My first training event of the summer was Cadet Field Training at Camp Buckner (AKA Buckner, Bucknam, Buckghanistan). Buckner consists of seven main training events: Intro to Patrolling (ITP), Land Navigation (Land Nav), Water Confidence Obstacle Course (Wet COC), Confidence Obstacle Course (Dry COC), Mounted Maneuver Training (MMT) and the Combat Engineer and Field Artillery (FA) training sites.
ITP is three days of learning basic Infantry skills. Ruck-march out, set up a patrol base and pretty much just pull guard shifts waiting to get ambushed most of the day/night. During the day we did leave the patrol base to learn such tactical skills as setting up and ambush, react to contact, etc. In the end it was useful training but life is no fun when you have spent 3 days standing, laying, sleeping and eating in puddles (it rained most of the time). Marching out the final day consisted of a Mogadishu Mile type scenario except with casualties that had to be carried out. No fun but it felt good in the end to look back and see how much more I am capable of than I thought possible, especially with trench foot that made my feet bleed without running.
Land Nav was another three day excursion into the woods around Camp Buckner to learn how to read a map. Boy Scouts prepared me well and I spent three days getting to know my squad-mates better, pick blueberries and just basically relax. The testing day came and I got my points. Night land nav testing that night was interesting. Meg-Ann, my partner (easy to spot in the squad photo cause she's the only girl), is an amazingly loud person so I never had to worry about us getting split-up and lost, just stop and listen and you'll hear her from miles away (seriously, she admits it too).
The Wet COC is two obstacles designed to make us more comfortable with heights and water at the same time. The first obstacle is two balance beams high above the water. The first beam is stationary but the second is designed to wiggle as people walk across it and has stairs in the middle. As long as you keep your eyes looking forward and keep walking it really isn't that challenging but many people froze and fell off into the water. The second obstacle is the slide for life, a zip-line off a 75 ft. tower into the lake. Such a good day, too bad it wasn't warmer.
The Dry COC is an obstacle course on dry land rather than over the lake, surprising huh? It isn't emphasized as much as the Wet COC because there are a lot of obstacle courses in the Army, its really not that unique.
MMT was a week spent in FT Knox KY. riding/shooting/commanding tanks and tank units. We spent time in simulators, on the firing line, etc. but the funnest day was a force-on-force exercise using MILES gear which is basically just advanced laser-tag. The first iteration I was a dismount in a cav-scout (cavalry) HMMWV that promptly got destroyed when the fighting started. For the second iteration I was a Tank Platoon leader. Though my company lost the fight, I am proud to say that I was in the last tank standing and that we destroyed 5 of the enemy's 16 tanks and my platoon destroyed 8, I think, which is an entire company. Unfortunately, the other platoon got destroyed and my platoon was soon isolated fighting enemy from front and back, not a good situation. Knox was nice though because we had the afternoons off, ate in a DFAC rather than the camp mess hall and had air conditioning in our rooms.
Combat Engineers and FA were both one day training sites. With the combat engineers we learned about IED's, route clearance and breaching operations (blowing up doors). FA was an opportunity to set-up and fire howitzers as well as call for fire and launch mortars (even though that is mostly an infantry thing). At the end of the day all the excess powder from the 105 mm rounds has to be burned off. Videos don't do it justice but here is one anyway.
There is a dance at the end of Buckner and, even though I'm not a dancer and didn't spend much time there I am proud to announce that my class destroyed the dance hall (the support system collapsed and it fell into the lake, 2012 knows how to party) and the Comm and Dean, both 1 star generals, crowd surfed off the stage.
The final day started at about 4 AM and the entire class, our cadre and some of the staff of West Point ran the 6-ish miles back.
Very cool. You're so tough.
ReplyDeleteAmazing stuff Richard. I have to admit that part of me wishes I were learning what you are. Though, I'm pretty sure I'd rather do it without the trench feet... Ouch! Miss you!
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