A service member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (left) fires an M500 Mossberg shotgun with a grenade cup attachment while U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Blake Johnson coaches his shot placement at Fort Bonifacio, Philippines on Aug. 11, 2014 during the Non-Lethal Weapons Executive Seminar field training exercise. The effective use of non-lethal weapons can be extremely valuable during rescue missions, for force protection in civil disturbances, while controlling rioting and prisoners of war, for checkpoint or convoy operations, HA/DR operations, or in situations in which civilians are used to mask a military attack. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Alexandra Gwinn)
Service members from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) along with Police Officers with the Philippine National Police (PNP), fired non-lethal munitions, Aug. 11, during Non-lethal Weapons Executive Seminar (NOLES) 2014.
This year marks the 13th iteration of this event, which is held annually by U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific, and consists of a field-training exercise and a leadership seminar with participants from 20 nations. This marks the first time the AFP are hosting NOLES. The exercise promotes awareness and effective use of non-lethal weapons (NLW) to maintain order in low-intensity conflicts or civil unrest.
A week in to the training, non-lethal weapons instructors from 3rd Law Enforcement Battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force, worked with the AFP and PNP NOLES participants on the handling of NLW munitions and the weapon systems.
For the ‘Range Day’ PNP and AFP participants fired two different weapons, the M203 grenade launcher and the M500 shotgun, as well as non-lethal stinger ball grenades.
“These specific kind of weapons are designed to use in a situation where you want to disperse a crowd or a group of individuals without having to use lethal means,” said 1st Lt. Daniel J. Matthews, a non-lethal weapons instructor and officer-in-charge of training during the NOLES field training exercise (FTX).
The M203s shot the stinger ball grenades, while the M500 were shooting rounds with a beanbag in them. “They (Filipinos) have been very cooperative, they have been picking up the training very quickly so it’s been a good week,” Matthews said.
As the executive seminar draws near, the Marines from 3rd LEB plan to begin practicing for the final demonstration on August 14, in front of senior leadership from 20 countries in the Pacific, and the U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines, The Honorable Philip S. Goldberg.
During the demo the participants of NOLES will demonstrate everything they learned throughout the exercise, including Taser techniques, Mechanical Advantage Control Holds (MACH), Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) Spray.
“It’s been a really good experience for the Filipinos and the U.S. Marines, we’ve learned a lot from them as they have learned from us,” said Matthews. “I definitely think that an exercise like this would be very [good] with our counterparts.”
http://www.dvidshub.net/news/139207/noles-participants-conduct-non-lethal-weapons-shoot#.U-1UUsZ0yAI
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