Missed you guys!
I got back a few days ago from a month of training out in the woods of upstate New York. I might have posted a trip report earlier but i spent the time since I've been back in a party-hopping drunken stupor in the Hamptons.
Combat Field Training is just a bunch of rising sophomores at West Point sent out to the woods to dick around for a month, blow things up, spend a couple nights in the field and learn how to patrol in enemy territory, survive and evade, utilize platoon and squad tactics when setting up patrol bases, ambushes, raids, and recon missions. Basically, we learned many things that involve laying down in the dirt for many, many hours at a time while bugs crawl up your sleeve and you pray they're not the poisonous ones.
Here are some pictures!
We rucked a lot. Rucking is walking with a big backpack on. Average 50 pound ruck, 20 lb equipment vest, plus weapon and ammo. Crew-serve weapons (machine guns and big machine guns) and their ammo and equipment get distributed to unlucky platoon members.
Can you spot the machine gunner laying prone?
We ate these! They suck! But sometimes they have m&ms that expired 2 years ago.
We looked like this! Is the face paint necessary? No but it looks badass. Each company of cadets was trained, advised and later hunted down by Special Forces ODA, who are ghost-people that get paid to travel the world and kill. They were batshit crazy individuals with incredible tactical knowledge and a great desire to fuck with cadets. Actually though, we learned a lot from the SF guys about who our current enemy really is, and what our current wars really look like.
We were also followed around by a Task Force of 11B guys (Infantry) from the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum. They were responsible for grading each individual and correcting us when we fucked up before ODA could find out.
If they failed, we got blown out of our base or movement with simulated artillery rounds, and cadets were randomly selected with a "You're fucking dead!" after which we would have to carry them and their equipment to an absurdly faraway Casualty Collection Point to be 'revived.' I once had my "entire fucking leg blown off you fucking windowlicker" because I did not move tactically enough when assaulting the nearby enemy. I was in debt to the guy that had to drag me until I had to save him the next day for not identifying a tripwire connected to a (fake) IED on the road.
This is what C4 looks right after detonation when being used to clear concertina wire. The C4 is a "push" charge, so when we stick a lot onto a metal picket and detonate a charge in the C4, it will turn the picket into a hot knife that cuts barbed wire for us and clears the way.
Two female cadets, not in my company, decided to eat a piece of C4 as per recommendation of a very stupid Specialist and were sent to a hospital, and then removed from West Point :(
A Taiwanese exchange student decided to steal a chunk of C4 and put it in his backpack. He was removed from West Point and then apparently sent to jail :((
We goofed around a lot. It was very hot in the porta-potty, according to my buddy.
We had a rest day on July 4th! The lake was wildly beautiful.
When we weren't doing field exercises related to patrolling, we visited "lanes" for a day or two in the field where members of a particular branch of the Army taught us about their branch. I was able to command a tank crew of my buddies in a $7m combat simulator system, fly in a black hawk, shoot Howitzers and two different mortar systems, various C4-related and combat engineering (destruction) stuff, and so on.
During some day-time solo land navigation I found a downed huey in the woods and carved my initials in it. It was hidden on a hill which was on top of a couple more hills. In hindsight, it was on top of a mountain.
Depending on the scenario, we were allowed to build a hooch, which is kind of like a house:
The one above is a very, very nice hooch. This is the only pic I'll post that isn't mine because it exemplifies my month of training very well. I mean just look at his face!
Here's an incredible album of much better photos if you're interested:
The month of training ended with a 5-day, 4-night Field Training Exercise (FTX) which included a total of 8.5 hours of sleep and a whole load of insanity that I could never begin to write out in a post like this. In a civilian environment I could easily last 2 weeks in the woods at this point. In a pretend "hostile" environment as a pretend enlisted soldier, 5 days and 4 nights was more than enough for me.
In the end we ran 8.6 miles from Camp Buckner back to West Point. It was a lot of fun! This is my squad when we got back; I'm taking a knee on your left.
Now that I've completed CFT, I'm promoted to the rank of a Cadet Corporal, which is 2nd-from-the-bottom at West Point and the same as any other Cadet rank (i.e. irrelevant) in the big Army. When I start my next Academic Year in 6 days I'll be accountable for 1 or 2 incoming freshmen and learn the basics of taking care of subordinates in a non-hostile environment.
I'm happy to answer questions! I'm even happier to be done!
