Yesterday was our Squad Weapons Field Exercise. I love things that go boom. Not as fond of the bangbangbangs...
In the morning we threw a live grenade. They gave us two practice throws with training grenades that pop and smoke, then sticks of 17 went to the live grenade range and threw one each. It was funny to see the looks on Marines faces when the live rounds started to boom. The range was more than 200yds away and the ground still shook beneath us. They sprint you down to the range, probably to work out any nerves, and then give you the grenade in its wrapper. Once you unwrap it, you put it in your grenade pouch on your vest. Its an interesting feeling strapping 4lbs of death to your chest.
Your pit is a concrete box about 5x5ft and 3ft high. You walk in and kneel down until your instructor is ready for you. Then you stand in front of him, take off the thumb clip, pull the safety pin, and throw the grenade. The closer you throw it, the louder and more concussive the sound. I tried to thow mine kind of short without being stupid and I could actually feel my inards wiggle. It was awesome.
Then we were bussed out to another live fire range where we spent the rest of the morning shooting the SAW machine gun, the rocket launcher AT-4, and the M203 Grenade launcher. We shot live rounds for the SAW, some training rounds and 1 live grendade for the grenade launcher and then 9mm training rounds for the AT-5. The weapons we were using weren't the greatest and it was frusterating have to unjam your machine gun after every burst. Like I said, I'm not so fond of things that go bangbangbang so I just tried to get through the 25 rounds as quick as possible. It was also frusterating because the instructor wouldn't let me adjust the gun for my height and my kevlar kept falling in my face.
I LOVE the M203 mostly because it goes boom and I can shoot it fairly well. They showed us the illuminating rounds and star clusters that you can shoot from the 203 for signaling and illuminating as well. I was uber excited to shoot a live grenade. BOOM! But it fired so far away that it was more like boom.
The AT-4 with the training rounds was exactly like shooting a shoulder-fired bottle rocket at a tank.
Then we did this combat hunter exercise where we tried to spot dangerous items staged in the woods. We had binoculars and were looking about 10-20m in front of us. Its all about practicing your observation skills like snipers do in their training.
In the afternoon, we did a Table 2 exercise with the SAW. There were two sections, movement to contact and shooting unknown distances. Even though I don't really like the bangs, I thought this was fairly fun. In the movement to contact we lined up 12 SAWs, sent a 5 round burst down-range, then stood up, rushed a few feet, dropped down and sent more rounds. We did this about 20 feet worth. It was cool because it was live rounds and we were actually shoot at something. I saw that the trick to the whole thing was to be as aggressive as possible with the weapons and with your movements. If you were passive with loading the weapon, charging it or your movements, the instructors would freak out that you didn't know what you were doing and were shooting live rounds. I think they paid particular attention to me because I'm a girl and they expect us to be afraid of the weapons.
The unknown distances was even more fun because targets would pop up and when you would shoot them, they'd get knocked down. There was an unspoken competition to see who could get to the targets the quickest (me). It was good practice because you had to load and fix any jams all by yourself as fast as possible.
That was the end of the day section of SWFEX. We bussed back to garrison and waited until night fell so that we could do Night Combat Hunter... or as I felt, Combat Hunted. More on that later.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
SWFEX
Today is SWFEX (swim-FEX). It is the day where we shoot squad automatic weapons and throw a grenade. We are also doing some night-time combat hunter class with night vision goggles. It is going to be a long day. Combat hunter is the Marine Corps new theology that Marines are 'hunters' and we seek out the bad guy. We use the same techniques as big game hunters to seek out and destroy the enemy. Things like scanning right to left to seek out anomolies from a normal baseline.
The best thing is the SWFEX range can only support 2 platoons at a time so the company is staggering over three days. Today is my day so its an early morning (0400) and very late night (2300). But tomorrow I get to sleep in until 0700 and the day ends at 1530. This is the first time that they've let the company stagger On Deck Time (the time your day starts) because normally if one platoon gets up early and stays late, we all do. I'm very excited for tomorrow. More on SWFEX later.
