"...Having just returned from North Carolina's Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base and reviewed the training the Marines go through, I can attest that these numbers are being taken very seriously... I was stationed at Camp Lejeune from 1974-1978. I was with the 2nd Amtrac Bn at Courthouse Bay. Is it still possible to get on the base and drive on the highway through Camp Lejeune after registering at the gate?
Would like to go back and see the place. How did you get to see the training? That would be cool...
We were given a tour on July 5, when all the Marines were off base but the civilians were still there. A ret. Colonel, who handled all training on the base for years, was our guide. I will mess up the name of the facility, but we were given an in-depth look at a training facility in which the Marine officers were put around a giant map table (of Fallujah, as it turned out), and put in difficult situations ("you have two wounded to evacuate, fire coming from the building to your right," etc) and they had to communicate by "radio" to their support/fire support people sealed in another room. As the exercise progressed, the "referees" would layer on additional "problems" or "challenges" to these officers.
We drove on in one gate, drove through the whole base, and exited briefly through another, then re-entered. So I guess the answer to your question is "yes."
We got to see the Osprey's up close, too.