Published: April 19, 2011
Soldiers Train for a New Job as Infantrymen
By Staff Sgt. Brad Staggs, Muscatatuck Urban Training Complex)
BUTLERVILLE, Ind. - The Soldiers walked as quietly as they could through the wood line, giving each other hand signals and whispered orders while looking for the enemy. Unfortunately, the enemy finds them as the sound of a machine gun rips through the trees.
"Down! Get down!" Bravo Team Leader Sgt. Tim Lewandwoski yells over his shoulder as he hits the ground. "Get that SAW going!"
A Soldier lays down suppressive fire with the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon as the Alpha and Bravo teams take turns covering each other to get out of the direct line of fire. "Incoming" is yelled as grenades pop around them and smoke rolls over their position.
Pvt. Casey Walker, a Bravo Team member, peers through the site of his M16A2 while providing security during the 11B Infantry Transition Course, before they head to their training mission.
Photo: Staff Sgt. Brad Staggs, MUTC |
As soon as the teams clear the wood line, Staff Sgt. Corey Bryant, an instructor with the 138th Regional Training Institute from Camp Atterbury, Ind., calls for the end of the exercise. All of the rounds fired were blanks and all of the grenades were simulators but the realism was second to none.
Soldiers from different Military Occupational Specialties descended upon Camp Atterbury and the Muscatatuck Urban Training Complex to attend the 11B Infantry Transition Course April 2-16. The student-Soldiers already hold a different MOS and want to be 11B.
Some of the skills that the Soldiers had to learn or be refreshed on included land navigation, map reading, advanced rifle marksmanship, combat orders, detainee operations, urban operations, moving under direct fire, and a myriad of other Soldier skills.
"I thought that (training) was pretty high speed," Lewandwoski said during the after action review. "Our decision making was good and there wasn't much hesitation. That's why this job isn't for everyone."
Sgt. Tim Lewandowski, Bravo Team leader, directs Pvt. Casey Walker, Bravo Team member, into position during the 11B Infantry Transition Course.
Photo: Staff Sgt. Brad Staggs, MUTC |
During the 11B reclassification course, each student is given a rotation as leader and graded upon his ability to think under fire... sometimes literally. At Camp Atterbury, where the Soldiers spent their first week of training, they fired almost every weapon in the Army Infantryman inventory, while their second week of the 15-day course was spent at MUTC allowing the instructors to test the Soldiers under any conditions they needed.
"We've been doing urban operations training since we got to Muscatatuck," explains Staff Sgt. James Johnson, senior instructor for the course. "We did a big, continuous operation where they put everything they've learned so far into a real-world situation for training."
The 138th RTI wanted to use Muscatatuck because it is, as Johnson explained, "user friendly," meaning it's everything wrapped into one package.
"(Muscatatuck) is an urban environment instead of just woods," said Johnson. "You can go quickly from woods to buildings. It's a modern-era of fighting."
For 46-year-old Sgt. 1st Class Robert Pemberton, the class was a necessity for his job as a drill sergeant with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 329th Infantry Regiment out of Bloomington, Ind.
"It's been a good course, worth going through," Pemberton stated. "I loved the challenge and it will help me in my drill sergeant duties."
The 33 members of the 11B course graduated April 16 at Camp Atterbury in Edinburgh, Ind.
Soldiers taking part in the 11B Infantry Transition Course.
Photo: Staff Sgt. Brad Staggs, MUTC |
Soldiers taking part in the 11B Infantry Transition Course held recently at Muscatatuck Urban Training Complex in Butlerville, Ind., pull hasty security after being fired upon during the training.
Photo: Staff Sgt. Brad Staggs, MUTC |
Soldiers taking part in the 11B 11B Infantry Transition Course held recently at Muscatatuck Urban Training Complex in Butlerville, Ind., pull hasty security after being fired upon during the training.
Photo by Staff Sgt. Brad Staggs, MUTC |
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