Featured

Marine Corps Jungle Warfare Gear

The Marine Corps Jungle Warfare Training Center in Okinawa Japan had to be one of my favorite deployments. Learning how to operate and survive in a jungle environment is vastly different than a desert or woodland environment. There are also threats native to the jungle that you must be aware of. I remember attending a training session and sitting on the table in front of the class were several glass jars with various snakes in them (mostly venomous). As the glass jars were passed around the instructors said these are some of the threats to be aware of as we conduct our training. Because of the dense tropical like environment, gear and tactics need to change in order to be effective and survive.

Navigation becomes exponentially tougher when working under a double canopy jungle. GPS units will not be able to locate satellites due to the canopy which means you must be confident at using a map and compass. A machete or kukri becomes more useful than smaller belt knives to allow you to cut through the thick vegetation, dispatch snakes for food, and for other various survival tasks. As silly as it seems, having a whistle on your person can be a life saver (We had OD green tactical whistles).

 

You've reached your daily free article limit.

Subscribe and support our veteran writing staff to continue reading.

Get Full Ad-Free Access For Just $0.50/Week

Enjoy unlimited digital access to our Military Culture, Defense, and Foreign Policy coverage content and support a veteran owned business. Already a subscriber?

The Marine Corps Jungle Warfare Training Center in Okinawa Japan had to be one of my favorite deployments. Learning how to operate and survive in a jungle environment is vastly different than a desert or woodland environment. There are also threats native to the jungle that you must be aware of. I remember attending a training session and sitting on the table in front of the class were several glass jars with various snakes in them (mostly venomous). As the glass jars were passed around the instructors said these are some of the threats to be aware of as we conduct our training. Because of the dense tropical like environment, gear and tactics need to change in order to be effective and survive.

Navigation becomes exponentially tougher when working under a double canopy jungle. GPS units will not be able to locate satellites due to the canopy which means you must be confident at using a map and compass. A machete or kukri becomes more useful than smaller belt knives to allow you to cut through the thick vegetation, dispatch snakes for food, and for other various survival tasks. As silly as it seems, having a whistle on your person can be a life saver (We had OD green tactical whistles).

 

Read more- The Loadout Room

Image courtesy of The Loadout Room

Check out the SOFREP Crate Club for exclusive survival gear that is hand-picked my special ops guys.

About SOFREP News Team View All Posts

The SOFREP News Team is a collective of professional military journalists. Brandon Tyler Webb is the SOFREP News Team's Editor-in-Chief. Guy D. McCardle is the SOFREP News Team's Managing Editor. Brandon and Guy both manage the SOFREP News Team.

COMMENTS

You must become a subscriber or login to view or post comments on this article.

More from SOFREP

REAL EXPERTS.
REAL NEWS.

Join SOFREP for insider access and analysis.

TRY 14 DAYS FREE

Already a subscriber? Log In