Over the past five days, the 973rd COB has been up at Camp Rilea working with two NCO courses and a class of MOST students. Long days and nights characterized the event for us, and I am proud to say everyone in the 973rd handled themselves with the highest levels of professionalism. Our all-volunteer OPFOR continues to impress everyone who sees us in action, and we’re looking forward to working again with the Regional Training Institute whenever they will need us.
When we arrived on Saturday, I broke the 973rd into three cells. Each cell was assigned to a class. Mark Farley took the Advanced NCO class, Kevin Kierwin took the Basic NCO course. I took MOST. We stayed flexible, so whenever we could, we’d reinforce each other for larger exercises.
The MOST class was filled with soldiers who are just about to head to Iraq and Afghanistan. They came from all over the country. There were Georgians, Hoosiers, Californians and one very awesome and good-natured Missourian from the storied 138th Infantry. who took a ton of flak from yours truly whenever we were in the field. He’d done two tours with the 1st Cav division, including one with 2-12 during OIF II. He went back to Iraq with 4-9 Cav and returned to join the Missouri National Guard in time to go on a third combat deployment with the 138th Infantry.
MOST class is designed to give non-infantry MOS soldiers two weeks of intensive infantry training. The instructors, knowing these men would soon be in combat, drove them hard. The day after we arrived, the class had to march eight miles with full gear and packs in a certain time limit. Now, keep in mind that most of these guys were engineers, clerks, computer specialists, etc. They have not done any infantry-sort of work since leaving Basic Training or AIT at the outset of their careers.
So, this eight mile march punished a lot of them. I saw blisters the size of quarters on their feet afterwards, but they were not allowed the luxury of resting after the march. Those eight miles were the start of their day, not the end. They spent the rest of the day in the field, learning the basic techniques of the infantry.
Believe me, this is complicated stuff. These days, the infantry has a vast range of duties and procedures that every soldier must understand thoroughly if he is to operate and survive in a combat zone. This ranges from vehicular searches and personnel detention to assaulting a fortified objective, clearing rooms and maneuvering in an urban area. They struggled at first. They lacked the violence of action of a good infantry platoon and showed a lot of indecision during our first engagements with them. But on Tuesday, we saw some flashes of brilliance.
That afternoon, Ox, Shaun, Mike and I sat atop a hill north of the MOUT range waiting for the MOST class’s second squad to show up and attack us. The first squad really had a hard time with this particular exercise. Part of the reason was their line of approach had been compromised by fleeing deer who bolted out of the woods as they got close.
Ox and Shaun had M240 Bravo machine guns and the rest of us had M4’s. We’d laced the area with IED’s, trip-wire detonated grenades and trip flare booby traps. First squad assaulted us from the east, and the 240’s drove them off. They called down artillery and killed everyone but me. As they assaulted onto the objective, I maneuvered on them and engaged, then detonated an IED. So, as we waited for second squad to show up, we figured they’d do the same thing.
To counter the artillery fire they would surely call in, we repositioned one of the 240’s so that it could provide flanking fire on the east side of the hill. That exposed our west flank. Second Squad noticed that weakness. We later found out, they observed us from the southern wood line undetected before sneaking around to assault through our back door. They caught us by surprise and overran the hill in a matter of minutes. It was an awesome thing to see, and I could see the confidence level ratchet up a notch after this engagement.
That’s the best part of being OPFOR—seeing the improvement the soldiers make. They learn their lessons from us, then come back and beat us down with what they’ve taken away from those lessons.
Anyway, so it was now MOST 2nd Squad: 1, 973rd COB: 0.
That evening, second squad was moving south along a road. We executed a near and far ambush from an L-shaped, layered position that we’d designed initially as a hit-and-run sort of affair. Usually, OPFOR just dies in place. I wanted us to fight, pull back to a second line, hammer their maneuver element as they swept across our original position, then escape down a steep slope into a forest behind us.
Instead, Mike and one Guardsman attached to us, who formed the base of our L, caught the 2nd squad in the open and with minimal help from the rest of us, killed them all. They hesitated on the road, didn’t fire back and died in place. The instructors were not happy.
973rd: 1 2nd Squad: 1.
There would be a round three of the series.
That night, the MOST class settled down for chow in the MOUT range’s church. As they finished up, their instructors challenged them to get it right on Wednesday morning. MOST would assault into the MOUT range to raid and clear a two-story house on the northwest side of town. The students were tasked with preparing everything, including writing the OPORDER, planning every phase of the attack, cleaning weapons, preparing ammo, and game-boarding every possible contingency.
The next morning, we put five COB’s into the target house. Ox and his 240 went on the roof two doors down at City Hall. Altogether, we had at least ten OPFOR on the north sie of town. The MOST assault began right after the Basic NCO students raided a house behind us. As they exfilled in Humvees, the MOST support by fire element lit us up. The battle was joined.
I was inside the target house with Mark Farley, David Aikin, Joe Mikkleson and Specialist David Schnider. We shot at the passing Humvees and the MOST support by fire teams hammered the house with 240’s and M249 SAW’s.
Under this fusillade, the maneuver squad made their approach. We never saw them coming. And, as they closed on the house, the support by fire element shifted targets and started suppressing the other buildings we had occupied nearby. This is a very difficult thing to do, as it requires timing. Do it too slowly, and your friendly squad maneuvering on the house walks into the rest of the platoon’s machine gun fire. Do it too quickly, and we insurgents inside the house can get back up and start shooting while the maneuver squad is running for the front door.
Actually, they came in through a back window, something the 973rd had never experienced before. There was so much firing that Mark and David never heard them coming. Both died waiting for the soldiers to come through the front door.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Joe, David and I figured we could hold them off for quite awhile. There are two rooms plus a foyer off the stairwell, making for some deadly angles we could use to cause trouble. Joe surprised the fire team assaulting up the stairs and wounded one of the soldiers. Then he backed off into the far room with us.
I was on my stomach, covering the stairwell from the room’s doorway. The first soldier reached the top of the stairs and made the only mistake I saw in this entire firefight. He telegraphed his move around the corner by exposing his M4’s barrel early. I saw him coming and opened fire. He backed off, but then he and one other soldier swung around the corner in a high-low configuration and hammered at us.
They moved so fast it reminded me of the best fire teams in 2-162. They hosed us, stormed the second floor and dragged Joe (who was wounded) downstairs in a matter of seconds. It was almost flawless. To see how far these guys had come in just a few short days was among the most rewarding experiences I’ve had in a long time.
When I walked over to participate in the After Action Review (AAR), I ran into the support by fire element and told them what a great job they’d done. “A good infantry unit is made by a good OPFOR unit,” one of the soldiers said to me. That made my week, and I'll tell you I walked away that morning on a complete high. To be respected by such men carries tremendous meaning for me.
Final score: 973rd 1, MOST: 2.
The MOST class came farther in a shorter period of time than any other unit or group we’ve helped train. Too see that progress and to see their growth as soldiers makes all the personal and professional sacrifices to be along side them totally worth it.
I know every time I drive away from Rilea, I feel like these days with the troops are the most meaningful moments in my life. If they take the lessons we helped teach them to heart and use them for survival and success in battle during the months to come, well, there aren’t enough books to write to even come close to that accomplishment. If I could, I’d make this my life’s work.
To the MOST students I met: you guys are the best. Stay safe, be proud and strong overseas, and when you get back, call me. There are 9’er tickets in your future.
Comments