Chosen Soldier - Dick Couch [91]
“Clear left!”
“Clear right!”
“I’m moving!”
“Most of us have done this in one form or another,” Captain Santos tells me on a break from the drills. “The Army has some pretty sophisticated CQB training facilities—some of them use paint guns and you get immediate feedback from opposing role players as you go from room to room. This is pretty basic, but it’s still good training, especially for the guys who have never done it before. Even for guys like Dolemont who have done it for real down range, it’s good to go through it again.”
Eight-one-one moves from the two-by-four floor plan to a nearby bunker for full-on room-clearing drills. Once they have shown proficiency in these drills, the whole ODA attacks the bunker as if it were an enemy installation. The designated squad leader, also the B-team leader, moves his men into position while his A-team and B-team leaders direct their elements. After a quick evaluation of the problem, the squad leader sends his C-team to a fire-support position off to one flank and puts his A-team into an assault line. The action is initiated when the C-team opens up with the M240 followed by a base of sustained, measured automatic-weapons fire. The A-team assaults the bunker, half of them bounding forward while the other half provides supporting fire—just as they have done in so many previous drills. As the assault team closes on the bunker, the C-team shifts fire off the bunker, allowing the assaulters to close on the objective. It’s organized chaos with lots of automatic fire and yelling. Once at the bunker, the squad leader moves up with his B-team and directs two of his men to clear the bunker.
“OK, cease fire, cease fire!” Jan calls over the din. “Team leaders, bring it in and let’s talk about this.” Soon the student ODA is gathered around its cadre sergeant. “You’re getting better, but I’m still not seeing the communication between the B- and C-team leaders. The order to shift the supporting fire off the objective has to be given and acknowledged before the assault element can move in on the target. I know it’s noisy, but you have to yell out and make yourself understood. The same goes for the two sections of the assault element—one section firing while the other moves. It’s that steady volume of supporting fire that is the key to effective fire and movement during an assault. Now, let’s do it again—same team assignments, only Altman, you’re now the B-team leader. Wagner, you’re the A-team leader; Sergeant Barstow, you have the C-team. Altman, take whatever time you need to brief your squad, and let’s get set up for another assault. I want to see a steady volume of fire, and I want to hear lots of shouting. OK, men, make it happen.”
They drill all afternoon, pausing only for critiques, to reload, and to change leadership and team assignments. They break for an MRE and continue the drills well after dark. On one iteration, Gary Courtland fires on the team from a position near the bunker, forcing the squad leader to reform his A-team to deal with this new threat. Another time, Jan returns fire from the bunker, then poses as a wounded EPW during the assault phase. The team has to search and secure him after clearing the bunker.
“Dolemont.”
“Here, Sergeant Janss.”
“You conduct the critique. What went well, and what do we need to work on during the next drill?”
After the CQB training, the student ODAs prepare for another three days in the field. But before the Phase II ODAs go back out, they take a day for a parachute jump. The candidates are bused to the Luzon Drop Zone in Camp Mackall, where they draw parachutes and prepare for the drop. It’s an equipment