The Hyde Challenge

The Hyde Challenge, as I mentioned in my last real blog entry, was the name of the culminating exercise for Cadet Basic Training this year. It began by air assaulting into Camp Buckner in a CH-47 Chinook helicopter (below). The flight path took us over the terrain we would be covering and then landed in LZ Owl just outside of Buckner. Upon landing we held security on the landing zone until the bird took off and then scrambled to a safer location. For most companies this marked the beginning of the actual military operation; however, for scheduling reasons we got flown out the day before we started so we just walked to the bays (rudimentary barracks- old bunk-house style).The next morning we started our operation in trucks leaving from LZ Owl. We had been given an operations order (OPORD) on what was supposed to be happening for the day but the entire Hyde Challenge was based on FRAGOs, fragmentation orders or last minute changes to the plan. This meant that as the squad leader, I knew virtually nothing about what was going to happen. I was given the FRAGO before we loaded the truck and had 3 minutes to brief my squad on the situation. The truck was completely covered over and the drivers were instructed to drive as they would on a normal operation so we got tossed around pretty good back there. We arrived at the first site- a rifle range with pop-up targets- and were immediately getting screamed at by site cadre. They were beating the sides of the truck and shouting while combat noises were being played over a loud-speaker. This caused a lot of confusion and stress for the new cadets who had to jump out of the truck, grab two magazines and sprint to the firing line and engage targets (all in full gear). The next range was similar but they also incorporated smoke grenades and target discrimination (there were civilians mixed in with the enemy).

After the second range I was briefed on what we were going to do next. I was told that intelligence reports gave us the location of weapons caches scattered throughout the mountains and that my squad was to go find them with the help of local nationals. I was given coordinates and told to find the location on the map and brief my driver on the route and location. My truck driver looked at me when I started to brief and said "I already know where we're going, but be ready to get dropped off in the wrong spot." Fun.

When we arrived at the wrong destination I was told to select an acting squad leader and go brief higher on the two engagements we had just encountered. I left my squad and hoped for the best. The task they had was basically land navigation and the planners were paranoid that the squad leaders would help their own squads too much so my "briefing higher" was acting as the local national accompanying- but not helping- another squad (which found none of the weapons caches and barely made it back on time).

From there, we walked to a reservoir and paddled a zodiac boat across it to reach the other side and receive coordinates to another location. The guy who told us where to go gave us bad coordinates so we spent half an hour pulling security about a click (km) to the south of where we were supposed to be while waiting for a convoy that never showed up. Turns out, we were supposed to stumble upon our convoy which had just been ambushed. There were two casualties and we had to secure the area, provide treatment and call in for a medevac (medical evacuation). The next FRAGO was that there were two more people, an Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD, if you don't know what I mean go watch the Hurt Locker) team, and nobody knew where they were.

When we found the team the EOD specialist was dead and the driver had minor injuries. There was a robot there and the driver had no idea how to use it but there was an IED that had to be taken care of. Neither my new cadets nor myself had ever seen this thing before so it was an interesting adventure figuring out how to make it work.

For the final section we had to go find another local national and get an intelligence update from him. He sent my squad up a hill (more of a cliff face) where we had a memorial service for 1LT Daniel Hyde who was killed in combat in Iraq in 2007. Though the climb was difficult and everyone was tired, it was the favorite event for every new cadet. It was a fitting way to end their training, reminding them of why they are where they are and the commitment they are making. It can be intimidating sometimes to think about the responsibilities and risks involved with what we choose to do, but it is vital that we never forget.

Darkness fell as we descended the cliff. Once we reached the bottom my squad moved to our patrol base where the night phase commenced. It consisted of a normal patrol base* with each squad conducting an hour long recon mission during the night. Somewhere in the woods, we were told, was an old building where a high-ranking enemy leader was staying. We were to go, find the house and report back what we found. My squad did not find the house but we encountered the enemy leader (and almost got caught by him) and found the HMMWV he was using for transportation- still a successful recon. Upon completion of the night phase (about 0600) we moved to a pick-up site and were trucked back to Buckner. Thus ended the Hyde Challenge.

*A patrol base is set up as a perimeter with the leadership in the center and people along the outside pulling security. Normally you will have no less than 50% security which means 50% of your people will be awake and watching/waiting for an enemy attack.

Pictures

I forgot to post them with that blog:

New cadets exiting the gas chamber.

Giving IVs.

Some successful...

