Counterinsurgency Train Up

Counterinsurgency Train Up by Staff Sergeant Christopher Bush More than 5 years ago, our great Nation was thrust into a war against terrorism and tyranny. Training techniques for initial entry (IET) soldiers had to change to meet the demands of a new and dynamic operational environment. Since 2001, the procedures and training techniques used to change American citizens from civilians into soldiers have undergone a complete face lift. No longer is training focused on Cold War concepts, instead the 2d Battalion, 81st Armor Regiment focuses on today’s contemporary operating battlefield, and is the only battalion in the U.S. Army that trains the tanker military occupational specialty (MOS) 19K10. There are three major areas of change in 19K10 initial entry soldier training: the armor core competencies have been redefined to meet the challenges soldiers will face today and in future conflicts; dismounted operations play an instrumental part in the very foundation of 19K10 training; and the gunnery skills that make tankers the combat arm of decision on the battlefield have received a renewed emphasis. These three areas ensure that the training soldiers receive during 19K10 one station unit training (OSUT) is not only unrivaled, but it prepares our soldiers to fight, survive, and win our Nation’s wars. Armor Core Competencies The first area of change is the 19K10 armor core competencies, which are essential individual skills required to maintain armor and cavalry capabilities in full-spectrum operations. There are five main categories that comprise the 19K-entry level core competencies: (1) Loader’s station operations. (2) Driver’s station operations. (3) Weapons (M9, M4, M240, and M2). (4) Medical/life-saving tasks. (5) Basic tank knowledge and maintenance. There are a total of 54 individual tasks that support the five main 19K10 armor core competencies. Soldiers are expected to receive a “trained,” “proficient,” or “familiarized” score on each of the 54 individual tasks to graduate 19K10 OSUT and earn the title of armor crewman. (See Figure 1) Dismounted Operations Training counterinsurgency operations is a critical requirement for today’s operating environment and 2-81 Armor is on the forefront of this change. This new course is taught in a fast-paced, high-impact environment, using contact, evacuation, and reactionary drills embedded in scripted scenarios in which patrols and teams must assess, reason, and act with speed and violence of action. Our IET soldiers now train in a weapons immersion environment using tactical troop movement whenever possible or practical. Soldiers also train and are evaluated on military operations on urban terrain (MOUT) four times during their 15 weeks of training. In addition to MOUT training, they also conduct room-clearing training in a customized shoot house equipped with video feedback, mannequins, and household furniture. They also conduct personnel searches, establish traffic control points, and call in nine-line medical evacuation and improvised explosive 40 — May-June 2008 device (IED) reports, while conducting mount ed and dismounted patrols issued through operations orders and fragmentary orders. Tank Commander and Gunner Sustainment Training The third and final change involves tank commander/gunner sustainment training and OSUT tank live fire. To provide an intense and realistic training model to better prepare OSUT soldiers, many changes had to be made to funding and scheduling training ranges. Formerly, 2-81 Armor’s course of action required the simultaneous dispatch of 27 tanks to one of two driving courses and the tank livefire range. By changing the master training strategy (MTS), 2-81 Armor saved the 194th Armored Brigade and post-level resources by reducing the dispatch from 27 tanks to 17, lessening the impact on the Fort Knox Abrams fleet and freeing more time for training. For example, one way the battalion was able to reduce resource requirements was to road march tanks whenever possible instead of using civilian heavy equipment trucks. Once the decision was made to change the MTS, the 2-81 Armor commander extended gunnery range time from 4 to 6 days for an OSUT gold-phase field training exercise (FTX) gunnery while simultaneously implementing cadre sustainment livefire gunnery. The soldiers begin tank live fire with crew evacuation drills. During movement to their battle position, they encounter an IED strike, which requires a nine-line IED report. Once the battle position is occupied, a defense drill of two rounds are fired at long-range tank targets. A third round is fired on the move as an offensive engagement. The tank then sets a support-by-fire position while over watching an urban cluster “village.” Fort Knox range control contributed the idea to construct several urban cluster facades (see Figure 2) with a target rich environment of wireless silhouettes arrayed to require target discrimination for the loader who engages with M240, M4, and M9 fire. Target discrimination is the first step in training, developing, and establishing a joint service combat identification system — identify your target first! Upon completion of the small-arms engagements, .50-caliber training commenc es. Night fire is conducted with two sabot and one high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) engagements fired from the base line and concludes with M240 engagements using the PAS-13 thermal sight. Long-range gunnery is a perishable skill. The 2-81 Armor cadre (tank commander/gunners) execute a conduct-of-fire armored gun training system (CAGTS), an advanced gunnery training simulator, train-up and meet all live-fire requirements in accordance with the field manual. The goal during each gold phase tank Urban Cluster RT Tampa RT Irish 1 RT Irish 2

