I am now back home with my family, writing this entry directly from the comfort of my living room. Of course, many of my battle buddies have gone directly to AIT, but since I'm going traditional OCS with ARNG, I get to come home.
So let's catch up starting with November 14, which was Day 1 of FTX 3.
FTX 3 - Day 1
Unlike FTX 2, FTX 3 starting with a ride on Trans, not a ruck march. When we arrived at the training site, our first task was to finish setup. They had two of those green "MASH" tents they needed setup. Guess who got to do it - me. I took a team of ten and we went out with the DS to find a spot. They wound up looking a little better than my first one.
Once we finished with the tent, it was time for our first of three rotations. Since we had three platoons, the DS split us into three groups: FOB (Forward Operating Base) Security, Patrol, OP4. The FOB Security platoon was responsible for running and guarding the FOB. They manned the gate, the guard towers, and the TOC (tactical operations center). The Patrol platoon conducted various missions outside of the FOB. The OP4 platoon acted as the enemy force and local population. It was setup to be very similar to the current situation in the Middle East.
During OP4, I was involved in several different missions. The first mission was harassing fire. I was called upon to lead a squad to the FOB to take pot shots to mess with the other platoons. We were able to successfully move through the woods to the back side of the FOB, take some shots from concealment, and move out unnoticed. We got them on edge and they wasted a ton of ammo.
My second mission was supposed to be a mission set for failure; a training aid for the other platoons. I and a second Platoon Leader (PL) were ordered to lead a team consisting of two squads and assault the FOB in broad daylight. Our mission was to kidnap personnel, obtain sensitive information or equipment, etc. We worked out a plan to have one squad lead a divergence attack on one side of the FOB and have the second squad lead the true assault once the FOB has their attention on the first squad. I went with the second squad. When the first squad attacked things were working well. The second squad split to two fire teams, one to lead the assault and one to suppress. The assault team unfortunately met a squad size patrol that was on the way to the fight on the other side of the FOB. They were captured. But, shortly after their capture, on the of the patrol members let his guard down allowing an OP4 member to take his weapon. The OP4 member preceded to take not only the weapon and ammo, but radios and sensitive information as well.
As we were backing out, my fire team was intercepted and killed by a squad sized patrol, but our team successfully completed a mission destined for failure and made the other platoons look pretty dumb. We were very pleased with ourselves.
My next "mission" was to act as the Mayor of a Middle Eastern town. For training, we used the same urban setup as we used in FTX2. I moved into the city with ten others so that the other platoon could have a "meet the Mayor." It was pretty fun. One plus is that when it started raining, the building I was in was the only one with anything resembling a roof. After all, I was the Mayor.
The last OP4 mission I was involved with was by far the most enjoyable. It was a full on night assault to infiltrate the FOB. The three PLs planned it out and we got ready to move. Our plan was to split into three, two squad teams. Barrett would lead one team to the South side of the FOB, Fraser would lead a team to the East Side (the weak point), and I would lead a team right in the front gate on the North.
Fraser's team was to attack first by sending in a small team to silently overtake the tower and the TOC. As soon as gunfire started, all three sides would be hit in full force. Little did we know that the other platoons were not ready for us at all. The small team found the first tower unmanned. They waited in the tower for the relief and killed them on their way up, then they moved on to the TOC. They walked right in and shot up the occupants. At that time, the FOB teams figured out there was an assault going on and the gunfire started.
The teams from the rear and my team from the gate immediately opened fire and assaulted. At the end of it all, we took their TOC and quite a bit of sensitive equipment and ammo, not to mention all the casualties. But now, it was our turn to be on the Patrol side.
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