Activated Reservists Train in Earnest : Military: Members of light armored unit, faced with possible deployment to the Middle East, pay close attention as they receive instruction in weapons and tactics.

Cpl. Brett Doggett didn’t flinch, didn’t even bother to casually look around when an ear-splitting burst from a machine gun suddenly erupted behind him.

“It’s second nature to me,” the bespectacled Marine from Mission Viejo calmly said Friday. “I can tell any weapon by its sound.”

At 26, Doggett is already one of the old pros, with four years of active duty and a deployment to Panama before he shifted into the reserves six months ago and went to college to study international business.

But he’s back in the military business now, one of about 825 Marine reservists who were mobilized earlier this month, reported to Camp Pendleton last week for processing back to active duty and is undergoing a four-day refresher course in how to fight.

It’s likely that Doggett and most or all of the other Marines back on active duty will be deployed to the Middle East with the 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade stationed at Camp Pendleton.

But, for the moment, they are brushing up on old skills.

Capt. Scott Sease of Carlsbad is making sure the men who were ordinary citizens--except for one weekend of reserve duty a month--until last week are honed for possible combat.

“It’s just a refresher course, none of it’s new,” said Sease, noting that these Marines had basic infantry training before they entered the reserves, where, besides one weekend a month, they spent two weeks training annually.

“Attitude-wise, these guys know they’re going over, so they’re taking it seriously,” said Sease, the assistant operations officer for the School of Infantry at Camp Pendleton.

Some of the reservists, including senior noncommissioned officers, haven’t seen extended active duty in 10 years, and, Sease remarked, “Some of these guys I could probably call dad.”

During the refresher course, they fire such weapons as the .50-caliber machine gun and the MK-19 heavy machine gun; take classes in offensive and defensive tactics; patrol and clear a mock enemy town and trenches; learn about Middle Eastern culture and prepare for chemical warfare.

Sease said there’s “no lesson plan” for teaching Marines how to emotionally react in combat, but he makes sure they think about reality as they train.

“I ask them, ‘Can you see who you’re shooting at? Can they see you? Then that’s not good,’ ” he said, reminding Marines to take concealed positions.

For Cpl. Doggett, the mobilization meant having to drop his classes at Saddleback Community College in Orange County.

Still, he considers himself lucky, at least in one respect. “I’m not leaving anybody behind, like a girlfriend or anything,” he said.

He’s a machine gunner with the 4th Light Armored Infantry, and, because he left active duty for the reserves only six months ago, he’s fresh enough to help the others. “I’m concentrating on training and bringing other people up to speed on the equipment,” he said.

Guns may be critical for fighting, but Doggett and the other mobilized reservists are also practicing another skill for survival in desert warfare--drinking lots of water.

Doggett said he’s started consuming 1 1/2-gallons of water a day to prepare for the desert.