Photo By Sgt. Benjamin Watson | Spc. Jason Moore, a native of Detroit and an assistant gunner for Co. C., 2nd...... read more read more
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FORT BRAGG, N.C. – Well past where Longstreet Road turns from asphalt to countless dirt paths forking off in all directions is a place where the landscape on Fort Bragg's training ranges takes on a scarred, rolling texture. Bragg, after all, is situated in North Carolina's "sand hills," and the training which goes on out here can put those sand hills to dramatic use.
A case in point, on April 3, one particular range featured pop-up targets and bullet-riddled tin structures, bunkers, berms and abandoned railways, all of which led to a hilltop hideout surrounded by concertina wire and shrouded in smoke. In the daylight, the place looked a little like a rehearsal for some of the scenes in the film "Saving Private Ryan."
But that Friday evening, daylight was short-lived as night fell on paratroopers from Company C, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, carrying out a live-fire, air-assault training mission to combine lessons learned from previous weeks into one event for the entire company.
"We've already done the actual platoon validations, and so really this is something that we laid on as a company to be able to incorporate both air-assault with the live-fire objectives," said Capt. Jim A. Horn, company commander for Co. C, 2 Bn., 504th PIR.
"We wanted to make it difficult," said Horn, a native of Denton, Texas, "so we put them on about the worst terrain we could find, gave them a complex obstacle to overcome and multiple, dug-in enemy fighting positions to assault."
As they progressed down range, paratroopers encountered an enemy not easily seen, yet the troopers communicated professionally and stayed motivated under pressure.
Amid the layered, concussive sounds of M249 Squad Automatic Weapons and the snap and pop of single shots from the M4 assault rifle, squad leaders like Sgt. Matthew Bertram shouted, "Hold!" and "Suppressive fire, watch your burst!" and "Ten minutes!" which was immediately repeated by everyone in his squad.
Bertram, who has been deployed once to Afghanistan, said by the end of the exercise, he was pleased to put a polish on his new responsibilities as a leader of troopers.
"I'm kind of new to being a squad leader," said the Cambridge, Ohio native, "but when we were in Afghanistan, we did a lot of stuff like this – dismounted patrols and react-to-contact – so I've drawn a lot of experience from that ... I've learned a lot as far as my duty position and how I should control my teams and my squad."
Between the exchange of squad leaders shouting, "Hey one-two, what do you have on ammo?" and the answer coming back, "One-five, we're black on ammo, the whole squad!" were troopers like Pvt. Michael J. Hays, SAW gunner for 2nd Bn., 504th PIR, sending rounds down range.
A native of Spokane, Wash., Hays has been out in the field with his unit since the day he arrived at Fort Bragg.
"I got here three weeks ago," said Hays, "and I've learned probably four or five times as much in those three weeks than I learned at [Basic Combat Training] and [Advanced Individual Training]."
Hays said it's been exciting to get out and train in the field so quickly. The opportunity, he said, has allowed him to forge bonds, which are important for lasting success as paratroopers.
"We've been spending pretty much 24-seven together and when you're getting smoked running around like this, you just get closer to people and get to know people better this way than if we were just in garrison."
Spc. Jason Moore, assistant gunner with Co. C, 2nd Bn., 504th PIR, was impressed by how well his squad performed on Friday's range.
"It was awesome," said Moore, a Detroit native, "we had quick barrel changes, we were linking the rounds well, the gun never went down and the gunner shot great – he was on target the whole time. It was awesome. I can't say anything else."
Hays, too, was impressed by his fellow paratroopers' performance on Friday. Part of their mission involved breaching through concertina wire surrounding the hilltop hideout. The breaching team, he said, made big strides in clearing the path for paratroopers in Co. C.
"The first time we breached," said Hays, "it took probably five minutes. Then we got that down to 37 seconds, so that was pretty impressive."
Horn said his troopers have been training intensively for the last five weeks. Friday's event was "where it all comes together," in advance of final preparations for an upcoming deployment to Iraq.
"It's just a unique opportunity most companies don't get," he said. "When our guys get done with this, we'll be trained up and ready to go push out to [the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La.] in about three weeks."
| Date Taken: | 04.07.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 04.07.2009 14:33 |
| Story ID: | 32130 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 589 |
| Downloads: | 543 |
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