 Marines learned principles of underwater evacuation during a helicopter-dunker exercise aboard Camp Pendleton, November 4th. More than 20 Marines with 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, conducted the training as preparation for their deployment with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit in Okinawa, Japan. They put their survival skills to the test when instructors put them inside of a modular, amphibious egress trainer and completely submerged them underwater. The Marines trained to escape from a helicopter that has flipped upside down at sea and learned to use reference points to quickly find an exit. You learn, no matter how confident you are in the water, it does take a technique. I came from a recon background. I was pretty much a drown poof when I got here, but I first tried to get out that exit. It wasn't working for me, so the techniques we teach here, they work. We don't just make these things up as you get here. The Marines went through the dunker several times, increasing the amount of equipment worn as they progressed. From the initial dunk, the gear increased to include a rifle, flak jacket, blacked-out goggles, and an emergency breathing device, which allowed them to develop survival skills that could save their lives. Before doing this, if you had asked me, is it possible to survive an egress from a helicopter that crashed in the ocean, I always said you're out of your mind. But after doing this training, although I'm sure it's still a lot more difficult than a real-life scenario, have a lot more confidence manipulating the gear, finding reference points and finding an egress point on that aircraft that I can get myself out of if it goes in the water. With the training, the Marines can effectively operate as an amphibious task force and safely conduct heliborne ship-to-shore movements. Reporting from Camp Pendleton, California, I'm Lance Corporal, Christopher Moore.