My National Guard Seperate Infantry Bde staff from Oregon is at the Coronado Amphibious Base in San Diego. We are attending the Marine Corps Assault Landing Course, learning all about how to load and unload ships, types of communications etc. Our Bde at that time was sending a Battalion each year to Martinique to practice assault landings, so as a staff we needed the education.

Comment on the commo side. Virtually none of our radios talk to Navy radios. We decided early on to take over one of their larger landing craft which had multiple Navy radios. We were not going to give it back, rather have a command and control cell on board to relay essential communications.

We were graciously offered a tour of an Assault Landing Ship. The kind that they can flood and float landing craft full of Marines or Soldiers out and send them off to shore.

We were met on shore by the ships Bull Ensign (senior Ensign on board). He gave is the grand tour to include the engine room which had watertight hatches because it was part of the ship that was underwater when they floated the landing craft out.

What we found interesting was that a lot of sailors were painting (there's a lot to paint due to exposure to salt water). A lot of this painting mildly impeded our progress through the ship. Nevertheless, our Bull Ensign would bellow "gang way" causing sailors to interrupt their mission and scramble out of the way. This happened multiple times.

Back on shore, we informed our Bull Ensign that we did not yell at our Soldiers that way. He was curious and asked why. One of us provided the answer "perhaps it's because our Soldiers have guns". Yeah, I know Soldiers get yelled at, but not usually while they are doing their assigned jobs.