Soldiers push forward with light infantry skills training

By Spc. Matthew A. Thompson, 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

Infantrymen poured out the back of the Strykers, their feet pounding on the hard asphalt on their way to their objective. Their mission was to conduct negotiations with the “local tribal elder” of Leschi Town. With less than two hours sleep in some cases, only their personal drive and sheer intensity of the missions kept them going.

The next mission was only a few hours later.

Day missions were followed by night missions with little time for rest or hot chow, and as one grueling day gave way to the next, the Soldiers of C Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, continued to push on throughout the field training exercise from June 25 to July 3, one that covered both Fort Lewis and Yakima Training Center.

The training focused on light infantry skills, such as conducting raids on Leschi Town. The Soldiers talked to the “locals” in an effort to find their targets and get them to surrender peacefully. They also learned how to be part of a security detail for important people.

Many missions were nighttime operations with more training scheduled the next morning — teaching the Soldiers how to cope with sleep deprivation and the leaders to use time wisely.

“This training was designed to evaluate the company leadership and the platoon leadership and to make sure that we are ready to go on to the next step of deploying,” said Staff Sgt Dan S. Rose, 1st platoon sergeant, C Co. “Most of our Soldiers were straight out of basic training and we had newly promoted noncommissioned officers when we first started to form as a unit.”

Rose has been with the unit since it stood up, but was only given the role of platoon sergeant about four months ago.

“It was a rocky start in the beginning, but it’s gotten better now that everyone has been in their positions for a while and gotten the kind of training that they are supposed to have,” Rose said.

Before the exercise, the Soldiers were supporting the Warrior Forge, summer advance camp for the Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets. The company belongs to the 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, which formed about a year and a half ago. C Co. unfurled its company guidon just one year ago.

The unit is so new that it has yet to be issued its own Strykers, and borrowed the eight-wheeled, 19-ton armored transports from A Company to conduct its training.

The crews of mobile gun systems — Strykers with 105mm cannons in addition to the normal .50-caliber or MK-19 grenade launchers, could be waiting until November or even March 2009 for their vehicles and so used Humvees instead.

Soldiers from the unit agree the greatest challenge in training is that the unit has only been around for a year, and most of the Soldiers are fresh to the Army and the infantry lifestyle. They eagerly await their Strykers, which will have the latest upgrades such as air conditioning and the Land Warrior system. But the absence of the vehicles didn’t stop or even slow down the training, according to 1st Lt. Aaron Perrine, executive officer for C Co.

“The deadliest weapon on a Stryker is the nine guys charging out the back,” said Perrine. “We’re not a weapon vehicle brigade; we’re a light infantry brigade. The Strykers are just transport.”

An example of that could be clearly seen as more than a dozen Stryker vehicles quietly pulled into their mock forward operating base on East Range early the afternoon of June 28 and the countdown began before the infantrymen onboard dismounted.

As day turned to night the Soldiers resupplied and prepared themselves for the night mission to come before loading up once more.

Private 1st Class Scott T. Goric strapped on the assault pack carrying his radio and other supplies. As the ramp dropped, the Soldiers dismounted out of the air conditioned Stryker, and Goric followed closely behind his platoon leader, radioing back the situation.

“I have faith in my company now,” Goric said. “It’s been a learning process the entire time I’ve been here. The training has given me a better idea of what it will be like when I (deploy).”

June 30 the Soldiers capped off another long day of training with an eight-hour drive to Yakima Training Center. Once there, Sgt. Norberto Ochoa, highlighted in the green hue of night vision goggles, poked his head out the back of the Stryker to see how much longer until the sun rose over the dusty, sagebrush-covered hills. A moment later he ducked back inside the Stryker to listen to the crackling radio for information about the next mission.

There would be three objectives on the final mission, making the last day a long one before the FTX was over.