Photo By Ken Scar | A group of Clemson University ROTC cadets leaves the field of play after conducting a...... read more read more
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CLEMSON, S.C. – A company of future Army officers from Clemson University spent a long day navigating the tall trees and prickly underbrush of the school’s 17,500-acre forest for their annual field training exercise March 7.
The exercise, Tiger Torch 2015, tested freshman and sophomore Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets’ abilities to develop problem-solving and communication skills through a series of challenges, known as field leadership reaction courses, that would not look out of place on reality TV shows.
Army Maj. Phillip Andrews, Clemson’s assistant professor of military science and an Active Guard and Reserve officer, explained the exercise.
“This is a capstone event for them when they’re learning squad tactical exercises,” he said. “On campus, we teach them tactics in three parts: individual movement techniques, or how to move in a squad, and then they receive an operation order and go through the planning process. For the third lab, they actually step off their line of departure to execute their plan. When they come out here they’ll have to move around and conduct an operation as a squad, from the time of receiving an order to meeting the enemy at an objective, using the skills they’ve learned in the classroom.”
In the first event, junior cadets were separated from their peers alongside an upperclassman, dressed as a high value target. The other cadets, composing the “assault” team, had to plan an attack using maps provided. The assault team had 25 minutes to eliminate the “target” and five “bodyguards” with paintball guns. Cadets were evaluated on movement techniques and tactical procedures.
“They did pretty well,” said Andrews. “I saw a lot of paintballs hitting people in the head and other parts of the body.”
In the second event, key leader engagement operations, cadets had 20 minutes to gain intelligence on enemy forces and their movement in the area from other students posing as “villagers” in a makeshift village. The goal was to gain intelligence without provoking the villagers and causing a dangerous encounter.
The cadets playing the villagers, seniors Austin Mcilwain, Peter Garcia and Connor Gross, did not make it easy for the underclassmen. Gross, dressed in a wig and beard and wearing a black robe, would command the squad leaders attention by demanding food and supplies or making accusations while his two compatriots would rifle through the soldiers’ bags, reach for their weapons or produce weapons of their own.
The last challenge was crossing a simulated electric fence. Squads of cadet received a short briefing on the parameters, equipment and essential. Then, using only two 10-foot logs, each squad had to formulate a plan to bring all personnel and equipment over the obstacle without touching the ground.
Senior cadet Sarah Fedyschyn, a philosophy major from Charlotte, N.C. who will be joining an Army Reserve military intelligence unit at Fort Jackson upon graduation and commissioning, said this particular station proved to be quite a challenge for her squad as she watched them try again and again to complete the task without one of the cadets or pieces of equipment touching the leafy ground.
“So far we have a zero success rate,” she said, with a laugh. “I’m a teacher and evaluator, so I go with this squad from point to point. Until now it was going well.”
Her squad finally completed the task successfully with less than a minute of time left.
Andrews noted that putting together an FTX without the amenities found on a military base is a unique challenge for Clemson ROTC staff members.
“Army bases have permanent facilities for these exercises, but we have to utilize what we have and get creative,” he said.
Fedyschyn said the extra effort pays off for the cadets.
“I think we have a much better ROTC program than a lot of schools in our area,” she said. “It’s a great training program. I feel very well prepared.”
| Date Taken: | 03.07.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.12.2015 11:10 |
| Story ID: | 156752 |
| Location: | CLEMSON, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 147 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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