 I'm Staff Sergeant Christopher Weaver, I'm the Platoon Sergeant for 2nd Platoon with the 3rd LCT medium missile battery. My name is Staff Sergeant Christopher Weaver, I'm the 2nd Platoon Sergeant for the 3rd LCT medium missile battery. Today we had our platoon out here doing live fire operations with the M77 Alpha-2 Howitzers shooting 155mm rounds down the range. We also had Philippine Marines down here on the gun line doing co-op training with us. My role as a platoon sergeant is to make sure that all Marines are following appropriate procedures and make sure that all the rounds essentially get sent down range safely. My role in today's training as a platoon sergeant is to make sure that all safety procedures are followed by all of our Marines and that rounds get sent down range safely. Operating this environment has really prepared us for future operations especially in terms of embarkation and cooperation with foreign nations in order to be able to make sure that we can streamline our process and be able to get over to other countries especially island chains safely and easily. The training that we're doing out here in Valcutton really helps our unit prepare for the future fight with foreign nations by forcing us to work together closely and be able to know what each of our capabilities and weaknesses are so that we can plan for future operations and support each other. The real value in training with Allied foreign nations and partners is again building that camaraderie and that friendship in between us so that whenever we do get into the future fight we can learn that we can depend on each other, know what we're capable of and support each other to be able to win that fight. The real importance of training with our Allied partners is that we really learn what our capabilities and strengths and weaknesses are so that like when it comes to the future fight we know that we can depend on each other and support each other and be able to plan effectively around what our capabilities really are. The real training scenarios that we're training for out here is our transition to a medium missile unit with a rogue nemesis system and that's to be able to defend first island chains from adversaries that would threaten us and our future partners out there. Scenarios that we're going to be training for out here is going to be essentially going with the rogue nemesis system is defending key maritime terrain for our allies and for our naval assets. The weapons systems that we're currently using out here is the M77 Alpha 2 Howitzer it's a 1.5 millimeter Howitzer that is able to shoot down range for extended distance. We're also training to be able to use the rogue nemesis system which is an anti-ship missile. The importance of conducting training like this and especially in foreign nations is it allows us to be able to train all aspects of getting out to the future fight including embarkaging, moving out live fire, testing new capabilities, tactics, procedures as well as working with Allied partners in conjunction with their capabilities. Balgantan really contributes to the overall mission of the 3rd Marine Division by allowing us to actually get off our home turf and now get out to some of those island chains and actually do some training in the actual grounds where we actually have our future fight. The essential skills of this exercise strength in is definitely the logistical planning and train. That's one of the most difficult parts of planning exercises like this and allows us to see what our limitations are and what we can actually do on the ground in a real fight. The skills of this exercise strength in is really going to be the logistical chain. Being able to prepare, plan for the future fight so once we actually get on the island chain be able to actually sustain ourselves and continue the fight when needed. Balgantan really helps with our Marines training the proficiency and readiness by getting out there, getting into the field and training, doing live fire exercises with foreign partners on the ground so they get to see not only for themselves but our partners on what we're actually doing out here. Definitely external factors we have to train for and prepare for is definitely going to be the heat and humidity. Now our Marines get to come out in an environment like this and push themselves to the limit like where they do back home. A lot of the external factors we have to train for out here in the Philippines is definitely going to be part of it as the heat. A lot of Marines aren't used to this type of heat and humidity and be able to come out here and actually run at 100% while dealing with the weather is something that we got to work towards and train with. The message I would really like to get out there to our potential adversaries in the future is that we can go anywhere in the world at the drop of a hat and we can work well with our partner nations whenever it's needed to be. The message I would like to send to our potential adversaries in the future is we can go anywhere in the world at any time and we can also work well with our partner nations whenever need be.