The best thing is the SWFEX range can only support 2 platoons at a time so the company is staggering over three days. Today is my day so its an early morning (0400) and very late night (2300). But tomorrow I get to sleep in until 0700 and the day ends at 1530. This is the first time that they've let the company stagger On Deck Time (the time your day starts) because normally if one platoon gets up early and stays late, we all do. I'm very excited for tomorrow. More on SWFEX later.
Friday, May 20, 2011
STEX
Yesterday we had our first order over a Sand Table. We were acting squad leaders and briefed platoon order (there are three squads in a platoon). Then we broke into small groups and discussed what should be our considerations when writing our own order. After that, we were released for the evening and left to write our squad order to be briefed around a sandtable in the morning. I got to work on my order right away and finished about 2 hours or so later. Even knowing exactly what I was going to write, it still took that much time to write it all out on notecards for the brief.
The next morning, you could see the effects of the order. Apparently people had stayed up most of the night to get the order finished and it must have been very anti-climatic because there were 13 people around the sand table to brief part of the order and only 6 paragraphs to brief. I ended up briefing a small subsection; Commanders Intent. I did fine considering it was my first time, however in my head I was thinking, "Why can I not talk in complete sentences?" I didn't feel nervous, but I sounded nervous.
After the STEX (Sand Table Exercise), we had classes for the test of the day on Fire Support Planning. It was a firehose. We also went over a class on "how to plan training". It usually is at the end of TBS, however they moved it to the front because they're going to use our training as an example of the planning involved in training. For example, after Field Exercise 1, we will discuss the planning involved in the EX and how it fits into the over-all scheme. Sort of a peek behind the curtain.
I have the Endurance Course today at 0800. Its a 5 mile-ish course that you run in full cammies with some combat gear and a backpack full of more gear (maybe 40lbs total). Plus you have your rifle. There are some obstacles and ropes to climb up and down. I'm not too nervous since I have 90 minutes to complete it and we're not being graded. If I don't pass it in 90 minutes then I'll just have to come out more for some required practice. In order to get out of Mike Company, I had to run the course with 30lbs and no rifle and I ran it in 65min. I'm in much better shape now (thanks to the rifle range runs) so I am hoping for somewhere around 80minutes. Either way its a perfect day for it since its nice and cool and I think we're getting out early.
The next morning, you could see the effects of the order. Apparently people had stayed up most of the night to get the order finished and it must have been very anti-climatic because there were 13 people around the sand table to brief part of the order and only 6 paragraphs to brief. I ended up briefing a small subsection; Commanders Intent. I did fine considering it was my first time, however in my head I was thinking, "Why can I not talk in complete sentences?" I didn't feel nervous, but I sounded nervous.
After the STEX (Sand Table Exercise), we had classes for the test of the day on Fire Support Planning. It was a firehose. We also went over a class on "how to plan training". It usually is at the end of TBS, however they moved it to the front because they're going to use our training as an example of the planning involved in training. For example, after Field Exercise 1, we will discuss the planning involved in the EX and how it fits into the over-all scheme. Sort of a peek behind the curtain.
I have the Endurance Course today at 0800. Its a 5 mile-ish course that you run in full cammies with some combat gear and a backpack full of more gear (maybe 40lbs total). Plus you have your rifle. There are some obstacles and ropes to climb up and down. I'm not too nervous since I have 90 minutes to complete it and we're not being graded. If I don't pass it in 90 minutes then I'll just have to come out more for some required practice. In order to get out of Mike Company, I had to run the course with 30lbs and no rifle and I ran it in 65min. I'm in much better shape now (thanks to the rifle range runs) so I am hoping for somewhere around 80minutes. Either way its a perfect day for it since its nice and cool and I think we're getting out early.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Combat Lifesaving
Yesterday we had a combat life saving class. It was a few hour long and involved many gory, graphic videos of different types of injuries. Most of them came from: www.sendmeyourinjury.com or something like that. I was definitely dizzy throughout the presentation and fortunately our projector has old bulbs so the screen is hard to see. They said the point was to desensitize you to graphic events so that if you have to deal with the real thing, you won't freak out. The guy next to me almost passed out so maybe they're right.
