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Show TE" - Vv . xn JT-'- J - -; r ?;, i IFeantBiiirc THE SAMPLER Friday, June 12, 1981 ID What did you do in the war, daddy? Tumbleweed Story and photos by SSG Phil Hale impossible. THANKS to the 2508th Airborne deuce-and-a-ha- of the 82nd, we had plenty of goodies' to keep us busy for the fighting part of the exercise. The morning was to lie chock full of class time, under whatever shade could lie mustered north of Five Mile llill behind the Security Guard Pistol Arriving at the training site after a hot , dusty convoy in the track of stake-sid- e trucks andM-880- 's the Jtroops were divided' into four groups and sent to the training stations. There, refresher courses in Land Navigation, proper maintenance of the 6 and 7 mask, nuclear, biological and radiological defenses, radio reporting procedures, first aid and other sub-- . jects w'ere taught by NCOs. The groups were rotated alrout every 70 minutes and three of four groups finished liefore lunch. BECAUSE the exercise was held on payday, the. Commander decided to bring the troops luck to HHC to get and cash their paychecks and have lunch in the dining facility. After lunch, it was hack onto the trucks and back to the field. Cpt. Ferrell and Sgt. Counts found a blow .snake and Sgt., Counts displayed it for the group pointing out the differences Iwtween it and its rattling brothers. AFTER completing the last cycle of the classes, it was time for the compass course. SFC Daniel, HHC Training Sgt, i i H V . t . Trip flares had been set up further along the trail and several simulated casualties were promptly treated by representatives of the health clinic. As the night grew darker, the trip wires got harder to see . . . virtually impassible in a mask. The wind shifted and started coming from our backs which made it a lot easier for the CSM and 1LT Driggers to surprise the troops with whiffs of peppery CS. THE SECOND attack by the ag--. gressors further down the valley suddenly was cut short, and everyone but the first squad wondered why. The special teams had done their job well and captured the machine-guand most of the aggressors. At this point the exercise was terminated. Hie weary trooops marched to the road and finished the 2 mile trek back to the trucks. , SOME. OF the squad members hadn't even fired their weapons but in one final got to empty the magazines into the night air. Those at the Community Club Annex must have thought there had been a war as the sore, sunburned and exhausted troops gathered over a keg of well deserved brew at 11:30 that night after turning in weapons and bit as they returned and took im-- . promptu showers under the spigots of the water buffalo (trailer). Faces and necks turning a brilliant crimson, and boots showing not a sign of their d once condition, the troops collapsed under the sage and scrub pine to await the chow truck. It was during dinner that final plans for the surprise for the MP aggressors were made. Two of the 1st Squads three teams were to act as counterterrorist teams and sneak up on the MP s while they were wreaking death , and destruction (simulated of course) on the hapless IRF teams approaching down the valley. The first team was broken down into two groups mad-minu- dubbed Day's Destroyers and Evans Infiltrators. And the third team was Blackburns Bandidos. The grills were fired up and steaks began cooking over the glowing coals along with pinto beans, salad, cakes, and other assorted Mermite Masterpieces from the kitchen of SFC Carl THE FINAL portion of the exercise was due to begin at 7:30 p.ni. The IRF was broken down into four squads under the direction of Platoon planting stakes out in about a four, square mile section of the training area and had plotted the azimuths from a starting pole to each and the Leader 1LT. Gregg, Platoon Sergeant SFC Hill and Asst. Platoon Sgt. SFC Horton. Controllers for the event included . Cpt. Fisher, ISC Klein, CSM Bulling-tor- i, 1LT Driggers and a couple of Unknown to mast of the teams, someone had changed these azimuths, and several groups set out on 4 to 700 meter legs up mountains and through pilleys huffing, puffing and sweating others who were issued & V A te For some, the lure of a soft bed and a soothing shower was greater than thirst and they crashed almost immediately. War is hard to simulate, even harder to fight, yet that is our profession, and to be able to survive in combat we must know the skills taught us on this FTX. It was indeed an experience', one many wont forget, and one most hope wont be repeated. . . too soon 1 . their way toward their assigned Oh fl WOtl t hurtcha! explains Capt. Marshall R. Ferrell as he picks up a blow snake found in the class area after lunch. IRF Platoon Leader 1LT David Gregg in the background seems a little shy of convinced by that statement. masks. Barnes. distances . aggressors. spit-shine- spent three days with Pfc Egnor . lfs shock absorliers. THE GROUPS returning from the compass course were also dragging a M-1- I M-6- judging by the looks oh the faces of the drivers who returned to camp 2Vfc hours later the course was a gruelling test of their skills and their personal M-1- . smoke and gas grenades. This group was assigned the task of being surrogate aggressors ... or Thomas little helpers. They could fire at the IRF but they couldnt fire back. Spread but in bounding overwatch formation, the IRF proceeded down the valley at dusk. At the appropriate time, the controllers hollered gas and everyone masked. . .except the battery was dead and the SPAL failed to fire. Moving along further, the staccato bursts of an 0 machine gun split the air as the lead elements, encountered the aggressors for the first time. AT THIS time the counter-forc- e split off and made for the flanks of the gas- - Range. Ammo Cans chock full of booby traps, grenade simulators, groups searched high and low with no success. Thankfully each group had a radio and a quick call back to base confirmed the worst fears of all. . they had been given back azimuths instead! This meant double the distance in the opposite direction from where they were. WHILE this was going on, lLt Driggers was leading his merry band of drivers on the cross country convoy tasks of the SQT test. Every once in a while he would stop well ahead of the group of and leave them a surprise in the form of a grenade simulator or smoke grenade, or even a can of tear Two week? ago on a Friday, many of the troops of HHC were rather un- - ' ceremoniously awakened at 5 a.m. with the joyous news that the all day Field Test Exercise (FTX) for the IRF was to begin. NOW.' Trying to remember how the field gear goes together is a tough enough job for many RemingtonTRangers AFTER our first gallon or tvo of coffee. . , at OrDark-Earl- y its next to . Boxes objectives. Once they reached the spot, no stake. Fanning out, the . Goodie anyway. : V e u V Ya wait till they9re not expecting it , then let 'em have it!" explains training Officer and XO 1LT (P) Dennis Driggers as he prepares a goodie box for the evenings road march. ' 'Sw i';.. f VfV V-V.- . 4V' .17 T t i V. ! "ft ii i ,V s1 y. f4 i y " That rare enough for you? asks Dining Facilities Chief SFC Carl Barnes as he checks one of the steaks cooked in the open for the p - .troops. - r ' . . S''. 4 .. "Not bad for blanks . eh PFC Larry Cross tries to convince felSarge?" one with the 4 he felled the low big troops found on the rode he Compass Course. point "Are you SURE it9s up there?99 is the thought course. head a mountainside on the up campass running through the troops minds as they : . v |