Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, practice shield techniques in defense of molotov cocktails to prepare for a mock riot in which the incendiary devices were used during Non-Lethal Weapons Executive Seminar 2009 at Line Creek Junction urban operations training site in Queensland, Australia, Sept. 17. The seminar was a bilateral exercise headed by III Marine Expeditionary Force's Special Operations Training Group to exchange non-lethal tactics, procedures and weapons with 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. (Photo by Lance Cpl. Paul D. Zellner II).

More than a dozen Marines with Okinawa-based Special Operations Training Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, III MEF, exchanged non-lethal weapons tactics with the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, during the Non-Lethal Weapons Executive Seminar 2009 in Queensland, Australia, Sept. 8-22.

NOLES is an annual seminar held in a different country every year with the purpose of promoting the exchange of tactics and knowledge between nations. Some countries in which NOLES has been conducted in past years include Indonesia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The Marines of SOTG have participated in NOLES since 2002, said Marine Capt. David Fenbert, assistant branch head, Amphibious Raids Branch, SOTG, III MHG, III MEF.

"NOLES is aimed at promoting the use of non-lethal tactics, techniques and procedures in crowd control operations as well as at seeking new ways to handle unrest in order to prevent or stop human rights violations," Fenbert said.

The seminar kicked off with SOTG Marines teaching Australian soldiers crowd control techniques, formations, munitions and non-lethal tactics. The Australian soldiers also shared their non-lethal tactics with the Marines.

Training continued on the live fire ranges using both Australian and American non-lethal weapons including the X26E Taser, a device that sends up to 50,000 volts into a person to immobilize him. Other munitions include the Stinger Ball Non-lethal Grenade, 12-gauge fin-stabilized rubber and beanbag rounds, 40mm rubber ball rounds and foam baton rounds and grenades, Vehicle Lightweight Arresting Device, a type of spike strip and net that wraps around the axle and tires of a vehicle to stop it, and the FN-303 Compressed Air Launcher, which shoots plastic rounds containing permanent or nonpermanent paint, blunt impact or Oleoresin Capsicum irritant spray.

Australian soldiers became familiar with the Marine Corps' M16 with M203 40mm grenade launcher and M500 Mossburg shotgun with grenade cup launching attachment using the listed non-lethal rounds.

Marines also demonstrated Mechanical Advantage Control Holds, holds that control a noncompliant subject through body positioning, movement, momentum and joint manipulation that uses subjects' resistance against them, baton techniques and cuffing procedures before going to the field for a two-day practical application exercise. The soldiers used their own techniques mixed with some newly-acquired knowledge from the Marines to control mock riots.

Another Australian regiment acted as mock rioters for four riot situations. The situations were a food distribution point being overrun, two opposing crowds fighting, a fire-barricaded riot and a flanking riot from four sides.

During the exercise, rioters threw water bottles and tennis balls at Australian soldiers wearing full riot gear and armed with shields and batons. Molotov cocktails were also thrown at the soldiers' formation for more realistic training as Marine safety supervisors observed techniques and provided additional safety measures.

"The riot control scenarios were some of the most realistic training. The Molotov cocktails and incorporating military working dogs really enhanced the quality of training," said Gunnery Sgt. Robert Frederick, staff noncommisioned officer-in-charge of Expeditionary Warfare Section, SOTG, III MHG, III MEF.

To cap off the exercise, the Australian soldiers held a demonstration for military dignitaries from throughout the Pacific region. The demonstration included all the tactics, procedures and munitions learned throughout the seminar. Marines acted as opposing forces and drove a vehicle through a security checkpoint and over the VLAD before being apprehended by Australian soldiers.

Other Marines were part of the Australian riot formation to demonstrate some of the non-lethal munitions, as well as to further enhance the cooperation of the two nations' warriors.

"NOLES was an excellent training evolution in which both countries learned from each other and came away with new ideas and concepts regarding non-lethal weapons, tactics and procedures," said Fenbert.