The interesting thing is that I think they had a picture of my broken hand from MCT. I seem to recall them taking a picture of it to "use for training." During the "fractures" section, a hand popped up with a twisted pinkie and I was like, "Hey! I think that's mine!" Ah, memories.
Anyway, I think we have our prac app on combat life saving next week where we can try out some of the high tech gear like Combat Gauze and quick clot and then we will have our test during FEX 1.
Today is our first STEX, or Sand Table Exercise. Basically, we have to brief a combat order around a giant table of sand that has been shaped to look like the terrain on a map. It should be fun.
The interesting thing is that I think they had a picture of my broken hand from MCT. I seem to recall them taking a picture of it to "use for training." During the "fractures" section, a hand popped up with a twisted pinkie and I was like, "Hey! I think that's mine!" Ah, memories.
Anyway, I think we have our prac app on combat life saving next week where we can try out some of the high tech gear like Combat Gauze and quick clot and then we will have our test during FEX 1.
Today is our first STEX, or Sand Table Exercise. Basically, we have to brief a combat order around a giant table of sand that has been shaped to look like the terrain on a map. It should be fun.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
The Quantico Night Life
Night Land Nav was last night. I really can only equate it to those times when you were a kid and you had to wash dishes by hand even though there was this invention called a dishwasher. When you asked "why, oh why must my hands suffer?" you were told that it 'builds character.' Insert your similar childhood experience if mine doesn't suffice.
That is what I figure Night Land Nav is- a character building experience. Because other than that, I'm not exactly sure why we do it. There is nothing tactical about stomping through the woods, walking into trees or the straight out curses from poor Lieutenants unfortunate enough to get caught in the Razorblade-trees. However, now that it is done, we were all able to get a good laugh at the scrapes, tumbles and misfortunes of the nights events.
To start the night off, we gathered in the classroom about 2000 (8pm) and were given our box cards to find. The instructor went through the safety brief and one of the points was to wear goggles or eye protection. One of the Lts in my platoon brought out his goggles and I said, "I'd rather poke my eye out than wear those stupid looking things..."
1 hour later, the horn blast signals the start of the event. I set up my compass and take two steps into the tree line when *Whack*, I get poked in the eye with these stupid pokey razor blade sharp invisible leaves. I fell in agony like Ralphy in the "Christmas Story." At this point, I go internal.
[Internal is a term used in Marine Officer training to describe someone who doesn't care about anything else around them and only can think about how sucky life is for them.]
I pulled a card with long distances, which isn't always a bad thing but for some reason got into my head. My first box was 840m distance and through two streams. My internal land nav was telling me that I was traveling in circles. I kept telling myself that the box had to be through the next clearing but I felt like I was never going to get there. I took 3 major biffs and stomped through two streams but finally made it to a box.
Basically, all my other boxes went the same. Got coordinates, stumbled, clawed and crawled my way through the forest and got to boxes. There were a few streams, major draws and hills, spider webs, and little invisible trees I kept walking into but the worst were the razor blade leaves. I got several serious pokes in my eyes, one major slash across the neck (which I wondered if I would have to improvise a field expedient trach out of my map pen) and lacerations across my face. I felt beads of wetness dripping down my neck, and face which I thought would be pools of blood from all the cuts, but it turns out it was just sweat and I was just being wimpy. I only had one tiny scratch across my neck. Like I said, I was internal.
When my card finally was graded I apparently had drifted a box on two boxes and ended up with a 90%. I was fairly happy because the guy in front of me had apparently drifted so much at each box his only good news was that he would "get to practice again tomorrow night." It seemed that most people ended up drifting boxes here and there and I think my problem was following the red lights at the end. Lts were allowed to use their red flash lights to check their box number. So if you saw red lights, you knew there was a box close. The two boxes that I drifted on were the ones that I saw lights, then put away my compass and walked out. Next time I'll probably just follow my azimuth all the way out.
