Troop Live Fire

Photo By Sgt. Dominique Mendoza | Soldiers, assigned to 4th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, shoot down the simulated enemy during platoon live fire training on Aug. 15, 2023, Fort Carson, Colorado. This training taught Soldiers how their individual skills build upon each other so they can come together as a single unit and be lethal against the enemy. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Dominique Mendoza)  

FORT CARSON, CO, UNITED STATES

08.16.2023

Story by Pfc. Dominique Mendoza 

14th Public Affairs Detachment

FORT CARSON, Colo. – Scorching heat blazed down on the eight Soldiers lying in the field of overgrown weeds. Smells of sweat and gunpowder wafted through the air as someone yelled “There! Enemy spotted, to the left of the tree!” Within seconds all eight Soldiers were alert and ready. Bullets began ricocheting off the distant targets, with every shot taken, dust clouded the air and deafening ringing echoed through the field. These Soldiers, assigned to 4th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, were taking down a notional enemy during troop combined arms live fire certification.
Troop live fire certification consists of two platoons with both a decisive operation and a shaping operation, helping each other to take down a notional enemy.
“With this scenario the Soldiers were fighting an enemy reconnaissance element that was trying to gain visibility of the brigade main body,” said Lt. Col. Andrew Boyd, Commander of the 4th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. “This type of training teaches them how all of their individual skills build upon each other as a single unit so that they can be lethal against the enemy.”
Troop live fire certification prepares Soldiers for real world situations where they might have to face a near peer threat and fight in similar scenarios. This training prepares Soldiers for what is to be expected both during the fire fight, and how to react when equipment malfunctions or breaks, in order to still defeat the enemy.
“Seeing Bradley fighting vehicles break down, seeing guns go down, that’s the real training value we get out of a lot of this,” said Lt. Kierston Spiewak, a Platoon Leader in 4th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. “The fight of an armored brigade is going to be maintenance, it’s not going to be about being able to shoot targets. It’ll be about actually being able to get the Bradleys out there to shoot them.”
For their mission to be successful, both platoons, red and white, had to depend on each other while doing their individual reconnaissance. White platoon had to make sure to maintain freedom of maneuver for the red platoon as they conducted reconnaissance of obstacles, and to provide them with security.
Soldiers waited on the inside of a Bradley, on top of a hill overlooking a field. The rest of the platoon was scattered among the trees in other Bradleys, during their reconnaissance. The silence was loud until it was broken by the ear-piercing blow of a Bradley firing into the distance. As the shooting ceased, the Bradleys moved quickly, regaining a more discrete position, and all that was left to show was black clouds of smoke hovering in the air until those too, disappeared.
“Using our adrenaline to make the plan, then reacting off of it and seeing how we execute is probably the most fun to see,” said Spiewak. “I think it’s a proud moment to come out here after repetitive training and seeing what we did worse last time, and how we did it better.”
Training as a unit teaches that even the most basic tasks have to be re-learned sometimes in order for a unit’s overall success.
“Even if basic things are not done well, it can bring a unit to a screeching halt,” said Boyd. “Training like this often is how we are successful collectively as a troop or a larger formation, and prepares us for any real world threat we may face."

• Date Taken: 08.16.2023
• Date Posted: 08.31.2023 13:47
• Story ID: 451524
• Location: FORT CARSON, CO, US