[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Military Field Training Exercises (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 5/16/2009 6:49:55 PM EDT
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The .mil folks will know exactly what I'm talking about:
You spend all day, for days, little or no sleep, completely uncomfortable, blazing hot and freezing cold, mostly wet and never dry, carrying TONS of gear for long distances... but for some reason, and somewhere deep down inside: You just love this shit. 
Who else? |
sad but true
I loved the last ORI that I was a part of, Gulfport MS May 2007. I actually got to shoot somebody with a M16A2........ loaded with blanks. I was a brand new SrA loaned out to Security Forces as an Augmentee. Later we had the Gulfport PD called on us when the OPFOR attacked us at 0100 near the airport fence. Local civies heard the sound of M4s, M16s, SAWs, and a M240G going off and one of them tried to shoot back at us!! No shit the Gulfport PD came to make sure none of the Civilians shot at us. Its wierd, but my favorite days in the USAF so far were ones that I pulled 12+ hours. Go figure |
Staying up all day from 6am while on the gunnery line waiting your turn for Bradley gunnery and staying up all night until 6am the next morning because retards can't shoot, then sleeping from 630-715am and doing it all over again that day is not my idea of fun. 
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Those days are long behind me. But, I look fondly on my days as a Marine humping a radio; but not too often! Now I don't deploy anymore since I attached to Space Command. 5 more years on this enlistment, and I'll have 22 years. Door gunner? Who the hell do you think answers the call when all of you say "Nuke it from orbit!"?
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The Air Force doesn't train like that...  So I cannot relate. Sounds like I got the better side of the deal.  YOU don't train like that; the training's out there. Hanzerik and I tought combat skills for four years at Ft Dix, NJ. Granted, it was baby steps at first, but as the training progressed things got better. B_S |
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yep, had many moments like that. After cussing and moaning about waking up at O-dark thirty, eating cold ass MRE hot dogs we all sat on top of the Bradley and watched the sunrise over the California desert and it was one of the most beautiful sites I ever saw. ~~ those were the days~~ |
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I tried sleeping on top of a rag top HMMWV during a FTX, The damned thing was so dry rotted about half way through my nap it ripped and I ended up in the HMMWV ontop of my LT. Thank god I wasnt wearing my vest and K-pot, I woulda killed my LT...On second thought, Too bad I wasnt wearing all that stuff!!
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The Air Force doesn't train like that... So I cannot relate. Sounds like I got the better side of the deal. You just havn't been to the right classes/exercises  I've deployed once, gone through all the classes, and more exercises then I want to even think about. I work on the flightline, so we do exercises almost every other month. Not as bad as Korea though! |
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I just got home last night from a Wide Area Damage Assessment FTX with my GPS WADA teams. I don't know when I was wetter, sweating the first few days, or getting rained on the last day. I got home tired and filthy dirty... and can't wait to go out again! (We're teaching Lad Nav with GPS to the Counterdrug Task Force next week, and taking them on day and night courses.)
I LOVE this shit! |
| It doesn't really get good until the second week, by then you are not sleeping at all, you just pass out momentarily anytime your body stops moving for more than three seconds. underneath a vehicle seems to be a good spot to rest, waking up soaked in the morning, because you laid down and went to sleep in the open, and it rained all night, now that is the good stuff. |
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Well, I was in the 47th Engineers in Alaska. Our idea of going to the field was throwing all our shit in the deuce, driving out and setting up a bivouac, building our fighting positions, then taking our heavy equipment and clearing snow so the Infantry and Artillery could play Army.
