Photo By Jason Ragucci | Lt. Col. Kevin Admiral, commander of 1/36th Infantry Regiment throws a fake mortar...... read more read more
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EL PASO, Texas -- The “Spartans” of 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, trained in Fort Bliss’ Waigali Village for two days at the start of the month.
The exercise consisted of two days of training in which the Spartans rotated responsibilities. While one company played local villagers, insurgents and media representatives, the other companies created their own tactics as they maneuvered over rough terrain, patrolled a village and negotiated with the village elder.
“Charlie Company, 1-36th, is introducing their tactics along with civilians on the battlefield as they make a key leader engagement with Motar, the village elder, in a mud hut,” said Pfc. Scott Lee of B Company, 1st Bn., 36th Inf. Regt. “They will be tak- ing sniper and small-arms fire from high in the ridgeline.”
Sgt. Martinos Brown of B Company, 1st Bn., 36th Inf. Regt., acted as a villager during the exercise.
“My key role is playing a regular civilian on a battlefield,” said Brown. “I pretty much wave the Americans away from the town. The benefit of this training is that the companies will know how to quarantine off a village, interact with local nationals and how to make and break contact within the village.”
Lt. Col. Kevin Admiral, battalion commander, and Command Sgt. Maj. Corbett Whitmore, battalion command sergeant major, attended the training and supervised the event. Admiral was active in the training process he threw fake mortar rounds in the soldiers areas to see how they would react to contact.
“When we do deploy, the companies are getting the training on how to interact by getting information with the local population,” said Sgt. Fernando Valencia of B Company, 1st Bn., 36th Inf. Regt. “The companies link up with the guy in charge of the village to see what areas need improvement.”
Valencia and Lee acted as news reporters and caused a distraction for the Spartans during the exercise. Both soldiers tried to get interviews from the Spartans who were patrolling the village and sought out the team leader for an interview. The Spartans had to be prepared to deal with this obstacle to make the training more life-like.
“I’ m sure with other units going through similar situations like this, they have a plan,” said Valencia.
| Date Taken: | 11.02.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 11.14.2011 16:25 |
| Story ID: | 80036 |
| Location: | EL PASO, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 185 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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