All in all, at the time it was not fun, but I can look back at it fondly now that I don't have to do it again. Until Final Night Land Nav that is...
That is what I figure Night Land Nav is- a character building experience. Because other than that, I'm not exactly sure why we do it. There is nothing tactical about stomping through the woods, walking into trees or the straight out curses from poor Lieutenants unfortunate enough to get caught in the Razorblade-trees. However, now that it is done, we were all able to get a good laugh at the scrapes, tumbles and misfortunes of the nights events.
To start the night off, we gathered in the classroom about 2000 (8pm) and were given our box cards to find. The instructor went through the safety brief and one of the points was to wear goggles or eye protection. One of the Lts in my platoon brought out his goggles and I said, "I'd rather poke my eye out than wear those stupid looking things..."
1 hour later, the horn blast signals the start of the event. I set up my compass and take two steps into the tree line when *Whack*, I get poked in the eye with these stupid pokey razor blade sharp invisible leaves. I fell in agony like Ralphy in the "Christmas Story." At this point, I go internal.
[Internal is a term used in Marine Officer training to describe someone who doesn't care about anything else around them and only can think about how sucky life is for them.]
I pulled a card with long distances, which isn't always a bad thing but for some reason got into my head. My first box was 840m distance and through two streams. My internal land nav was telling me that I was traveling in circles. I kept telling myself that the box had to be through the next clearing but I felt like I was never going to get there. I took 3 major biffs and stomped through two streams but finally made it to a box.
Basically, all my other boxes went the same. Got coordinates, stumbled, clawed and crawled my way through the forest and got to boxes. There were a few streams, major draws and hills, spider webs, and little invisible trees I kept walking into but the worst were the razor blade leaves. I got several serious pokes in my eyes, one major slash across the neck (which I wondered if I would have to improvise a field expedient trach out of my map pen) and lacerations across my face. I felt beads of wetness dripping down my neck, and face which I thought would be pools of blood from all the cuts, but it turns out it was just sweat and I was just being wimpy. I only had one tiny scratch across my neck. Like I said, I was internal.
When my card finally was graded I apparently had drifted a box on two boxes and ended up with a 90%. I was fairly happy because the guy in front of me had apparently drifted so much at each box his only good news was that he would "get to practice again tomorrow night." It seemed that most people ended up drifting boxes here and there and I think my problem was following the red lights at the end. Lts were allowed to use their red flash lights to check their box number. So if you saw red lights, you knew there was a box close. The two boxes that I drifted on were the ones that I saw lights, then put away my compass and walked out. Next time I'll probably just follow my azimuth all the way out.
All in all, at the time it was not fun, but I can look back at it fondly now that I don't have to do it again. Until Final Night Land Nav that is...
Monday, May 16, 2011
Land Nav, DESTROY!
Any Marine Officer that has come out of OCS in the last 4 years cannot think of the words Land Nav without adding a motivating DESTROY! at the end. This is indoctrinated in us so that we can appreciate that the purpose behind land navigation is to seek out and DESTROY the enemy. Maybe. It could just be a silly catch-phrase that shows how easy it is to brainwash the willing and sleep deprived.
Now at TBS, when Land Nav is said, maybe someone will whisper it but in general, most of us just say it in our heads with a caveat: Oh god, I hope it doesn't destroy me. I, however, really enjoy Land Nav because its just me, myself and I out in the woods with a map and a compass. I just don't want to come in on Saturday to remediate land nav if I fail to find my boxes.
