Marines with Combat Logistics Regiment 27 rig the Corps’ newest artillery weapon, the M-327 mortar component of the Expeditionary Fire Support System, in order for it to be airlifted by for the first time by a CH-53 helicopter in the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range on Oct. 5, 2010. The system, which is smaller and more mobile than a traditional howitzer cannon but more lethal than traditional man-carried mortars, consists of the 120 mm cannon, as well as a small vehicle and an ammunition trailer. Since the system is meant to be carried around the battlefield by helicopter, its deployment was tested as part of Weapons and Tactics Instructor course. The course, hosted twice a year at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Ariz., by Marine Aviation and Weapons Tactics Squadron 1, trains Marine students from across the globe to return to their units as training officers versed in the latest aviation tactics and procedures.