No damned partols, ambushes, or any of that for us, we just kept the MSR and airstrips open, and cleared firing points and bivouac sites. |
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Only time i don't like it is when it's freezing cold out. I FNG despise cold weather. A hot summer day where the rain brings a welcomed cool with it fuck yea aint nothing better in the world. There's something calming about laying in the mud while listening to the rain in an otherwise dead silent forest with a rifle under your cheek. Then the ambush sets off and I'll be damned if the echo of the 240 isn't one of the sexies sounds in the world even with blanks. |
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Quoted: Quoted: The Air Force doesn't train like that... So I cannot relate. Sounds like I got the better side of the deal. YOU don't train like that; the training's out there. Hanzerik and I tought combat skills for four years at Ft Dix, NJ. Granted, it was baby steps at first, but as the training progressed things got better. B_S Ah Ft. Dix land of ticks and fleas. |
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Quoted: The .mil folks will know exactly what I'm talking about: You spend all day, for days, little or no sleep, completely uncomfortable, blazing hot and freezing cold, mostly wet and never dry, carrying TONS of gear for long distances... but for some reason, and somewhere deep down inside: You just love this shit. Who else? +1 Mosquitos can bite through MOPP gear. Ask me how I know. |
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The Air Force doesn't train like that... So I cannot relate. Sounds like I got the better side of the deal. You just havn't been to the right classes/exercises I've deployed once, gone through all the classes, and more exercises then I want to even think about. I work on the flightline, so we do exercises almost every other month. Not as bad as Korea though! Heh, I've done my share of deployments and exercises in the last 20+ years  . I am also a Flightline guy by AF standards (2A5X3A), but have not turned a wrench on an aircraft since I left RAF Mildenhall (21SOS/352SOG) back in 98. And true, when you work the flightline you mainly deal with AC decontamination and battle damage assessment scenarios, at least that was what we did in AFSOC.
After I left RAF Mildenhall, I went to McGuire and was assigned to the AMOG (TALCE for us old guys), now they call it a CRW/CRG. When I got there almost everyone was deployed so I didn't know what the hell to do. One of the guys that was there came and asked if I wanted to go help the guys on Fort Dix with a class (PHOENIX READINESS), I said sure. So for the next 7 days, before I did anything in my real job, I touted an AK-47 with seven mags and two full reloads, MRE's, extra socks, and water all over Fort Dix from 0500 until midnight. As a flightline guy, I sometimes had trouble keeping up with the SF guys who were leading us, but always managed to catch up, when we would have to ditch our vehicle on the side of the road because BLUEFOR spotted us on our way to a hit. We would have to hump it a few miles through some nasty swamps, briar patches, tick infested woods in the middle of the night with no lights, just to “kill” a bunch of folks and then die a glorious death to teach other AF folks how to defend themselves. Over the years I was a PR student twice, but did OPFOR whenever we had a chance. It was a blast!!! Then in 2001 I PCA’d over to Dix to teach some TALCE Deployable communication classes, then a year later I was asked to move over to the 421st Combat Training Squadron to head up integration of a TALCE Comm shelter into Phoenix Readiness. Blue_Suiter (Also a flightline 2A5X3A who was in the TALCE for 12 years) was hired to be part of our team. It seemed if we weren’t teaching in a classroom, we were in the field with a weapon in hand doing Combat Skills or PHOENIX RAVEN classes. So there are some USAF folks, other than Special Ops folks, who have jobs that require them to go through some pretty decent combat training classes. In my opinion, it was a sad day when Phoenix Readiness was canceled to be replaced with Eagle Flag. |
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Quoted: The .mil folks will know exactly what I'm talking about: You spend all day, for days, little or no sleep, completely uncomfortable, blazing hot and freezing cold, mostly wet and never dry, carrying TONS of gear for long distances... but for some reason, and somewhere deep down inside: You just love this shit. Who else? Yes i do miss it. Funny how the most miserable shit ends up being your best memories to talk to your comrades about and laugh about. |
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The Air Force doesn't train like that... So I cannot relate. Sounds like I got the better side of the deal. You just havn't been to the right classes/exercises I've deployed once, gone through all the classes, and more exercises then I want to even think about. I work on the flightline, so we do exercises almost every other month. Not as bad as Korea though! Heh, I've done my share of deployments and exercises in the last 20+ years . I am also a Flightline guy by AF standards (2A5X3A), but have not turned a wrench on an aircraft since I left RAF Mildenhall (21SOS/352SOG) back in 98. And true, when you work the flightline you mainly deal with AC decontamination and battle damage assessment scenarios, at least that was what we did in AFSOC.
