In the Field with Comanche Company

Photo By Sgt. Casey Collier | Sgt. Pete Legg, Company C "Comanche", 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, loads .50 caliber machine gun rounds into the box from which they are fed atop the Stryker.  

FORT POLK, UNITED STATES

06.16.2009

Story by Pfc. Casey Collier 

4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division

FORT POLK, LA - Soldiers from the Raider Brigade of Fort Lewis, Washington, began training here with company and platoon classroom instruction, which began on June 8 and company and platoon live-fire exercises that began on June 10.

The training is designed to prepare brigade-sized units for rotations in Iraq or Afghanistan, with the opposing forces and observer-controllers of the JRTC tailoring the scenarios to fit the unit's needs. This rotation for 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, is designed to prepare the unit for an upcoming rotation to Iraq.

"Comanche" Soldiers of C Company, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment began their training here with weapons tests of the M-249 and M-240B machine guns and walk-through classes in Louisiana's summer sun, June 10. The walk-through classes for the 1st Platoon "Comanches" were conducted in the morning — with and without Stryker vehicles — and focused on vehicle recovery and security training.

While the Soldiers were familiar with the infantry tactics and their individual weapons, training together was not something they had all been able to do before.

"There are a lot of new guys that we just acquired within the last couple of weeks that definitely need this. It is the first time we've all worked together. So, as a whole, this is much needed training," said Sgt. Brandon Edward Parr.

Although there are some relatively new faces in the platoons, the "Comanches" are not training for the first time. They redeployed last July from a 15-month tour in Iraq, a tour that many current platoon members completed. Spc. Donald "Tank" Spooner is among those members.

"This is the most realistic training we've done since we've been back from Iraq. It's very helpful for the new guys in the infantry who are learning the ropes," said Spooner.

Every Soldier in the platoon took part in a convoy live-fire exercise with pop-up targets in the afternoon. Identifying 'friendly' and 'enemy' targets was key to this particular lane of training.

The next afternoon's training was also convoy live-fire training. However, in addition to the pop-up targets, this lane added an obstacle course with I.E.D. simulations and vehicle evacuation security maneuvers. Adding the new challenges built on the training of the previous day and made the scenario even more realistic.

By the end of these two days of training the 1st Platoon "Comanches" had fired each of the weapon systems employed on their version of the Stryker vehicle — M4s, M249s, M240B, and the MK-19 automatic grenade launcher — and they had done so on increasingly realistic scenarios requiring more and more skills.

Even the weather contributed to the realism.

During both days of training, heat was a constant concern for the platoon and left no doubt why JRTC training for the Army takes place here.

"I think the heat is the best part of the training, to be quite honest," said Spooner, "because this is what we're going to experience in Iraq."

Experiencing what Soldiers are going to experience in Iraq in a training environment — where mistakes don't necessarily cost lives — is what training exercises like this are all about.

• Date Taken: 06.16.2009
• Date Posted: 06.16.2009 18:22
• Story ID: 35182
• Location: FORT POLK, US