Here's a GoPro montage my buddy put together:
heh yup, they be crazy. If you're gunna put camo on ya better do it right next time. Face and hands, lights on darks, darks on lights. While you're at it go jump in a mud puddle. Aim for that dirty hippy look A very stupid specialist? He convinced two would be future officers to eat plastic explosives. The mans a legend among the E4 mafia. I thoroughly enjoyed the post, incredibly interesting and well written. It seems like the quality of training is extremely high, pretty damn cool man.We looked like this! Is the face paint necessary? No but it looks badass. Each company of cadets was trained, advised and later hunted down by Special Forces ODA, who are ghost-people that get paid to travel the world and kill. They were batshit crazy individuals with incredible tactical knowledge and a great desire to fuck with cadets.
Two female cadets, not in my company, decided to eat a piece of C4 as per recommendation of a very stupid Specialist and were sent to a hospital, and then removed from West Point :(
That means a lot coming from you. I certainly think they do a great job. The most interesting part of all this is that it's hardly about my class, the entire detail is simultaneously focused on the upperclassmen that act as our cadre. While we do CFT the upperclassmen are completing their 'leadership detail' that they need to graduate. I saw a lot of incredible budding leaders, a lot of really sad power-trippers, and a lot of guys just doing their best to learn and develop. If his career is ok after that, he will certainly be a legend in my eyes as well. Also the face camo was obviously for fun, I never put any on but some kids just did it for the 'Gram. There is no running from ODA anyhow.It seems like the quality of training is extremely high
The mans a legend among the E4 mafia.
Does West Point wear BDUs, not ACUs (or whatever they're called)? You mention crew served weapons. I assume that means M249? Is everyone else carrying an M16? Or are M4s standard now? I liked the M249. I cleaned an M60 once. It was far too complicated for my liking. But it was suitable penance for getting to shoot it. Is that artillery round 105 mm? Towed artillery piece? I was in FDC in my Guard unit but got down to the guns once and shot off a few 155 mm rounds from a self propelled howitzer. Fully detached powder bags, a breach the size of your helmet. Pretty intense. My unit switched to semi-detached towed 105s a year or so later. Did you dig foxholes? Fuck I hated that. The first four feet wasn't so bad, then it just felt like it could never be deep enough.
UCP (the digital one) is being phased out for OCP (current Army ACU that looks like BDU), and we intend to be 100% OCP by the end of this year. UCP is still authorized until then. Our gear was mostly issued UCP which looks so stupid but doesn't really matter, practically speaking. Every squad has a M249 and weapons squad runs with two M240B. I've shot both, mostly blanks, and holy fucking shit is the 240 a monster. I've had to field-clean both but only the 249 in garrison, thank god. edit: we're issued M4A1 with auto instead of burst now. The M4 is a beautiful rifle and very satisfying to take care of. When we shoot blanks though, it can misfire or malfunction pretty easily. That's a 105mm HEPD round, we shot from the M119 towed piece and a bigger one I can't remember. It's fucking great. I want to branch Field Artillery so I'm really into that shit. As an LT I'll have a job in FDC, on the gun line and also as a forward observer (or whatever an LT's role is in FO, I don't recall that specifically). No foxholes, thank god. Trainees weren't permitted to dig into the training grounds. That is a pain I will save to experience when I commission. WP has a lot of former Guard guys by the way. Haven't met a bad one of em yet. Where were you?
