Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | F | FA Journal

Transformation in basic combat training: making Soldiers Army Strong.

Article Excerpt
The Soldier is tired, dirty and restless. He's been in the forward operating base (FOB) for a while now and is anxious to go out on a mission and get "in the game." At the same time, he's nervous--he's never done this before.

He and the rest of his platoon ready themselves for the unexpected. They check and double-check their gear. They put on their elbow and kneepads, interceptor body armor (IBA) with small-arms protective inserts (SAPI) and eye protection and get on the trucks at the platoon sergeant's command. They receive their ammunition and place their weapons into a weapons' status of ready-for-action.

The Soldier's heart races as he awaits directions and orders from his squad leader. Finally, he receives the order to engage as he makes enemy contact. He rotates his selector lever from safe to semi-automatic and fires as many rounds as he can on the enemy position. He keeps firing until he empties his magazine. He reloads and empties another magazine.

"Wow, what a rush," he thinks.

Suddenly, the truck comes to an abrupt halt after a huge explosion. The truck was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED). The platoon dismounts quickly in an orderly, precise fashion--just like it rehearsed many times before. The Soldiers takes cover behind whatever they can find in the urban jungle. They fire magazine after magazine, repelling a relentless enemy.

By the end of the day, every Soldier is exhausted but has a renewed sense of confidence in himself, his equipment and his platoon. He is thankful for the training he had received; it just may have kept him and his battle buddies alive today.

This vignette could have occurred anywhere in Iraq or Afghanistan as our American Soldiers continue to engage and destroy the enemies of the US. In this case, the story described is a typical Soldier's experience in today's basic combat training during the Convoy Live-Fire Exercise at the Field Artillery Training Center (FATC), Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

This training event is one of 11 battle drills that Soldiers are required to perform. It helps develop Soldiers' into competent warriors with mental, emotional and physical strength that, along with shared Army values and teamwork, make them strong--Army Strong.

Warrior Training. During the past several years, Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) leaders have made considerable improvements in providing and, more importantly, resourcing realistic and relevant training. To keep pace with the ever-evolving threats in our contemporary operating environment (COE), TRADOC has incorporated several essential tasks into its standard program of instruction (POI) based on feedback from combat veterans of Operations Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Iraqi Freedom (OIF). These essential tasks are based on the premise that all Soldiers...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!