RT CAV

RT Irish Knight N Urban Cluster Gunnery Engagements:

1. A4 (DEF) PC, RPG TM, and truck

2. B1S (OFF) 2 x tanks (TCs)

3. A5AS (OFF) tank, PC, and troops

4. Crew evacuation drills

5. React to an IED strike

6. DEF: Tank and PC

7. OFF: Tank

8. DEF: LDR–RPG team (M240)

9. DEF: LDR–3 X troops (M4)

10. DEF: LDR–troops (M9)

11. DEF: .50-cal flex– troops

12. B4 (DEF) 3 x tanks (NBC)

13. B2 (OFF) 2 x tanks and troops

14. DEF Night: Tank

15. DEF Night: Tank and PC

16. DEF Night: Troops (M240) Figure 2 May-June 2008 — 41

LDR

Station 19K20/30/40 Core Competencies Security Operations Defensive Operations Command and Control Sustain Force Protect Force Stability Operations Offensive Operations

MTC

Attack

DVR

Station Weapons Medical Maint 19K10 Core Competencies Figure 1

live-fire cycle is to fire four tank commander/gunner crews with excellence in armor (EIA); insert and reclassified soldiers occupy remaining crew positions as loaders and drivers. Crew tank table (TT) IV runs are conducted on screen day at Saint Vith tank range. The next day, the crews fire five TT VIII engagements (two defensive and three offensive), to include nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) and degraded-mode engagements. The 2-81 commander, with the full support of the 194th Armored Brigade commander, had five M1114 turret mock-up trainers built and placed at Saint Vith tank range. Soldiers in training fire the M240, using M145 optics and PAS-13 thermal sights, and the M2 .50-caliber flex machine gun from the turret trainers. The OSUT soldiers fire multiple machine gun engagements, to include inducing lead on a moving target. The goal is to prepare young warriors, who knowingly enlisted in an Army at war, and on being assigned to their first unit will most like serve in combat, to be immediately ready to serve as armor crewmen and high-mobility, multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV) gunners. We owe our soldiers the best training available. With the impending move to Fort Benning, Georgia, the 194th Armored Brigade has established critical guidelines for the design and construction of mounted and dismounted training areas, as well as advanced gunnery range capabilities. Soldiers must receive training that allows them to survive on the contemporary operating battlefield. The 19K10 OSUT training program is designed to increase soldier survivability, while enhancing mission success, by providing a more multifaceted warrior. Today’s 19K10 soldier training focuses on the five main armor core competencies designed to ensure soldiers are prepared for today’s war on terror and the contemporary operating environment. Reinforcing the armor core competencies are the dismounted operations that 19K10s are expected to execute in our Nation’s current war. To ensure 2-81 Armor tank commanders/gunners are trained to re-enter U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) units with a high degree of competency, cadre sustainment tank live fire is instrumental to achieving that objective. Our young soldiers and cadre are more readily deployable today than they were 5 years ago. Staff Sergeant Christopher Bush is currently assigned as master gunner, 2d Battalion, 81st Armor Regiment, 194th Armored Brigade, Fort Knox, KY. His military education includes the Primary Leadership Development Course, Basic Noncommissioned Officers Course, Maneuver Advanced Noncommissioned Officers Course, Basic Instructor Course, and Master Gunner School. He has served in various assignments, to include armored crewman and M1A2 tank loader, 1st Squadron, 3d Armored Cavalry, Fort Carson, CO; M1A1 tank gunner, D Company, 2d Battalion, 72d Armor, Camp Casey, Korea; M1A2 tank commander and section sergeant, 1st Squadron, 3d Armored Cavalry, Operation Iraqi Freedom I and III; and M1A2 tank instructor, 2d Battalion, 81st Armor Regiment, 194th Armored Brigade, Fort Knox. “Soldiers also train and are evaluated on military operations on urban terrain (MOUT) four times during their 15 weeks of training. In addition to MOUT training, they also conduct room-clearing training in a customized shoot house equipped with video feedback, mannequins, and household furniture. They also conduct personnel searches, establish traffic control points, and call in nine-line medical evacuation and improvised explosive device (IED) reports, while conducting mounted and dismounted patrols issued through operations orders and fragmentary orders.”