Hi everyone. My name is Jesse & I've been a member here for a while, mainly to search threads for M1A/M14 info. Anyway, I'm a USMC Combat Vet. & am hoping someone might be able to help me remember the name of a sniper training site located in California, about an hr away from March Airforce Base. I searched the best I could on Google but can't find anything on it & im not even sure if it's still in use anymore. Its just one of those memories that i love from my time in the Corps. Holding a Sniper billet was the highlight of my service & wanna be accurate when im telling my story, ya know.
Back in '04 my Arty Battalion, 2/10, was told to put its M198 Howitzers into storage because we're gonna be restructured into "Provisional Infantry Battalion" & begin a 6 month work-up in prep for a trip to the sandbox. Just before training started, a few Marines that met the standard got moved to HQ Co. to form a STA Plt. As Artilleryman we were psyched to get such a rare opportunity to become Snipers, but unfortunately when we got to Stone Bay on Camp Lejeune, we were told they didn't have enough staff available on such short notice to fully qualify us as 8541's. We did end up going through every phase of training, but w/out having to qualify at the end (I believe this was the early stage of developing Squad Designated Marksman School). Eventually we went to California to train & while the rest of the Battalion conducted MOUT & SASO training at a place called "Matilda Village", an abandoned housing complex right next to March Airforce Base, STA Plt. continued counter sniper, KIMS games, day/night fire drills, etc. at a private facility that was about an hour drive away from March AF base. Apparently many different elite Military & LE units have trained there & I remember that the range & its owner "Bill" was well known within the Military & L.E. community. In fact, we called it "Bill's House", because I believe he actually lived on the site. As far as the landscape there, I mainly remember the 2 huge hills covered in bolders where we would build hides & fire from one hill to the other. & we also did lots of stress shoots while climbing up the rocky hills.
Anyway, if anyone out there has any idea of the actual name of the training site/range I'm trying to describe, I'd appreciate it so much! I also have a couple pics of us training there that I'll post if I get any feedback.
Sorry for such a long post guys. Thanks for reading!
Back in '04 my Arty Battalion, 2/10, was told to put its M198 Howitzers into storage because we're gonna be restructured into "Provisional Infantry Battalion" & begin a 6 month work-up in prep for a trip to the sandbox. Just before training started, a few Marines that met the standard got moved to HQ Co. to form a STA Plt. As Artilleryman we were psyched to get such a rare opportunity to become Snipers, but unfortunately when we got to Stone Bay on Camp Lejeune, we were told they didn't have enough staff available on such short notice to fully qualify us as 8541's. We did end up going through every phase of training, but w/out having to qualify at the end (I believe this was the early stage of developing Squad Designated Marksman School). Eventually we went to California to train & while the rest of the Battalion conducted MOUT & SASO training at a place called "Matilda Village", an abandoned housing complex right next to March Airforce Base, STA Plt. continued counter sniper, KIMS games, day/night fire drills, etc. at a private facility that was about an hour drive away from March AF base. Apparently many different elite Military & LE units have trained there & I remember that the range & its owner "Bill" was well known within the Military & L.E. community. In fact, we called it "Bill's House", because I believe he actually lived on the site. As far as the landscape there, I mainly remember the 2 huge hills covered in bolders where we would build hides & fire from one hill to the other. & we also did lots of stress shoots while climbing up the rocky hills.
Anyway, if anyone out there has any idea of the actual name of the training site/range I'm trying to describe, I'd appreciate it so much! I also have a couple pics of us training there that I'll post if I get any feedback.
Sorry for such a long post guys. Thanks for reading!