I was in the 32nd Brigade, 1-120 FA. My home armory was in Wisconsin Rapids, WI. We usually drilled at home eight weekends, then we spent four weekends and our summer two weeks at Fort McCoy. Fun fact: I got out December 2004 after serving my six year enlistment. They were stop lossed in May 2005 and activated in August. I sometimes think how different my life would have been had I joined six months later. When I joined we had 155 mm M109A5s, guns that had been obsolete for at least a few years, but that's how it goes in Guard units. When we switched it was to the M119s. In FDC we rode around in M577s, something that wasn't particularly comfortable or fast, but it looked kind of neat and was warm and dry in any weather. When we switched to light artillery we had to give up the tracked vehicles and stick with HMMWVs. Guard members at the officer and NCO level are fantastic. E-1 through E-4s are hit-or-miss. Half are in it for the college money, and half joined because they got out of high school and didn't really know what to do with their lives. The college kids (I was one of these) are mostly pretty good. They (we) understood things like grid coordinates quickly. The sort of lost guys (at least at the time (early 2000s) my unit was 100% male) could be all over the place. Some were good at field stuff; ask a specialist who's been in for 4-5 years to set up the camo with a couple privates, and they'd get it done and done well. But some were just as challenged at taking control of a military situation as they were their personal lives. They seemed perpetually kind of lost. As a lower enlisted (in the Guard nearly the only way to get E-5 is to re-up), my observation of the officers in FDC was if they had good NCOs and a good relationship with them, it was an awesome place to be. If one enjoys being in the field (it's called field artillery after all), it looks great. My NCOs were great. They really knew their stuff and worked well with the more experienced specialists and the younger guys and worked well with our officer. He knew when to step in and when to stand back. I'm totally lost on the uniform acronyms. I had BDUs, and I heard about ACUs but never had them issued to me. Beyond that, no idea. There were a lot of good times, and I look back on my time fondly. I'm glad I served and glad I got out, and while I'd have deployed if they'd told me to, I'm glad I didn't have to.
That's so cool man. I think I love the FA community the more I hear about it. And we spend a good deal of time learning how to work with all kinds of people, superior and subordinate, because there are lost people and people trackin' it all on every level. I hope to a figurative God that I can be a good officer for my people in any situation. Thank you for the motivation. Forget the uniforms lol, they change too often and the gear never keeps up. I just wish cadets were issued better rucks, the ones we have are dangerously shitty. I have maybe 2-3 months of anything close to "intense" field training and my right shoulder strap is about to tear off. I know what you mean. I'm way too green to have any clue how I will fare on deployment, but I would be so ready to hit it when told it's time.while I'd have deployed if they'd told me to, I'm glad I didn't have to.
i am aroused edit: also my name is David so that's pretty hilarious
Good write man. I know that your allowed a certain amount of money to buy gear, or your allowed to go beyond the budget with your own cash. My question is, are you allowed to buy your own choice of pattern in camo as long as it suits the terrain? Like multi cam or something like the new highlander kryptek stuff (thier desert terrain pattern) or atac au? I know that the army( I think it was), were considering kryptek and then one of the newer digital patterns won out because of a bulk buy money issue or something like that. Do my question is are you allowed to wear your own camo once deployed?
In the big Army, when you're deployed for example-- and depending on your unit-- you can purchase some gear such as equipment vests, rucksacks and other bits and pieces. Boots are a big one. At West Point we have to use what we're issued. To my knowledge, if we're talking conventional units, the only time you're not wearing your typical ACU is if you get one of those deployment shirt things. Also, Special Forces don't wear conventional uniforms. The only other thing that could change is wearing MultiCam on deployment vs. regular OCP in garrison. It's kinda different from OCPs but certainly not on the level of "wearing your own camo." I'm sure there are plenty of exceptions on deployment, contractors for example, but as far as I know uniforms are uniform :P
Great post, noway. Here's the bit that jumped out on me: Did they happen to mention that the current administration might be the current enemy? Just wondering.Actually though, we learned a lot from the SF guys about who our current enemy really is, and what our current wars really look like.
Quite the opposite. The Army seems to agree with my initial opinion about Trump and whatever drama is captivating the media: it doesn't matter. The world isn't going to end because Trump said so. Everyone will do their job every day the best they can do it, and it's nobody's concern who's ranks and ranks above them attending an eyes-wide-shut party tonight. Also, it's a strictly enforced rule that has to do with basic professionalism to not discuss personal political beliefs (or any other personal beliefs) in uniform. Which is a good thing, because just like in the civilian world-- although people tend to forget-- nobody cares about your opinion :D Upperclass cadets take a lot of classes on military ethics, American politics, etc. that deal with issues you allude to, and I hope to gain more insight on that starting this year. But one thing to keep in mind is this: wars are political maneuvers, but they're not fought by politicians.
I'm going to spend the first week standing outside their room with the door open, sitting backwards in a chair and sharpening a machete.
Hahhaha will do bud. The highlight of my feed is the crazy food you make.
Great honor. You remind me of the movie Dunkirk.
