimensional, two-toned, and full of deadly turtles.

Before my first night patrol, I joked that our night vision goggles were only good for seeing what you’ve just tripped over. Everybody had a good chuckle. Then I tripped several times that night. Everybody had more good chuckles. Then we almost lost a Marine who fell down a huge hole that none of us could see and it took us a few minutes to figure out what happened. Nobody chuckled.

Our night vision sucks.

The AV-8B Harrier has been a mainstay of the United States Marine Corps for over three decades. The same could be said about some other fixed-wing aircraft or helicopters (some of which have been around even longer), but the Harrier has a cachet about it that no others can match.

Part of its clout may stem from the fact that many of the Marine Corps' most legendary squadrons have flown (or still fly) the Harrier.

These squadrons include VMA-214, the famous "Black Sheep Squadron" led by Pappy Boyington, and VMA-211, the "Wake Island Avengers" who made a heroic stand at Wake Island and were tragically not reinforced.

The AV-8B Harrier has seen a fair bit of action, notably during Desert Storm, over the Balkans, and in the War on Terror.

But it's not all history for the Harrier — performance counts, too.

With Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing (V/STOL) capability, the Harrier is much less dependent on usable runways than other jets (plus, hovering just above a landing site looks cool as hell). Upgrades in the 1990s gave the Harrier the APG-65 radar (as used on the F/A-18 Hornet) and the ability to fire the AIM-120 AMRAAM.

The Harrier first entered service with the United States in 1985. It can achieve a speed of 633 miles per hour and has a maximum range of 900 nautical miles.

The Harrier looks like it will be around for a while, even as the F-35B Lightning II, the V/STOL version of the Joint Strike Fighter, enters service — and for good reason. It's arguably America's second-best close-air support plane, ranking second behind only the legendary A-10.

Learn more about the Harrier in the video below!

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• The Marine Corps Warfighting Lab has successfully tested the ability to have a single Marine operate six drones in the air simultaneously.
• This strategy of having a single operator piloting multiple drones reduces the burden faced by the operator and opens an array of multifaceted applications — from delivering explosives to jamming communications.
• This recent test is part of a larger Marine Corps strategy called Sea Dragon 2025 which seeks to limit the amount of exposure marines face in the field. 

One Marine could soon dispatch more than a dozen drones to jam enemy communications and take out targets — all from a single handheld tablet.

The Marine Corps Warfighting Lab has successfully tested the ability to have a single Marine operate six drones in the air simultaneously. The goal is to get that up to 15 and to see the small unmanned systems stay in the air for hours at a time.

"What we're looking at is ... minimal operator burden so [a Marine's] face isn't down in a tablet," said Capt. Matt Cornachio, a fires project officer with the Warfighting Lab's science and technology division. "It's sort of having the machines do the work for you, so you give them intent and they operate."

That could help ground troops in remote or hotly contested locations augment 60mm mortar fire with precision strikes. Cornachio said they're looking for drones with a host of potentials, including swarming, automatic-target recognition, kinetic-strike and electronic-warfare capabilities.

"Your swarm is multifaceted so you have several warheads that hold their own capabilities in that cloud," he said. "... We see the precise nature of loitering munitions to augment company-level fires."

In order to carry out a range of missions — from delivering explosives to jamming communications, the Marine Corps is on the hunt for drone swarms that can stay in the air for hours. The Warfighting Lab held a drone-endurance test in the desert this month, Cornachio said, during which one unmanned aircraft flew for nearly two hours straight.

"It's not out of the realm of possibility that these things could be in the air for three or four hours, so the smaller, the better," he added.

Getting to the point where one Marine controls a swarm of drones is a big change from unmanned systems like the Switchblade, which required one operator per drone. That kamikaze-style drone delivers a payload equivalent to a 40mm grenade.

The Warfighting Lab's efforts are part of a larger Marine Corps strategy called Sea Dragon 2025. Marines are experimenting with drones, self-driving vehicles, robotics and other technology that can limit their exposure in the field. The use of unmanned technology could be especially beneficial in complex urban environments, said Brig. Gen. Christian Wortman, head of the Warfighting Lab.

"We can use manned-unmanned teaming and unmanned systems to take on some of the most dangerous tasks that Marines are executing in that kind of an urban environment," he said.

SEE ALSO: The Pentagon quietly barred Marines from flying their quadcopters

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• The Marine Corps plans on ordering 84mm M3 Carl Gustaf recoilless rifles for every squad as part of the branch’s long-awaited plan to overhaul its infantry squads.
• The Corps plans on ordering 1,073 multi-use launchers of the legendary bazooka to replace the branch’s existing arsenal MK153 Shoulder-Launched Multipurpose Assault Weapons. 

