CAMP FUJI, Japan — Under the snowy outline of Mount Fuji, the big guns go off with a boom, sending 155 mm rounds miles into the horizon.

Members of India Battery of the 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment, temporarily based on Okinawa and deployed to Camp Fuji, spent several days this week in the field doing what they do best: firing the M198 medium towed Howitzer, the Big Gun.

The visit to Fuji was unexpected, a change of plans necessitated by the scheduling chaos caused when 3rd Marine Division troops went to South Asia for tsunami relief missions.

Instead of visiting a live-fire training area in northeast Japan, the battery came to Camp Fuji, where they can practice under one of Japan’s most legendary symbols.

“I think most of the Marines are pretty enthusiastic about being in a place they’ve seen pictures of,” said Capt. Jason Patrick Brown, India Battery commander.

The battery is part of the Unit Deployment Program that rotates stateside Marine units to Okinawa and the Pacific for six-month intervals. Units usually return home for 18 months after a deployment but due to the war on terror, units’ schedules have been out of whack.

The battery returned home from its last deployment for just six months and came back to Okinawa two months ago. Many of the battery Marines were in Camp Fuji less than a year ago.

By being overseas, the Marines can see some of the world as well as focus their training.

“You actually get more training done because there’s less distractions,” said Cpl. Robert A. Greco, assistant motor transportation chief. “Training is much more fast-paced.”

At the battery’s home in Camp Lejeune, N.C., they share ranges with other units, and those heading for Iraq have priority, said Cpl. Adam T. Gallo, assistant chief on Gun One, one of five in the battery.

Camp Fuji’s range, one of the few places that allow live fire in Japan, is practically all theirs. The battery used the smallest charge possible, so the projectiles landed a mere few miles away. They can go as far as 18 miles with a larger charge, Gallo said.

For the training, the Marines live in the field, despite the chilling winter temperatures. They practice setting up by maneuvering the 16,000-pound guns into place and digging them into the mud and snow.

During live fire, the small group assigned to each gun moves with orchestrated precision, loading the rounds, adding bags of explosives and attaching the primer.

Each fire initiates a tremendous boom, one after another down the row of guns. No one flinches at the sound anymore.

When they’re done, the Marines will pack up, move, reposition and dig the gun in with shovels and sledgehammers.

The artillery Marines practice their jobs, while transportation guys practice tasks such as digging trucks out of the mud, which after the snows melted, they had plenty of chances to do.

“I like terrain like this,” said Greco. “It lets you know your limits.”

The training also tests the Marines in other ways. After sleeping outside in 30-degree weather, a hot or even cold shower is still a few days off.

The hardest part of the training, according to Cpl. Matt Childers, Section Chief for Gun One: “Staying clean and dry.”

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