October 16, 2015 -- YUMA, Ariz. - Marines participating in Weapons and Tactics Instructor course 1-16 converged on Kiwanis Park in Yuma, Arizona, Friday, Oct. 16, 2015, to take part in a non-combatant evacuation (NEO) exercise.
The NEO provides the students and instructors with realistic training that is consistent with missions performed abroad, in support of deployed forces. The exercise presents many scenarios that include food distribution, on-site medical care, physical security, force resupply and extraction.
Exercises like the NEO prepare Marines to become tactically proficient in evacuation missions and enhances their ability to succeed while deployed to culturally-diverse locations around the world.
“WTI is a course designed to train the trainer,” said Col. James H. Adams, commanding officer of Yuma-based Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1. “We take these individual men and women, enlisted and officer, and get them up to speed with techniques and procedures we use on the battlefield. We send them back to their units to be the highly trained and skilled trainers for their units.”
For nearly three decades, MAWTS-1 has hosted WTI courses in Yuma. The unique relationship the unit has with the community makes it one of the most important courses in the Marine Corps.