The Marine Corps plans on ordering 84mm M3 Carl Gustaf recoilless rifles for every squad as part of the branch’s long-awaited plan to overhaul its infantry squads, Marine Corps Times first reported on Thursday, the first time the service will field the legendary bazooka downrange.

• Marine Corps Systems Command spokeswoman Barbara Hamby told Marine Corps Times that the service plans on ordering 1,073 multi-use launchers of the legendary bazooka to replace the branch’s existing arsenal MK153 Shoulder-Launched Multipurpose Assault Weapons (SMAW) traditionally reserved for bunker-busting.
• In November 2017, Marine Corps officials were “weighing the possibility” of acquiring the new and improved M3E1 Multi-Role Anti-Armor Anti-Personnel Weapons System (MAAWS), an upgraded iteration of the M3 Carl Gustaf, after the Army announced an order for 1,111 of the recoilless rifles the previous September (MARCORSYSCOM did not immediately respond to request for clarification on the Carl Gustaf model).
• While the Carl Gustaf has been a staple of Army and U.S. Special Operations Command arsenals for years, Military.com noted back in November that the adoption of the M3E1 would mark the first fielding of the system to Marines downrange in recent memory.
• The Carl Gustaf recoilless rifles are meant to supplement the explosive power of the new-and-improved M72 Light Anti-Tank Weapon (LAW) in squad arsenals, according to Marine Corps Times, equipping that will hopefully translate in “more protection and added lethality for future grunts operating in urban environments.”

Those bazookas “will not replace any existing elements of the squad, but will function as an additive capability for any squad member to operate,” as Military.com reported back in November. Fun for the whole family!

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• The Guadalcanal campaign of the Second World War was one of the more savage battles in the Pacific theater
• Between August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943, tens of thousands of US Marines and soldiers gave their lives in a brutal fight against elite Japanese troops

The Guadalcanal campaign began August 7, 1942 and lasted until February of 1943. During those seven months, 60,000 US Marines and soldiers killed about 20,000 of the 31,000 Japanese troops on the island.

The main objective of the fighting was a tiny airstrip that the Japanese were building at the western end of Guadalcanal, a speck of land in the Solomon Islands. The airstrip, later named Henderson Field, would become an important launching point for Allied air attacks during the Pacific island hopping campaign.

Now check out these 7 interesting facts you didn't know about the battle.

1. Every branch of the U.S. military fought in the battle

The Air Force didn't yet exist, but the Army, Coast Guard, Navy, and Marines all fought in the battle.

The Army provided infantry to assist the Marines in the landings and sent planes and pilots to operate out of Henderson Field. The Navy provided most logistics, shore bombardments, and aviation support. The Marines did much of the heavy lifting on the island itself, capturing and holding the ground while their aviators provided additional support.

2. The only Coast Guard Medal of Honor ever bestowed was for service at Guadalcanal

Signalman First Class Douglas Munro was one of the Coast Guardsmen operating landing craft for the Marines. After the initial invasion, the U.S. controlled the westernmost part of the island and the Japanese controlled the rest. A river ran between the two camps and neither force could get a foothold on the other side.

Then-Lt. Col. Lewis "Chesty" Puller ordered a force to move through the ocean and land east of the river. The Marines encountered little resistance at first but were then ambushed by the Japanese. Munro led a group of unarmored landing craft to pick up the Marines while under heavy fire from Japanese machine guns. Just as they were escaping the kill zone, Munro was shot through the head.

3. Guadalcanal was a "who's who" of Marine legends in World War II

In addition to Chesty Puller, many Marine legends were at the island. Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone earned his Medal of Honor there. Master Gunnery Sgt. Leland Diamond drove off a Japanese cruiser with a mortar. Brig. Gen. Joe Foss earned a Medal of Honor and became a fighter Ace after downing 26 enemy aircraft around the island.

• The Pentagon has been reorienting its forces for what it sees as emerging great-power competition with Russia and China.
• For the Marine Corps, that likely means shifting away from the Middle East and refocusing on Europe and the Pacific.
• To keep preparing for conditions in those places, Marines may soon find themselves spending more time in Alaska.

The US military has been shifting its focus to preparing for a potential great-power conflict, changing how it uses its weapons and where it operates. For the Marine Corps, that increasingly means getting ready to fight at the top of the world.

"The Marines are looking at spending a lot more time in Alaska," Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican from Alaska, told reporters on August 8 during a trip to the state with Army Secretary Mark Esper.

The Navy and Marine presence in Alaska is currently small. Some sailors are stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, on Alaska's southern coast. There are also some Marines there, assigned to a reserve unit.