After I left RAF Mildenhall, I went to McGuire and was assigned to the AMOG (TALCE for us old guys), now they call it a CRW/CRG. When I got there almost everyone was deployed so I didn't know what the hell to do. One of the guys that was there came and asked if I wanted to go help the guys on Fort Dix with a class (PHOENIX READINESS), I said sure. So for the next 7 days, before I did anything in my real job, I touted an AK-47 with seven mags and two full reloads, MRE's, extra socks, and water all over Fort Dix from 0500 until midnight. As a flightline guy, I sometimes had trouble keeping up with the SF guys who were leading us, but always managed to catch up, when we would have to ditch our vehicle on the side of the road because BLUEFOR spotted us on our way to a hit. We would have to hump it a few miles through some nasty swamps, briar patches, tick infested woods in the middle of the night with no lights, just to “kill” a bunch of folks and then die a glorious death to teach other AF folks how to defend themselves. Over the years I was a PR student twice, but did OPFOR whenever we had a chance. It was a blast!!! Then in 2001 I PCA’d over to Dix to teach some TALCE Deployable communication classes, then a year later I was asked to move over to the 421st Combat Training Squadron to head up integration of a TALCE Comm shelter into Phoenix Readiness. Blue_Suiter (Also a flightline 2A5X3A who was in the TALCE for 12 years) was hired to be part of our team. It seemed if we weren’t teaching in a classroom, we were in the field with a weapon in hand doing Combat Skills or PHOENIX RAVEN classes. So there are some USAF folks, other than Special Ops folks, who have jobs that require them to go through some pretty decent combat training classes. In my opinion, it was a sad day when Phoenix Readiness was canceled to be replaced with Eagle Flag. I'll stay on the flightline.
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The Air Force doesn't train like that... So I cannot relate. Sounds like I got the better side of the deal. AF Security Police does Air Base Ground Defense the Army of the Air Force, the instructors called us soldiers so many times I thought somehow I morphed into the Army.... |
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Amtrackers..DEATH BEFORE DISMOUNT! We don't walk or march anywhere..we drive. So that means 500 lbs of pogey bait goes in the back to keep us from eating MREs out in the field
Fields ops for us was pretty much driving..driving..driving...stop, eat, check vehicles, fix broken stuff..driving..driving..driving..oh snap! My short fan drive shaft just exploded from too little grease and blew a hole in the hull and transmission! We are pretty much Mechanized infantry after out last tour in Iraq. Launching in the water. Basically you go into 2nd gear and floor it. If you don't get enough speed going into the water the current will pull you off course and you'll end up going at an angle from the shore instead of straight out. 
Moving stuff out of the tracks onto the beach..in case one sinks, do you REALLY want all that stuff in the back preventing you from getting out, and do you want 1000$ worth of gear issued in your name at the bottom of the ocean? Supply doesn't care! 
First time ever riding in the UGWS on a track. Scared and gripping the weapons sight housing because there is a giant drop off to the right that you can't see. Going almost 35 MPH in 3rd gear lockout. Sitting in the turret as another student-driver flies over the hill in 3rd gear lockout and whacks the final drives on a bump, sending me flying upwards. 
(Me driving, was taken from shore by another student)  [/QUOTE]
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The Air Force doesn't train like that... So I cannot relate. Sounds like I got the better side of the deal. HAHAH Bullis is a nice place to spend 7 days/nights or so this time of year. And then it gets hot. So hot that the AAFES Roach Coaches make runs to whichever unit is Training outside of the main bivouac and sells Extra-Large sized containers of "Lemon-Aide". And the troops are already so dehydrated the Officers and NCO's don't stop it. Been there once. (1978) The platoon I was with made a little experiment with C-Ration's and some of the larger black ants there. We took assorted pieces of cakes and candies. Most of the "Offerings" were taken into the nest. But not the C-Rat Fruit Cake. The ants took the crumbs and deposited them on the outskirts of the nest!  We all knew how bad the Fruit Cake was and could be. But to see it confirmed by ants was something we didn't expect!
Oh, yeah. We also did our Annual PT Test. I forget most of my times, but I remember that A; I did the 2 mile run in 12:30; and B; the XO finished in 12:00 flat, yelling "Ranger!" as he crossed the finish line. (Yes, he was Tabbed.) The run was done wearing Army Boots and not PF Flyers (or whatever PT shoe is worn). 
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I certainly don't 'love' those things you mention. Cold weather, lack of sleep...
I just view it as a required pennance to be paid in order to be able to charge across the open country in a tank or Bradley, laying waste to things, preferably with live ammo. NTM |