Land Nav I:
We were given five, 8-digit grid coordinates and told that we had two and a half hours to make it to the command post with our card filled out. Before our start time, we were given thirty minutes in the classroom to plot our points, attack points (where we would shoot and azimuth from), escape routes and general path. I took my time plotting my points to make sure I had a very small dot and then shot my azimuth. This is one event where you can get away with going from "box-to-box" because they have the grid coordinates on the box and you know 100% that you have the right box, however you assume that you can find the box in the first place. So, I plotted my first two points from independent attack points (an intersection of two roads) and then the rest from box to box. Right when I was packing up to leave, I thought to recheck my points and my second point WAS SO FAR OFF I'm not sure where I was marking in the first place. Ugh, so that meant with 3 minutes left in the classroom to plot points, my whole scheme of maneuver past my first box was incorrect. I hastily plotted the new points, got some new azimuths and started my way out to the tree line.
This is where I realized that confidence in your map work is the key to land nav success. If you don't have confidence in your points and azimuth then you'll get to the end of your pace count, not see a box and panic. Fortunately, I have an uncanny ability to be confident in myself even if I shouldn't be. Some say a blessing, some say a curse.
I walked to my attack point, shot my azimuth and started walking through the woods. At the end of my pace count there was no box. I marked my spot and started walking in concentric circles, wider and wider and wider. Finally I saw a box but didn't think it could be mine because I was in such a wide circle but sure enough, it was. The next 3 boxes went about the same, but include some struggling through thick undergrowth and cursing overly-bold deer out. I spent a lot of time trying to terrain associate which helped out a lot because my compass didn't always lead me to the exact spot, but the terrain did.
My last box was somewhat of a challenge. I shot an azimuth straight from box-to-box which lead me straight downhill toward the creek bed. I will never, ever underestimate four contour lines (40 m straight downhill) back to back again. My poor protractor met a foul end at the bottom of this hill when it somehow jumped out of my pocket and fell. I can only assume it wanted to be done with its life as a TBS land nav guide. As I was shooting my azimuth, while dangling on the edge of the cliff with rocks tumbling down around me, I said "Screw this," marked my spot, and climbed the easiest way to the high spot. From the high point, I was able to get my bearings and then terrain associate right to my box, which was on a u-bend in the creek.
Of course, when I got there, I realized I forgot to make an exit strategy back to the command post and would not be able to get a good azimuth without my protractor. So, I followed the path of least resistance and walked up the draw, along the ridge line and straight to the trail. It took 10 minutes and along the way I passed 4 of my boxes. Next time, I think I might try to organize my points a little better so that I can go the path of least resistance and end up at my boxes without crawling through the undergrowth for an hour.
Long story short, I learned that confidence is key, path management is vital and terrain association is important. I finished the course with an hour left and got 100%.
Tonight is Night Navigation. It is basically the same thing, but in the dark. It should be interesting.
Now at TBS, when Land Nav is said, maybe someone will whisper it but in general, most of us just say it in our heads with a caveat: Oh god, I hope it doesn't destroy me. I, however, really enjoy Land Nav because its just me, myself and I out in the woods with a map and a compass. I just don't want to come in on Saturday to remediate land nav if I fail to find my boxes.
Land Nav I:
We were given five, 8-digit grid coordinates and told that we had two and a half hours to make it to the command post with our card filled out. Before our start time, we were given thirty minutes in the classroom to plot our points, attack points (where we would shoot and azimuth from), escape routes and general path. I took my time plotting my points to make sure I had a very small dot and then shot my azimuth. This is one event where you can get away with going from "box-to-box" because they have the grid coordinates on the box and you know 100% that you have the right box, however you assume that you can find the box in the first place. So, I plotted my first two points from independent attack points (an intersection of two roads) and then the rest from box to box. Right when I was packing up to leave, I thought to recheck my points and my second point WAS SO FAR OFF I'm not sure where I was marking in the first place. Ugh, so that meant with 3 minutes left in the classroom to plot points, my whole scheme of maneuver past my first box was incorrect. I hastily plotted the new points, got some new azimuths and started my way out to the tree line.
This is where I realized that confidence in your map work is the key to land nav success. If you don't have confidence in your points and azimuth then you'll get to the end of your pace count, not see a box and panic. Fortunately, I have an uncanny ability to be confident in myself even if I shouldn't be. Some say a blessing, some say a curse.