Marines took part in the Arctic Edge exercise in March this year, joining roughly 1,500 soldiers, sailors, and airmen in Alaska "to train military forces to fight and win in the Arctic," Air Force Lt. Gen. Ken Wilsbach, head of Alaskan Command, said at the time.

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller said prior to the exercise that the Corps was looking for ways to spend more time in Alaska as it seeks more training opportunities in extreme conditions.

A few weeks after the exercise, he told Sullivan during a Senate hearing that Marines "have gotten back into the cold-weather business."

"We can’t assume that we're going to fight in a desert. It's not going to be a temperate climate. It could be in an Arctic climate," Neller added. "We're moving in the right direction and doing our best to get more deployments for training to Alaska to take advantage of the terrain and the climate."

The Marine Corps has also sought out cold-weather environments elsewhere.

A rotational force has been stationed in Norway since the beginning of 2017 — the first foreign force stationed on Norwegian soil since World War II. They have carried out training and exercises with Norwegian and partner forces. Norway has requested that the Marines' rotation be extended and that they be based closer to the country's border with Russia.

While visiting the rotational force in Norway at the end of 2017, Neller outlined the change in focus he saw coming, underlining why places like Alaska and Norway are of more interest.

"I think probably the focus, the intended focus is not on the Middle East," Neller said when asked by a Marine about where the force saw itself fighting in the future. "The focus is more on the Pacific and Russia."

Neller also urged Marines there to be prepared to face rising threats, predicting a looming "big-ass fight."

"I hope I'm wrong, but there's a war coming," he said, according to Military.com. "You're in a fight here, an informational fight, a political fight, by your presence."

The Marine Corps and the Army have both made changes to their gear that reflect that shift in operational focus.

Earlier this year, the Army's 10th Mountain Division went out on winter training operations with new gloves, headgear, socks, gaiters, parkas, and trousers — equipment focused on the "face, hands, and feet," one member of the unit said.

The Marine Corps has made requests for more caps and gloves for use in intense cold and plans to spend nearly $13 million to equip some units with NATO ski systems.

"No Marine is going to leave here unless they know how to ski," Neller told Marines in Norway during his December visit.

Sullivan made his comments about Marines spending more time in Alaska during a trip through the state with Esper, the Army secretary.

Esper also underscored the utility of Alaska's location and climate for the military as it prepares for "long-term strategic competitions with China and Russia," which the the most recent National Defense Strategy report called the "principal priorities" of the Defense Department.

"It doesn’t take much to look at the map and understand Alaska’s geography with regard to Russia and China … the importance of Alaska in that geo-strategic game," Esper said during a joint press conference with Sullivan. "Not just geography, but then knowing how to operate function, and, as I like to say, deploy, fight, and win in an arctic environment."

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MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. — Do you even lift, bro?

Marine PT studs are finally about to get some recognition outside the gym, as service leaders begin handing out individual and unit-level awards to the fittest leathernecks around.

Commandant Gen. Robert Neller has signed off on a plan to give Marines who earn perfect 300s on their combat and physical fitness tests certificates of commendation. The top general will also honor the unit or squadron with best overall combined PFT and CFT scores with a trophy for Superior Fitness at an annual awards ceremony.

"I think it's a way to challenge the Marines on an individual level, but also to bring some unit cohesion to it and really get commanders behind the program so they know, 'If my unit does well enough, we might be recognized by the commandant as the unit [for] superior fitness across the Marine Corps,'" said Col. Stephen Armes, director of the Marine Corps' Force Fitness Division.

A service-wide administrative message announcing the new fitness prizes is in the works, Armes added. The first awards will be handed out in 2019.

About 1,200 Marines earned perfect scores on both of their annual fitness tests in 2017. Those will be the first Marines to receive certificates of commendation that will be included in their official records.

Any unit led by a lieutenant colonel will be eligible for the Superior Fitness trophy. That award will look at a unit's combined total PFT and CFT scores. Since the deadline for that award is in the fall — before CFT season wraps up, Armes said the first one will recognize scores from the 2018 PFT and the 2017 CFT.

Neller added a couple of big rules to up the ante for units or squadrons eyeing that prize. If a unit has even one Marine who fails either test, Armes said the group will be automatically disqualified from competing. And any Marines who are supposed to take a fitness test but don't will receive zeros, which will bring down their units’ total score.

"Everyone's got to pass it," Armes said.

Neller has long pushed the idea of Marines as "warrior athletes," whose mental and physical strength makes them more lethal, resistant and capable on the battlefield.

"These were our ways of taking his intent and recognizing the individual Marine and the unit," Armes said. "We tried ... to provide some competition and award them for their work."

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