Photo By Staff Sgt. Michael Pryor | Pvt. Jonathan Phillips of the 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment's Opposition Force...... read more read more
FORT BRAGG, NC " 2nd Lt. Ryan Hurley's position was just hours away from being assaulted by a force of almost 800 heavily armed attackers. Hurley knew his team of only two dozen defenders had no chance of winning in a head-on fight. But then again, he had no intention of fighting head on.
"This is our secret weapon," Hurley said, as one of his team members buried an Improvised Explosive Device in the road. Cheap, simple, and deadly, the IED would inflict multiple casualties on the attackers without any risk to Hurley's men.
IEDs, hit-and-run attacks, and ambushes are typical of the guerilla tactics American Soldiers have been facing since the Global War on Terror began. In order to prepare themselves, many units have begun incorporating such tactics into their training exercises.
Soldiers who play the enemy in such exercises are called the opposition force, or OPFOR. Their opponents are called the Blue Force.
Hurley and roughly two dozen other members of the 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, played the role of the OPFOR during the 2nd Brigade Combat Team's Joint Forced Entry Exercise Feb. 28 " Mar. 2.
The OPFOR's mission was to enhance the training value of the exercise by conducting a defense of Holland Drop Zone, aggressively probing defensive positions, conducting counter-reconnaissance, and attacking targets of opportunity, said Lt. Edward Pinckney, Executive Officer of A Troop, 1st Sqd., 73rd Cav.
The OPFOR team arrived at the Holland Drop Zone airfield terminal complex early in the afternoon on Feb. 28. In their floppy booney caps and mismatched uniforms, they looked like a bunch of Sandinista Rebels. Most of the team members were junior enlisted soldiers who were new to the unit and the division. Most said they were looking forward to playing the bad guys.
"They're not going to take me alive," said OPFOR team member Pvt. Chad Denison, sounding like the villain from an old gangster movie.
As the sun began to dip down, Hurley called his team together to brief them on the operation. The OPFOR team was facing a combined force of almost 2,000 Paratroopers with artillery and air support. They were armed with little more than their M4s, a handful of pick-up trucks, and a mission to inflict as much damage as they could before being captured or killed.
"Basically, we're all going to die," Hurley said cheerfully.
A few hours after nightfall, the attack began with an airborne assault onto the Drop Zone. The OPFOR mounted a stiff resistance but was eventually overwhelmed by the Blue Force.
But unlike in real life, once every OPFOR team member had been captured or pronounced dead, they were released to continue fighting.
That began a whirlwind three days of constant operations as the OPFOR continued to harass and attack the Paratroopers all over the area of operations.
Like guerilla warriors in the real world, the OPFOR team was plagued by a lack of equipment and support. They constantly had to redistribute ammo and supplies. At one point, Sgt. Long Dinh was left without a detonator to explode his IEDs. Sgt. 1st Class Michael Ames, a platoon sergeant with A Troop, 1st Sqd., 73rd Cav., suggested using a 9-volt battery.
"In theory, that should work," Ames said.
"Famous last words," whispered OPFOR team member Pvt. Michael Dean, who was standing nearby.
Later, the team was forced to simulate a mortar attack so that the Blue Force could pinpoint where the fire came from and counter attack. Because the OPFOR had no real mortars, the troopers had to stand in the woods miles from anywhere yelling "Boom! Boom!" When some started to gripe, Ames tried to put the mission into perspective for them.
"Some of this stuff may seem silly, but remember that we're helping to train these guys. And one day they'll be doing stuff just like this to help train us," he said.
The pace of operations and the OPFOR's lack of manpower meant little time for sleep. And after two days of being constantly captured and released, the team members were starting to feel a little like lake trout. The team's spirits were beginning to lag. But then, on their next mission, the OPFOR got to show what they were capable of.
That night, inside Range 74's eerily deserted Military Operations in Urban Terrain City, a small team of ten OPFOR members was assigned to guard one trooper who had been designated a High Value Target by the Blue Force. They knew an air assault followed by a raid to capture the target was imminent. For hours they waited crouched behind walls and at the edges of windows, shivering in the cold, for the attack to begin. Then, at around one in the morning, it finally came.
As the Blue Force came streaking out of the woods and onto the city streets, the well-concealed OPFOR team opened up on them. Although they were firing blanks, there was no denying that most of the assault team would have been killed in the ambush.
Stunned, the Blue Force attackers retreated back into the woods.
When it was over, the OPFOR team emerged victorious from the shadows, high-fiving and congratulating each other.
"Man, we wiped them out," said Dean.
The next day was the final day of the exercise. The OPFOR wanted to mount one last major attack. They dispatched a probe to recon the Blue Force lines, but it was discovered and a Blue Force team was sent after them. The OPFOR set up a hasty ambush in a ravine in the woods and waited for the pursuit team to arrive. When it did, a massive shootout followed. The OPFOR was no match for the SAW guns and .50 cals on the Blue Force Humvees, and most of the team was killed.
The survivors sprinted out of the woods and jumped into the back of a red Chevy pick up truck. The driver gunned the engine just as a Humvee pulled up behind, its SAW gunner firing furiously from close range. The Chevy peeled out onto Manchester Road with the Humvee in hot pursuit.
Stunned drivers on their way home from work watched with mouths agape as the two trucks roared down the street, only inches apart, blasting away at each other.
About a mile down the road the Humvee finally forced the Chevy to the side of the road. The chase was over and the passengers in the Chevy were all pronounced killed-in-action. The exercise was over and the OPFOR was officially defeated.
"Well, we're all dead," said Denison, "Now let's go home."
| Date Taken: | 03.11.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 03.11.2006 09:56 |
| Story ID: | 5673 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 145 |
| Downloads: | 31 |
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