Photo By Sgt. 1st Class James Downen | Michigan Army National Guard Officers and Noncommissioned officers of the 177th...... read more read more
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CAMP GRAYLING, Mich. - Officers and noncommissioned officers of the 177th Military Police Brigade came to Camp Grayling, Michigan, on July 31-Aug. 3, 2014, to attend a leadership conference. The Officers and NCOs learned much about themselves and their capabilities, but not in the way advertised by the original mission statement.
Maj. Ravindra Wagh and other senior brigade officers and NCOs put together “Mungadai 14-01” exercise, a leadership test based on Mongolian military elite unit training from the days of Genghis Khan. The Mungadai concept was conceived by Maj. Gen. David Grange, an infantry officer who was a deputy commander of Delta Force and later commanded the 75th Ranger Regiment. The Mungadai consists of events that test the teamwork, physical stamina and leadership abilities of senior officers and NCOs under tough conditions to build esprit de corps and team cohesion.
The officers and NCOs from 177th MP Brigade sub-units spent the morning of Aug. 1, 2014, preparing equipment and an operations order for a domestic operations scenario set in Grayling, Michigan, involving a natural disaster and insurgent Michigan militia aligned with escaped prisoners. The militia element had taken the name of “WETSU” and was led by a former reserve police officer known as “Rumblefish”, who uses a combination of improvised explosive devices, extortion and drug fueled recruits to control the local population. Rumblefish was rumored to be working for a senior WETSU operative named “Othello” and the Mungadai participants, organized as 1st Platoon, A Company, 3rd Battalion, 22nd Infantry, had the mission of eliminating WETSU’s offensive capabilities, neutralizing its leadership and restoring the rule of law to Grayling.
First Lt. Franklin Cornielle of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 177th MP Brigade, lead the first patrol that conducted a movement to contact against an enemy holding a multi-structure building. The Mungadai platoon encountered a listening and observation post of two insurgents that fired on them and, after eliminating the enemy, then stormed the insurgent-held building.
Cornielle said, “I had great NCOs who helped me with the tactical portion of the mission. As National Guard Soldiers, we need to hit the manuals between drills. When you are put in a leadership position like this, knowledge counts.”
Capt. Jason Corner of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 507th Engineers said, “Mungadai re-enforces the fact that everyone needs the Army Warrior skills to be a rifleman first and you must possess the knowledge needed to fight effectively on the battlefield.”
After securing the building and re-consolidation, the Mungadai platoon conducted an After Action Review. Maj. Wagh said, “No one is interested in your ability to execute a mission flawlessly, it’s your decision making skills at critical times that counts. Mungadai is also set up to help you appreciate the load our Soldiers carry and the leadership they need to make a mission a success.”
The 210th MP Battalion Command Sgt. Maj. John Sawyer said, “Our main goal is to get the Mungadai participants to gel as a team and meet the mission we’ve laid out for them. We keep them challenged with lots of foot movements with combat equipment and stressful missions. Our goal is to make them rise to difficult occasions and meet them as a team.”
The Mungadai platoon conducted a linear ambush to gain priority intelligence requirements needed to understand how WETSU operates and to obtain information about their command structure. Four WETSU operatives were killed and documents seized, giving the Mungadai platoon the needed information to proceed to their next mission, a cordon and search of a village containing the elusive Rumblefish, possible IED manufacturing facilities and a downed helicopter pilot, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Judy Garland.
The Mungadai platoon moved to an assembly area by Light Medium Tactical Vehicles and convoyed to an assembly area outside of the village where Rumblefish was possibly hiding in. The platoon moved from the assembly area and began cordoning the village to search it. While doing this, a WETSU turncoat approached a fire team and confirmed Rumblefish was hiding in the village.
At first, the village population questioned the intent of the Mungadai platoon, but an IED was detonated and shots were fired. The platoon fought its way into the village going house to house and searched for Rumblefish, the IED manufacturing facilities and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Garland. Rumblefish was found burning documents and was seated on what appeared to be a booby-trap, so he was shot before he could detonate the device. IED manufacturing components were seized and a subterranean search for Garland was carried out.
Garland was discovered by 6’4” tunnel rat Capt. James Crump of the 126th Signal Company in a tunnel complex beneath the village and was suffering from multiple fractures. Crump said, “Despite my height, I didn’t mind being in the tunnel until I ran into the IED and pressure plate booby-traps. Dragging Garland out was a challenge, the weapons squad helped with the extraction and Capt. Sara So pulled her out of the tunnel.”
The mission became even tougher when indirect fire made helicopter medical evacuation impossible, the Mungadai platoon had to carry her and their own dead and wounded to a ground casualty evacuation site. Despite the hardships, the Mungadai platoon accomplished their mission for the day and went on to successfully occupy a patrol base that night.
The morning of Aug. 2, 2014, started with a foot movement to another urban setting, the Camp Grayling Combined Arms Collective Training Facility, where intelligence showed WETSU commander Othello to be residing. The Mungadai platoon completed their cross-country movement, split into support by fire and assault elements and stormed the town to capture Othello.
After taking a covered and concealed approach through a walled, suburban area, the Mungadai assault element attacked the multi-story apartment complex that Othello was hiding in. Othello made a suicidal last stand atop of the complex and was eliminated in the assault. The exercise was ended and an AAR ensued.
Maj. Wagh began the AAR by addressing the conditions faced by the Mungadai platoon and their effects. “You underwent a challenging movement and that was compounded by the lack of sleep, and combat loads you were carrying. That rucksack can feel like a 90 pound wood-tick on you back and it can suck energy out of you the way a wood-tick does as well.”
Capt. Brian Szczepanek, commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 507th Engineers said, “Flexibility has been the key to our success during the Mungadai event. We have different types of units within this brigade, for example, Signal, Engineer and Military Police, and lots of different experiences. This gives us a large talent pool and due to our senior leadership experiences, we know how to be tactful to each other, which cuts down on personality conflicts and other leadership distractions.”
The Mungadai platoon boarded LMTV trucks for the second to last event of the day, a close quarters shooting session. Waugh said, “We included this event to show the Mungadai platoon that they are capable of functioning safely at this level, even after road marching, fighting through several objectives and getting very little sleep. Everything done at a Mungadai event is to demonstrate that a determined leader is capable of anything that can be thrown at them on the battlefield.”
The Mungadai platoon completed several firing tables safely and were directed to load their equipment on LMTV trucks. They received their first easy event of the weekend, a one and a half mile route march carrying unit guidons and a steak dinner waiting for them after an awards ceremony.
The Mungadai platoon formed up near the shore of Lake Margrethe to receive certificates, commemorative machetes and in the case of the two top performing officers and two top performing NCOs, Army Achievement medals for outstanding performance during the Mungadai 14-01 event.
The Mungadai 14-01 participants learned about themselves and about the importance of teamwork by the challenges they met as a hastily assembled platoon. They returned to their units with firsthand understanding of the Mongol Warlord and leader of the first Mungadai event, Yasotay’s exhortation that, “When the hour of crisis comes, remember that 40 selected men can shake the world.”
| Date Taken: | 07.31.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 08.09.2014 09:41 |
| Story ID: | 138849 |
| Location: | CAMP GRAYLING, MI, US |
| Web Views: | 609 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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