Lance Cpl. Pillip Verhey, a machine gunner with Alpha

Lance Cpl. Pillip Verhey, a machine gunner with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, and a native of San Diego, engages targets with an Mk-19 grenade launcher during a live-fire training exercise at Range 222 here, Sept. 4, 2013. The Marines of Alpha Co. fired Mk-19 grenade launchers, .50 caliber machine guns, M249 squad automatic weapons and M240B medium machine guns during Sept. 4 and 5 to crosstrain and refine their skills with each weapon system. Many of the new riflemen in the company fired the SAW for the first time because it's no longer included during the rifleman training curriculum at Infantry Training Battalion since it is now classified as a machine gun.