...some not

 Thanks to my friends for the pictures.

Its been a long time coming...

But here it finally is, the update.

The rest of my time at Ft. Jackson got progressively less and less stressful. I went to work at 0600 for PT (physical training- working out) and was usually done by early afternoon. Unfortunately, there isn't much to do around Ft Jackson during the day and because its a college town, there's little of interest to me at night, so there was a lot of time spent sleeping, watching tv, etc. All in all it was a pretty good experience. I saw some things to emulate in my leadership and some things to definitely avoid. Then I headed home for a few weeks of leave and wonderful relaxation.

Two weeks later it was back to work. Basic training at the academy is broken into two parts, or details. First detail consists of mostly garrison work and the administrative side of West Point- lots of issue points, placement testing, etc. Second detail, of which I was a part, consists of the field-type training of a soldier. Before the cadre of either detail can take over and be given new cadets to train the must first go through LTP which is a train-up to make sure they are qualified to teach everything.

I showed up to the Point for LTP thinking we would have little to do the first day, being Sunday. How wrong I was. We hit the ground running and ran non-stop for weeks straight. During LTP I averaged about 5 hours of sleep a night and worked long hard days. It was fun though. The field is a much better environment than garrison and we got to do things like rappelling, shooting, going through the gas chamber, more shooting, soldier first responder (SFR- first aid for combat) and did I mention shooting? We spent 5 days on the ranges with SSG Miller, a Special Forces Staff Sergeant. I learned more about rifles, how to shoot them and what to do when they won't shoot in those five days than all my previous experience combined.

Change of detail finally came. It was time for us to take over training the new cadets and none of us could wait. Exhausted, but excited, we moved our stuff from one barracks to the other while the new cadets were at sponsor homes eating ice cream and calling home. By the next morning the excitement had mostly worn off and we were all left more exhausted than before. The 5 hours of sleep a night turned into 3 hours and 45 minutes almost exact every night.

Luckily, the pace of training slowed. We began with shooting ranges- 5 days again but with us teaching this time. On day one, watching those who had never fired a weapon before made it nerve wracking to think ahead to the training after the shooting ranges, fire team live fire. This is an event where we give new cadets live ammo and have them running through the woods with their buddies, shooting at targets as they pop up. As the squad leader, it would be my job to be in the middle of the group controlling their movements. This meant two iterations of having two new cadets on either side of me with live ammo, running and shooting. Thankfully, by the end of the training before the event I had no hesitation handing every member of my squad (except one for medical reasons) a loaded magazine and having them run next to me. Needless to say there was a lot of progress made and it was quite fun to watch these novices turn into experts almost overnight.

Then for the next week we taught them to rappel, mountain climb, make rope bridges, handle a toxic environment (gas chamber), and various other skills vital to survival in combat. Then for a week we moved on to teaching them how to handle situations where things went wrong in combat (SFR). There are pictures of the gas chamber and learning how to do IV's below.

The last block of training was spent out at beautiful Camp Buckner for a culminating exercise. The Hyde Challenge truly challenged the new cadets on everything they had been taught during beast. For a little under 24 hours my squad conducted operations ranging from shooting (in highly stressful situations) to aiding those who had been ambushed to clearing IEDs. We walked somewhere around 6-8 miles, running much of it, and my squad handled the situations well. There was also a night phase during which we set up a patrol base and ran recon missions all night long. The pictures of the Hyde Challenge are amazing but I cannot show them here because they are owned by the West Point Public Affairs Office. There are some cool pictures of it and the rest of beast here. I will (hopefully) do a separate post about the Hyde Challenge soon.

After the Hyde Challenge the new cadets were given a much needed chance to recover for a couple of days. Sunday afternoon consisted of an awards ceremony (my company won 3 of the 4 awards, including best company) and a talent show. Then it was off to bed before an early (0430) wake-up and marching back to West Point.

March back is a large affair with old grads coming to walk with the new cadets, sharing their stories of the corps and congratulating these young men and women on completing beast. The planned route was 12.2 miles- we ended up going about 14. Moral of the story? Everyone needs to know the route, not just the person in front. Sometimes the person in front gets too far ahead and then nobody else knows where to go!

After march back I had 3 days of administrative work to get myself out-processed from the academy and here I sit at home, looking for a job. I figure between beast and LTP I walked/ran with a pack on my back for about 65 miles and averaged between 3 and 4 hours of sleep a night. Maybe this time without a job is a gift?