Photo By Cpl. Isaiah Matthews | Georgia National Guard Soldiers from Company A, 3-121st Infantry Regiment, patrol in a...... read more read more
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FORT STEWART, Ga. – Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment Task Force from Fort Benning, Georgia, integrated with the 3rd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team June 16, 2017, for a platoon situational training exercise at the Urban Assault Course on Fort Stewart, Georgia.
The exercise was the first cross-training experience most of the Soldiers with the 3-121 Inf. Regt. had with a group of combat engineers, said Capt. Stuart Pearson, A Company commander, 3-121 Inf. Regt.
“A rifle platoon should be able to operate independently. They can do a breach by themselves, a mechanical breach with wire cutters, but integration with a combat enabler like the sapper team makes things 100 percent easier,” Pearson said.
The training is part of the eXportable Combat Training Capability exercise, a three week long field training exercise designed to certify 48th IBCT’s readiness at the platoon level. It was meant to synchronize their capabilities and prepare the unit for operations in combat, said Staff Sgt. Miguel Santisteban, sapper engineer with TF 1-28 Inf. Regt.
The opportunities to work with other units increases the platoon’s combat effectiveness and the tempo with which they can conduct their operations, Pearson said.
“It is very beneficial for possible future events,” said Staff Sgt. Ronald Williams, heavy weapons squad leader, A Co., 3-121 Inf. Regt.
The most difficult thing about an operation such as this is coordinating direct fire control measures, Pearson said.
The different pieces involved in the training were initial react-to-contact, establishment of a support-by-fire position, the breaching element – the sapper combat engineers with the TF 1-28 – and a squad to reinforce them moved forward and initiated the breach. The breach allowed the assaulting element to move through to clear and take the objective.
“Each piece has to be coordinated carefully to ensure in maximizing effect on the enemy while protecting [themselves] from fratricide,” Pearson said.
The units conducted a day blank and a live iteration of the STX lanes as well as a night blank and live iteration. Pearson said there would be more iterations at a later date to instill muscle memory of the operations and tactics used to move through the lanes.
“Once is never enough,” Pearson said. “The more you do, the better you get.”
| Date Taken: | 06.16.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 06.16.2017 17:29 |
| Story ID: | 238281 |
| Location: | FORT STEWART, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 164 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
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