Haha, thank you, but no way man. A month in the woods of New England is not the same as the actual soldiers in an actual war fighting for their actual lives at Dunkirk, or any combat environment since then and today. But this stuff looks cool in pictures for sure :)
Nothing seems difficult at all once you've accomplished it and you're looking back. So I don't think anything I did is really that difficult, because it isn't! It's just about staying in the shit until you're out, and having the best time that you can. Pain is temporary, to beat the dead cliche. Most importantly: nobody does it alone! Nobody, ever. There are people around you that will be willing to help you and you should do your best to make sure they succeed as well. If you really don't think you can make it through something alone, you probably should be asking someone for help. You'd be surprised how willing people are to help you succeed. My ass is being saved by kids one minute and I'm saving their ass the next. In the field I check my buddies constantly to make sure they stay hydrated, but also that their sense of humor is intact. My buddy will do a foot check after a long day of moving in slopping wet boots to make sure I'm avoiding trench foot, but also throw a giant fucking brown recluse spider at my face an hour later to make sure I'm keeping my bearing and my sanity. So for me, I like to keep things lighthearted and force myself to be enthusiastic, don't take shit too seriously because it's all really a game, so play it and have fun. One of my leader's reviews on me said: "Always shows enthusiasm, even when he's faking it." And if that works, then it fuckin works!
Well, getting help from your peers if your peers aren't readily available is something to be prepared for too. If you're desperate for assistance, offer someone some pizza or some shit. I know I'll do anything for pizza. If I was in a leadership position and needed someone to take literal weight off someone else who was clearly having a bad time, I sometimes had to motivate them with an incentive. I earned myself 3 milkshakes and a fuckload of various nicotine products because my peers knew the ways to my heart. Just stuff to think about.
Good on you, that trip looks like both a lot of fun and pretty exhausting! A few questions- Hubski regulars may already know some of the answers, so forgive me if I ask things you’ve already answered somewhere else. How many miles of “rucking” did you do most days? How big was the group? When you didn’t build a hooch, did you sleep in a bivy, in a sleeping bag, or just out in the open? How many in your group? And a couple of general questions. What are you studying at Westpoint? Is it a general study track for becoming an officer, or something specific like pre-medic or engineering? Pardon my ignorance, I don’t really know how it works there. And good for you being finished with the trip - sounds like it’s a relief to be back in the front country.
It was hard to keep track of distances. Some mornings back at camp we had to wake up and ruck 6 or 7 miles for some graded events. In the field, we usually didn't have more than 3 movements a day of around 3km. The most we moved at once was an unknown distance of about 4 hours at night when the pointman was unable to negotiate a river crossing. During field training exercises we operated as a platoon on the highest level, about 45 people including 4 squad leaders (rising juniors at WP) 1 platoon sergeant (junior) and 1 platoon leader (senior). Ideally, I would sleep with a sleeping bag inside my bivy. In reality, I wrapped myself up in poncho on the line and did not sleep :( If it rained, which it did almost every night in the field except for one, I huddled next to my buddy on the line and we did our best to preserve warmth under a space blanket, which is a plastic blanket designed to trap heat. I'm majoring in Economics and trying to fit a Stats minor in my schedule at the moment. I'll graduate in 2020 with a minimum 5-year service requirement, beginning as a 2nd Lieutenant and ending roughly at Captain. I hope to leave after my minimum and hop into a master's degree and a career in finance. Thanks for asking! I hate talking about it in person with friends because I feel like a giant douche. At the same time it's so much going on at once that I feel like I need to talk about it just to center myself!
How do you keep your sanity and not make mistakes on no sleep. Is that something that you can manage or do you just end up making mistakes because of it and dealing with them as they come? I get tunnel focus pretty quickly during sleep deprivation, and memory goes to shit as well do you just learn to deal with that?
Helps to keep moving and have a task on hand. You only really feel tired once you stop moving. If you're not moving, keeping your body preoccupied somehow (I like to throw a handful of sunflower seeds in my mouth or some chewing tobacco if you hate yourself) helps you stay awake and focused. The problem is we spent a lot of time laying down in the dirt, not moving for hours looking down the sight a rifle and fighting with ourselves to stay awake. That's when a buddy comes in handy, a lot. But there were times when I spent an hour or two in a state of neither really being awake nor asleep. It definitely sucks. In reality the best thing you can do is get your work done thoroughly and complete your task so you can finally go to sleep. You can have all the caffeine you can find to buy yourself time, but you better have a good reason for depriving yourself of sleep, and hope that reason is a clear-cut mission you can accomplish soon. Long story longer I don't have an answer for your question cause there really isn't one, you just have to learn to succeed in that state of mind :P