Lane Training

Photo By Staff Sgt. Joshua Ford | Spc. Kyle Masters (left) and Pfc. Jonathan Ramirez, both infantrymen, A Company, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, provides security while their comrades cordon and search a nearby town April 12, 2006 at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La.  

FORT POLK, LA, UNITED STATES

04.24.2006

Courtesy Story

DVIDS Hub       

Spc. Joshua R. Ford
3rd BCT PAO
82nd Airborne Division
April 14, 2006

FORT POLK, La. (April 14, 2006) - Thick, grey smoke filled the streets of the mock Iraqi city. With limited visibility through the smoggy clouds, the Paratroopers cordoned and searched the area looking for the high-value target.

An improvised-explosive device maker was the target that led the Soldiers into the town of Takira. There they were greeted with hostile fire from an AK-47 perched on a windowsill of a nearby home.

After assaulting and searching the building, the Paratroopers found their target. The few casualties from the fight were quickly evacuated, ending the mission successfully.

The cordon and search was one of a series of training lanes designed by observer-controllers for incoming units to train on before going through the actual exercise that the Joint Readiness Training Center provides to deploying units. Training exercises vary from long, monotonous convoys to combat patrols and cordon and search missions, said Maj. Jonathan Beasley, Task Force Operations Group 2 executive officer.

The Paratroopers of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, trained on these lanes from April 9 through 14 in preparation for the JRTC rotation.

The various missions available at Fort Polk teach 3rd BCT Paratroopers how to think in a hostile environment as well as how to perform tasks outside of an individual's career field, said Pfc. Chris S. Griffith, infantryman, Company A," 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment.

"Originally JRTC was built to train battalion and brigade staffs, but since things have gone the way they have in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are focusing more on individual Soldiers, squads and platoons," said Beasley. "And (the) lanes are the best way to monitor Soldiers on those levels."

The exercises also give the observers the ability to control the pace of the training event.

"In force-on-force situations we have to sit back and watch the exercise play out, but in these training lanes we can stop the unit in the middle of the training and tell them what they're doing wrong," added Beasley.

"If the unit is having an easy day we turn the throttle up and give them more challenges, such as more casualties; if a unit is having a bad day we turn the throttle back a little bit so they can get through the exercise and learn more," Beasley continued.

The training lanes focus on obstacles that units are facing in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as situations units might face in the future.

Recently JRTC brought two new training lanes into play that incorporate reacting to sniper fire and IED detonations, helping units adapt to what they will experience while deployed.

"We have to look forward and try to anticipate what scenarios a unit will be confronted with while in theatre for a year," Beasley added.

JRTC does this by sending observer-controllers to different provinces with different units in theatre, so the deployed observer can get a feel for what units need to train on before heading overseas.

"So far it's been good training because we're learning new skills and tactics that will benefit the unit in Iraq, said Griffith.

• Date Taken: 04.24.2006
• Date Posted: 04.24.2006 11:10
• Story ID: 6087
• Location: FORT POLK, LA, US