I walked to my attack point, shot my azimuth and started walking through the woods. At the end of my pace count there was no box. I marked my spot and started walking in concentric circles, wider and wider and wider. Finally I saw a box but didn't think it could be mine because I was in such a wide circle but sure enough, it was. The next 3 boxes went about the same, but include some struggling through thick undergrowth and cursing overly-bold deer out. I spent a lot of time trying to terrain associate which helped out a lot because my compass didn't always lead me to the exact spot, but the terrain did.
My last box was somewhat of a challenge. I shot an azimuth straight from box-to-box which lead me straight downhill toward the creek bed. I will never, ever underestimate four contour lines (40 m straight downhill) back to back again. My poor protractor met a foul end at the bottom of this hill when it somehow jumped out of my pocket and fell. I can only assume it wanted to be done with its life as a TBS land nav guide. As I was shooting my azimuth, while dangling on the edge of the cliff with rocks tumbling down around me, I said "Screw this," marked my spot, and climbed the easiest way to the high spot. From the high point, I was able to get my bearings and then terrain associate right to my box, which was on a u-bend in the creek.
Of course, when I got there, I realized I forgot to make an exit strategy back to the command post and would not be able to get a good azimuth without my protractor. So, I followed the path of least resistance and walked up the draw, along the ridge line and straight to the trail. It took 10 minutes and along the way I passed 4 of my boxes. Next time, I think I might try to organize my points a little better so that I can go the path of least resistance and end up at my boxes without crawling through the undergrowth for an hour.
Long story short, I learned that confidence is key, path management is vital and terrain association is important. I finished the course with an hour left and got 100%.
Tonight is Night Navigation. It is basically the same thing, but in the dark. It should be interesting.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Day 41
Welcome!
I'm starting this blog a little late into training, which is about halfway through week six of Charlie Company 2011. I figure that since I still have 20 weeks left, I should still be good. I got the idea from another blog I was reading that detailed training in Delta Co 4-10 last year. I hope my friends and family will appreciate being able to follow along with my training and maybe an occassional Lt will be able to use this as a "what's next" reference.
This week is our introduction to Land Navigation at The Basic School. The stories of lost Lieutenants and savage deer in the jungles of Quantico are legendary. Personally, I am looking forward to having some quality "me time" and hope that the weather stays cool. Today is our Prac App and I am waiting until my platoon's designated time to head out, 1145. We are supposed to be walking with an instructor today to get a handle on the basics. I am glad because I have yet to buy my whistle, which is needed in the case of being seriously lost.
Tomorrow is our first independent practical. I am looking forward to it but seriously hope I pass because if not, I get to try again on Saturday.
My gear list includes: 1M16 A4, 1 flik (vest to carry things), 1, IPAK, 2 canteens, 1 camelbak, 1 compass, 1 map pack, 1 laminated map, and beef jerky.
I'm starting this blog a little late into training, which is about halfway through week six of Charlie Company 2011. I figure that since I still have 20 weeks left, I should still be good. I got the idea from another blog I was reading that detailed training in Delta Co 4-10 last year. I hope my friends and family will appreciate being able to follow along with my training and maybe an occassional Lt will be able to use this as a "what's next" reference.
This week is our introduction to Land Navigation at The Basic School. The stories of lost Lieutenants and savage deer in the jungles of Quantico are legendary. Personally, I am looking forward to having some quality "me time" and hope that the weather stays cool. Today is our Prac App and I am waiting until my platoon's designated time to head out, 1145. We are supposed to be walking with an instructor today to get a handle on the basics. I am glad because I have yet to buy my whistle, which is needed in the case of being seriously lost.
Tomorrow is our first independent practical. I am looking forward to it but seriously hope I pass because if not, I get to try again on Saturday.
My gear list includes: 1M16 A4, 1 flik (vest to carry things), 1, IPAK, 2 canteens, 1 camelbak, 1 compass, 1 map pack, 1 laminated map, and beef jerky.
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