Mountain Battalion tests Soldier lethality under stress

Photo By Staff Sgt. Barbara Pendl | U.S. Army Soldiers of Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment (Mountain), 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain), Vermont Army National Guard, participate in a stress shooting exercises at the Camp Ethan Allen Training Site in Jericho, Vt., Aug. 13, 2022. Soldiers negotiate obstacles and fire live rounds using M4 carbines and squad automatic weapons. The goal of the training is to build individual Soldier skills and confidence in a scenario replicating movement in combat. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Barbara Pendl)  

JERICHO, VT, UNITED STATES

08.14.2022

Story by Maj. J. Scott Detweiler 

86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (MTN)

Think hitting that 25 meter target with an M4 carbine rifle is easy? How about after bounding from firing position to firing position, dragging wounded comrades to safety and overcoming a weapon malfunction?

A live-fire exercise conducted by Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment (Mountain), 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain) on August 13 challenged Soldiers to navigate obstacles, complete fitness tasks and engage targets accurately.

“This course of fire is designed to simulate combat operations,” said Sgt. 1st Class Gregory Bates, readiness non-commissioned officer, Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 3-172 IN (MTN). “They’re going to be in a similar physiological condition as to what they’re going to experience in a gunfight, in a combat scenario. The reason we want to do that is to get used to performing under those conditions.”

Conducted on Ethan Allen Firing Range, the stress shoot exercise consisted of six targets engaged from three distinct firing points separated by obstacles and tasks.

Soldiers, such as U.S. Army Sgt. Pierce Fitzpatrick, sniper team leader, first completed 15 push-ups, high-stepped through ten HMMWV tires, then high-crawled under barbed concertina wire all before hitting the first firing point.

“I really try to focus on the fundamentals, going back to getting a nice base, making sure I’m not out of control with how I’m holding the weapon,” said Fitzpatrick. “Taking time if time is necessary... don’t want to rush anything.”

Next, Fitzpatrick then sprinted to the second firing position and engaged a third target. Swapping magazines, he engaged the fourth target with two rounds.

At the last firing point, Fitzpatrick engaged the first target with two rounds before encountering a weapons malfunction (an empty casing) which required corrective action . He hit the final targets with remaining rounds.

Fitzpatrick ended the course by carrying a cinder block to the finish line: “I’m nice and winded from that, wow,” he said afterwards.

“Just going out and shooting a few rounds and coming back in doesn’t really get you ready for anything else other than doing that exact task,” said Fitzpatrick. “But if we can add a little stress, a little sweat, pick the heart rate up, I think it benefits everybody especially if we go and actually do it for real. So it’s really important to do.”

Soldier lethality remains one of the Army’s “six plus two” modernization priorities that incorporates new technology and methods of training. The updated Army Individual Weapon Qualification Standards released in 2019 serves as just one example.

“A lethal Soldier is able to effectively engage their targets quickly under intense and highly stressful situations, able to perform under pressure,” said Bates. “We want to train to defeat our enemies, challenge Soldiers and make us a better and more lethal fighting force ready to defend the United States of America however we’re called to do.”

• Date Taken: 08.14.2022
• Date Posted: 08.14.2022 21:31
• Story ID: 427238
• Location: JERICHO, VT, US