After some much needed rest and relaxation, decorating for Christmas, and playing catch up at work, I finally have the opportunity to write a bit more about the final days at BCT.
FTX 3 - Day 2
We left off last time with my platoon ending their time on OP4 and transitioning over to Patrol. On the patrol rotation, the platoon's task is to execute missions outside the wire. For those of you not familiar with military jargon, "outside the wire" refers to being outside of the controlled boundaries of the FOB, which are marked with literal concertina (or razor) wire.
The transition to Patrol occurred in the middle of the night immediately following our assault on the FOB. Surprisingly, the DS allowed the night to continue largely uneventful, so we were able to get some moderate amounts of rest. That morning brought about the first mission.
My first mission was a seemingly simple one. I was tasked to lead a group to a location deep in the woods that was believed to be the site of a clandestine terrorist training camp. I took some time planning and preparing the mission before briefing the squad and team leaders. In addition, I got to brief our company commander and several DS who I soon found out would be joining us on the mission. Needless to say it was a bit intimidating to realize that the company commander, XO, the third plt DSs, and the second plt DSs were going to be observing this mission.
The plan was to take two squads through the woods and move to contact. When the point man believed we were close, the first squad would get on line and move in while the second squad got on line to bound in on the position. It seemed to take forever to navigate through the woods while keeping security out, knowing that the enemy could be anywhere and expecting a possible ambush. But we soon heard noise in the distance from the suspected location.
As we moved in on the position, the first squad opened fire, but sustained heavy casualties. The second squad began to move in according to the plan, but also sustained heavy casualties. As we continued the mission, overcoming the camp and beginning our search, more "technical" kills (those inflicted by DS when mistakes are made) occurred until I was left with only myself and two others standing. Needless to say, when the mission was called over, I felt a huge sense of failure, but I didn't let it show.
We regrouped and the "dead" recovered for a march back to the FOB to get some chow and review the mission and what went wrong. When we re-entered the FOB, I took a count to ensure we returned with all personnel and equipment, but to my surprise, three soldiers were missing. After a brief discussion, it became clear what happened. The last man in the formation picked up a soda can he believed was trash that turned out to be an IED. The two men in front of him doubled back to render first aid, but they, nor the man in front of them who continued moving with us, halted the formation. As no one else in the formation knew, we continued moving to the FOB.
Once we realized what happened, I immediately assembled a team for a rescue mission. But as the two squads moved out, we realized quickly that the OP4 team used the time wisely to setup a massive ambush on the road. As I was calling in support, I was "killed" and laid on the road listening while the rest of the event unfolded. I was carried back to the FOB with the rest of the casualties and the mission that started in mid-morning was finally over right before dinner chow. It did not go quite how I expected.
That night, I had the opportunity to talk to one of our DS about the mission. I was not upset about messing up so much as I was upset that I was unable to see where I made a major mistake. Yes there were little things I realized I could have done better, but nothing I could see that would lead to the decimation of my squads on a seemingly simple mission. He explained to me that the reason I was left with only three after the assault was not so much my leadership or plan, but was the squads movements, collapsing in on themselves instead of holding a line.
The last patrol mission brought us all back up. The entire platoon was tasked with a mission to meet the mayor of the local town and gather information on the terrorist activity while also checking the town for signs of terrorist activity. During the initial greeting, weapons were discovered and the platoon discretely pulled out to assess the situation. We decided to assault the town in order to secure the weapons and clear the town of any OP4. Apparently this was another mission that was intended to fail. Instead, the smoke and frag grenades went off and the 240s opened up as two squads rushed and overtook the town. When the smoke cleared, we walked away having successfully cleared the town and ceased all the weapons. The DSs were quite pleased with the mission's success and our rotation on patrol ended well after the very bad start.
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