Raiders ride on in SOF Horsemanship 1-18

MARINE CORPS MOUNTAIN WARFARE TRAINING CENTER BRIDGEPORT, CA, UNITED STATES

06.21.2018

Courtesy Story

Marine Forces, Special Operations Command

MARINE CORPS MOUNTAIN WARFARE TRAINING CENTER BRIDGEPORT, Calif. – Marines with 1st Marine Raider Battalion, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., and soldiers with Special Operations Command completed Special Operations Forces Horsemanship Course 1-18 aboard MCMWTC, June 21, 2018.
The course was a 15-day program that trained its participants on packing capabilities, including how to utilize equine animals in a clandestine environment to pack out mission critical gear.
In the first three days of the course, the students are taught how to handle and properly pack gear onto mules. Immediately following, the students start to learn the basics of horsemanship that they then hone throughout the remainder of the course. As soon as they are comfortable riding, mules are added into the equation and the participants learn to lead a string of mules while riding up and down arduous terrain, according to Staff Sgt. Sloan Seiler, SOF Horsemanship instructor, MCMWTC, Bridgeport, Calif.
“If you look at all of the operations and conflicts that America’s armed forces have been in, there’s always been arduous terrain at some point for operational sets,” Seiler said. “By using these animals and teaching this skillset, our students are able to learn something that they can take in and utilize in-country if need be.”
According to the assistant operations and training officer of 1st Marine Raiders Support Battalion, the ability to operate in austere environments is a necessity, especially when taking the needs of special operations forces into consideration.
“This course offers a lot of great benefits and trains our Marines and soldiers how to think and operate in very rugged environments where traditional ground lines of communication don’t exist,” the assistant operations and training officer said. “With a string of mules and horses, the participants of this training now know how to move a team’s equipment over pretty rough terrain at a rapid pace while reserving their individual strength to carry on the mission, which is vital when considering the places that we are looking to operate in the world.”
This iteration of the SOF Horsemanship was also modified to integrate air delivery using the 152nd Airlift Wing, Reno, Nev., allowing the students of SOF Horsemanship 1-18 to receive unique training on how to break down an airdrop and apply their newfound packing skills to load up their mules.
“The 152nd Airlift Wing flew three missions for us, dropping a variety of different types of bundles that we could then pick up and pack out with the mules,” the assistant operations and training officer said. “MWTC was very cooperative in helping us to design and modify the course to fit our peculiar needs.”
Many of the operators that took part in this course will be returning to MCMWTC for Training Readiness Exercise 2, which is the culminating exercise that these operators go through. They will utilize the skills learned in SOF Horsemanship to operate using unconventional methods through rough terrain and continue to support the missions tasked out to them during that exercise.
“We’ll be looking to incorporate this training into several of the scenarios that we have planned for TRX 2, namely supporting a special operations team in an unconventional warfare environment where there won’t be a lot of roads and traditional means of resupply,” said the assistant operations and training officer.
According to Seiler, the SOF Horsemanship course was the first time that many of its participants had dealt with equine animals, let alone ridden or packed them.
“We’re taking the students out of their comfort zone when we put them with a 1,000 pound animal with a mind of its own that can determine if it wants to be there or not,” Seiler said. “When you do that, each individual has to become a leader. I truly believe in this course and what it does and the skillset that it gives our operators and support personnel.”

• Date Taken: 06.21.2018
• Date Posted: 07.27.2018 14:29
• Story ID: 282507
• Location: MARINE CORPS MOUNTAIN WARFARE TRAINING CENTER BRIDGEPORT, CA, US