Photo By Staff Sgt. Joshua Ford | Paratroopers from the 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne...... read more read more
Pfc. Joshua R. Ford
3rd BCT PAO 82nd Airborne Division
For the past two weeks every company from 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, honed their skills in route reconnaissance, reacting to improvised explosive devices, and cordon and search techniques at Observation Post 13.
The battalion has been training for this exercise for six weeks working on multiple ranges.
"This exercise is one of the most important exercises we run through here," said 1st Sgt. Michael Green, Company C's first sergeant.
The platoon-level exercise was supported by attack aviation, an anti-tank section, snipers, scouts and engineers.
"This operation is a great example of the modular concept," said Lt. Col. Scott Harris, commander of the battalion. "Bringing all of these assets to work together is great."
Each company went through the exercise twice during the day and twice at night. The first day and night iterations were carried out with blank ammunition. This is done to make the Paratroopers more comfortable before they go through the training lanes with live ammunition.
The blank fire iterations included a live, interactive opposing force created to be more aggressive than insurgents in Iraq, said Capt. Sean McDonald, a military intelligence officer with the battalion.
"What we are trying to teach the troops during the blank iterations is how to win the hearts and minds of the population because that's the only way we will stop the insurgency in Iraq," said Harris.
In the mock city, the battalion incorporated a mosque inhabited by anti-American religious leaders, testing the troops on how much they know about the rules of warfare in Iraq.
Two high-value targets were included in both day and night blank fire iterations. Capturing or killing these targets was the unit's primary mission.
"We want to cover every scope of anything that could come up during a deployment," said Green.
During the live-fire iterations, no opposing force was used. Instead, the troops engaged paper targets to help ensure their safety and welfare during the training.
The paper targets were very realistic, explained McDonald. The battalion used cutouts of what looked like an Islamic insurgent pointing a weapon. Other cutouts were of innocent civilians, said McDonald.
"Target discrimination is very important when running through live-fire exercises," said Harris. "This is definitely preparing these Paratroopers for similar situations they will face in Iraq."
"So far it's been good training," said Pfc. Christopher Glenn Hale, medic, Co. C. "I feel like we will definitely be ready for Iraq when the time comes."
| Date Taken: | 02.28.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 02.28.2006 15:06 |
| Story ID: | 5547 |
| Location: |
| Web Views: | 217 |
| Downloads: | 38 |
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