U.S. Marines and Mongolian Armed Forces service members were joined by the Mongolian General Police Aug. 17 to start Nonlethal Weapons Executive Seminar 2013 at Five Hills Training Area and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

A joint-combined team of approximately 170 military and police personnel began the 12th iteration of NOLES, which is a regularly scheduled field training exercise and leadership seminar designed to promote awareness and effective use of nonlethal weapons.“We need to understand that future conflicts will mandate that battlefield commanders have a thorough understanding of nonlethal weapons, their tactics, and how to employ them,” said U.S. Marine 1st Lt. Ryan L. Trunk, a training officer with 3rd Law Enforcement Battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, III MEF, and officer in charge of the Marine training detachment participating in the exercise.

Mongolian service members have significant experience in peacekeeping operations, to include deployments to South Sudan, Sierra Leone and the Balkans, as well as participating in coalition operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Over the next 10 days, we look forward to training you, learning from you, sharing experiences, and making new friendships,” said Trunk.

MAF Lt. Col. J. Molorbold, senior staff officer for the MAF’s Peace Support Operations Department and exercise director, thanked the Marines of 3rd LE Bn. for their participation as trainers and assistant trainers.

“I hope that you guys have a great time and take care of my soldiers,” Molorbold said, emphasizing the importance of safety throughout the exercise.

Trunk stressed that safety, when dealing with nonlethal weapons, is always the top priority, but he did so without sugarcoating the intensity of the days to come.

“The training, at times, is going to be painful, it’s going to be extremely difficult, but in the end I can guarantee you that it’s going to be well worth it,” said Trunk.

The two-part, nonlethal weapon FTX and seminar is sponsored by U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific, hosted annually by nations throughout the Asia-Pacific region and is scheduled to conclude Aug. 28.