Photo By Sgt. Joe Padula | These Soldiers from Bravo Troop, 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade...... read more read more
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With an estimated population of 31 million, Iraqi cities are packed with civilians and the day-to-day commotion that goes along it. Afghanistan, to with its 28 million residents, has its cities and villages crammed with people congesting its streets and buildings, yet this is where the fight is.
Today's war no longer has the firing of missiles from naval ships a hundred miles away. No more are F-16 Pilots miles above in enemy skies dropping bombs on targets. Soldiers today are now engaging the enemy at a close and dangerous range where they are hidden within these foreign cities. However, Strike is prepared to engage the enemy in this environment.
Soldiers from Troop B, 1st Squadron, 75th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), trained on close-quarter combat techniques Sept. 2.
"Everything in this war is now urbanized combat," said Sgt. Joseph Hardin, a team leader within the troop.
"Long-range marksmanship is not completely over, but close-quarters combat is the daily occurrence during deployment," said Hardin.
Close-quarters combat is a very fast and aggressive approach to fighting. Training for it needs to be often and taken seriously. Preaching this factor and assisting with the training was the 5th Special Forces Group, an elite force with much experience in close-range combat.
"Fifth Group gave of a lot of insight based on their own personal experiences being in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Who better to explain how things should be done?" said Hardin.
They informed the Soldiers on many aspects while in close-range battles. They discussed the different stances and stacking techniques when entering buildings and clearing rooms. They also stressed that being quicker than the enemy, based on the importance of basic motion techniques and tactical reloading, will save time and told the troop, "The couple of seconds faster you are than the enemy means you survive and he doesn't."
"They helped us in many ways, but most importantly, they answered the whys," said Spc. Alan Cable, a former apache crew chief now with Bravo Troop.
"They not only answered our questions but gave reasons to the answers," said Cable. "They believe if you understand why something being done then it becomes part of your muscle memory."
Training the muscles must go along with training the brain. Muscle memory is quick and creates accurate reaction to certain situations, which is formed from repetitive training of the same activity.
They learned that entering buildings at a slow pace is more effective. One should not just dash into a room.
"When going slower you can focus on what you're doing and by being focused on what you're doing, you can do it right, and by doing it right, speed will naturally improve and muscle memory will be created," said Sgt. Daniel Shimmin, a team leader with the troop.
Rushing into a building can cause problems that can have dire affect. Running right in may cause mishandling of weapons, stumbling into teammates and being in the wrong positions in which can all cause avoidable casualties including non-combatants.
"Especially in Iraq, close-range combat is not just dealing with a straight enemy, civilians on battlefield and non-combatants are going to be involved," said Shimmin. "Making positive target identification a must, we would not be winning this war if we were shooting the innocent."
So many factors are quickly determined when a Soldier separates a combatant to a non-combatant.
"Seeing what are in people's hands, if someone has an aggressive of defensive posture all plays a role in defining a combatant to a non-combatant while engaging in close-quarter combat," said Spc. Edgar Rios, a driver with the Cavalry Scouts.
"Rage, anger, adrenaline, excitement, nervous, scared, many things go through the mind, but as soon as you're at the door, the focus is only on the mission and that is why this training is so important, you're not thinking, you're just reacting," added Rios.
While in a six-room 'Shoot-house' at the range, the scouts used an addition to their weapons called Simunitions to enhance the training. Simunition is a line of training ammunition that can be fired through standard firearms, such as the M-4 Carbine, to provide more realistic training. It allows paint pellets to be fired through the weapon so accuracy is in play while training.
"We used to use blanks a lot but it is not realistic, you don't know if your hitting a target with a blank, but with a Simunition round you know exactly where you're hitting," said Hardin.
Close-combat training has been said to be the most vital training in the Army. Whether in an urban or a rural terrain, close-quarter combat is what finishes the fight. The only way to become an effective close-quarter combat Soldier is by training and training often creating this type of tactical muscle memory. It will make for fast and correct reactions while on missions and with more intense training such as this, Strike's Cavalry Scouts will be ready for the fight.
| Date Taken: | 09.10.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 09.10.2009 13:51 |
| Story ID: | 38559 |
| Location: | IQ |
| Web Views: | 279 |
| Downloads: | 257 |
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