Photo By Staff Sgt. Leon Cook | A cadet maintains security as his squad leader confers with team leaders to conduct...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. - Loud cries of pain echoed through the trees as two black-clad insurgents whipped and kicked a bound and prostrate hostage. A cluster of shallow graves and the assault rifles in the insurgents' arms left little doubt as to the captive’s eventual fate. The presence of a freshly-dug grave confirmed his fears.
“Ayuda me! Ayuda me!” The hostage cried out for help even as his captors continued to beat him and mock his cries for help.
Eventually, the insurgents had had enough and shoved their still-living captive into his grave. Before they could do anything else, a voice called out from the surrounding woods.
“You have five minutes to drop your weapons and release your hostage,” the voice said in Spanish.
The startled insurgents shouldered their weapons and shifted their attention from their prisoner to the forest around them as they began calling out to the unseen voice.
Minutes passed with no action from either side when suddenly shots rang out beside the two insurgents, killing one of them. The other ran to his partner and cradled his body before he too succumbed to fire from the flanking element.
The rescuers finally revealed themselves as they assaulted the objective, rescued the captive, and exploited the site for intelligence.
“Alright, bring it in. Time for an AAR!” said a trainer evaluator (TE).
Cadets rose from their positions and formed a horseshoe around the TE for their after-action review. The two “dead” insurgents got up and joined the horseshoe formation, ready to give their input.
This was a scene played out many times July 23 at Squad Training Exercise (STX) Lane 10 of the U.S. Army Cadet Command’s Leader Development and Assessment Course, better known as Warrior Forge. Warrior Forge takes cadets from Reserve Officer Training Corps units around the country and tests their leadership skills.
Soldiers from 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division played a crucial role in Warrior Forge this year, acting as the opposing force and training tomorrow’s leaders in the challenges they’ll face in the years ahead.
“This is the execution lane,” said Spc. Raul Encarnacion, a soldier with 8th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment and a role player at STX Lane 10. “We’ve taken an informant hostage and we’re torturing him and threatening to execute him.”
“This lane definitely throws off the cadets,” said Spc. Andrew Baez, also with 8-1 CAV and the roleplayer of the second insurgent at Lane 10. “Before they get here, they’re taught textbook warfare, but at Warrior Forge they’re presented with tactical situations. Lane 10 is unique. It’s really more of a special operations scenario than anything else out here.”
The hostage in the grave is meant to teach cadets the importance of positive identification, said Staff Sgt. Daniel Fulmer, a squad leader with 8-1 Cavalry.
“During the firefight, the hostage jumps out of his grave and runs toward the cadets. We want to see if they shoot him or if they can think on their feet and identify him as a noncombatant,” Fulmer explained.
In the AAR after the lane, the role players add their own observations and expertise to that of the TE’s, helping the cadets learn as much as they can from the scenario.
“I can see that they’re interested in learning from what we have to say about how they’re conducting their operations,” Encarnacion said. “They know after all this that they become leaders, and they don’t have the time that we had as privates to learn and make mistakes.”
“Officers are thrust right in the fire from the get-go,” Fulmer said. “It’s important for us to give them the best training we possibly can because any one of them could be in charge of us someday.”
From Lane 10 and the other lanes on the STX, to the other events of Warrior Forge, cadets learn the skills and leadership experience they need to become effective battlefield commanders. The soldiers of 2-2 are an essential part of the Warrior Forge training process.
“Any chance to influence these cadets in a positive direction is a good thing,” said Fulmer.
| Date Taken: | 07.23.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 07.25.2013 19:02 |
| Story ID: | 110843 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 336 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, 2-2 SBCT helps forge warriors of tomorrow, by SSG Leon Cook, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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