Scout Training - Week 1: part 1 [Image 17 of 21]

BOISE, IDAHO, UNITED STATES

11.04.2020

Photo by Thomas Alvarez 

Idaho Army National Guard

After sun down, the teams gather together to plot their course for the first leg of the night navigation exercise. Cpl. Dario Martinez reads the information on his compass.

The job of a Cavalry Scout is to operate as one of the first personnel in an area. These soldiers are quite literally the first line of defense for Army units. Cavalry Scouts engage the enemy with anti-armor weapons and scout vehicles in the field, track and report enemy movement and activities, and will direct the employment of various weapon systems onto the enemy.

U.S. Army Cavalry Scouts act as the eyes and ears on the field, gathering information about enemy positions, vehicles, weapons, and activity. With the information they gather, commanders can make informed decisions about how to move troops and where and when to attack. Their scouting duties include conducting mounted and dismounted navigation, collecting data about tunnels and bridges, and serving as members of observation and listening posts. In addition to basic soldiering skills, cavalry scouts learn to secure and prepare ammunition on scout vehicles, load, clear and fire individual and crew-served weapons, perform navigation during combat, and how to collect data to classify routes, tunnels and bridges. And they train and supervise scout vehicle crew members.

This job is categorized as military occupational specialty (MOS) 19D. It's a job that used to be closed to women, due to the Army's past restrictions on women in combat. But the first female soldiers graduated from Army cavalry scout training in 2017, part of the Army's move toward integrating its combat and other units.

• Date Taken: 11.04.2020
• Date Posted: 12.29.2020 10:18
• Photo ID: 6469502
• VIRIN: 201210-Z-XK920-0037
• Resolution: 2700x1800
• Size: 4.98 MB
• Location: BOISE, IDAHO, US