 |  |  |  |  |  |
Pioneer Journal - Class A-104 The Pioneer School is a program implemented by the SMVM and taught by a former Army Ranger with combat experience. The school's purpose is to produce squad leaders. A squad is a basic fighting unit. It normally consists of two fire teams and a squad leader. A secondary purpose of Pioneer School is to produce leaders capable not only of leading a well-trained squad, but also to produce leaders capable of training civilians to operate as a squad. As a level two qualified militiaman and fire team leader, I resolved to join and graduate from this very first Pioneer class. Failure is not an option I'll entertain. Not knowing what to expect, I decided to keep a journal so that future candidates could read all about it and decide if it was right for them. This journal will also serve as a reference for future class planning and help in implementing any of the changes to the program that are bound to come in the future. Lastly, this journal is my chance to occasionally gripe and preach my own opinions. Yes, everybody gets one of those too.. Please note that because this is written from my point of view, some of the other guys will have different versions to tell and might emphasize different aspect of the training than me. That's cool. I'd like to see a write-up from each of us. If you're planning to enter the Pioneer program, look for some of the graduates of this first class to be your instructors as well. Get to know us, you might learn something along the way. March 4, 5, 6, 2005 I arrived Friday evening to a very Arctic Camp Stasa. The wind was blowing cold and the snow was deep. The field crossing was a challenge, but thanks to my sled, I managed to cross without too many stops to catch my breath. Already in camp were Super Six and Tinman. They were in the "Griffin's Den" with a warm fire going in the stove and some stew warming on top. I said my "hellos" and headed out to the bivouac area to do some digging. I'm sure glad I packed an e-tool. Clearing the ground for my trusty Eureka Timberline tent was a LOT of work. I've had that tent since I was sixteen, and I think I'll finally retire it this year. The walls just close in a little too tight for me now that I'm older and less agile. I returned to the Griffin's Den for some stew. That hit the spot. I was wiped out and it was past my usual 2130 bedtime so I said "Good Night" and crawled into my sleeping bag. I slept for a bit when I heard the pitter patter of feet - Kong (StandOnGuard) was here with Chuckwagon. I got out of bed and loaned him my e-tool, turned back in and hunkered down for a VERY COLD night's sleep. Surprise - Kong cannot be awakened. I honestly thought he might have frozen to death or suffocated during the night. I was thinking we could ship him back to Canada with "Perishable - Keep Frozen" stamped on the box. Mouse had shown up during the night and we were soon joined by Mak 9, Jester, Truck Stop, and Eagle. So we were eight; Bishop, Kong, Mak 9, Mouse, Eagle, Jester, Tinman, and Truck Stop. Today would be spent on Level Two Qualification for those folks that weren't already qualified. Although Kong made several valiant efforts to meet the standard, he had to drop. The snow and cold air was kicking my butt and sent me right into an asthma attack - its been a while since I had one of those. ALWAYS have your personal first aid stuff on you - anything you might need! A few inhaler puffs later had me feeling OK, but after just one 25 minute mile in that snow I was toast. Even if you're in good shape, deep snow, gear and winter boots will take their toll. I'm glad I was already qualified! That left seven. A meeting in the Griffin's Den gave us all a hint of what was to come. This could be quite a challenge! We were able to vote on the food supply - we decided to chip in on MRE cases. The ration is to be one MRE per twelve hours in the field, no extra food allowed. We also voted to supply our own ammo rather than pitch in for group ammo. We'll need to work as a team, to move together and watch each other's backs. I'm willing to help others and listen to them when they have something to say. I can follow orders and I can lead others too. I hope we all just get along. They say that if you put a group of people in a room, they might not pick a leader but they'll definitely pick someone to hate. I hope we don't get caught up in that mentality either. We were able to go home early with lots to think about for next month. Hopefully it won't be half as cold and I'll be all the readier to be a graduate of the first class of Pioneers! We Can Take It! April 1,2,3, 2005 Friday evening I arrived at Camp Stasa and geared up. The snow was gone and the temps were mild but still chilly. After hiking out the bivvy zone, I confirmed that I was alone this evening. I set up camp and settled in for a chilly night's sleep. Sometime later I heard a few others arrive, but I didn't even fully wake to greet them. I figured I'd see them in the morning and if they needed me, they'd come and get me. My little watch beeped me awake at 5:20 and I rose like Count Orlock, frozen stiff as a corpse. I'm getting old. I geared up and walked out to the range to wait for the other trainees to arrive. When I say "geared up" I'm not kidding. The Pioneer packing list is very thorough - and heavy! Try it sometime, you get a real shock when you carry what you need on your body instead of in the trunk of your car. Gear check. Dump out everything on your poncho and hold up each item as it is read off of the list. This keeps you honest! All seven arrived and we set about the first task of the day. Given a knife and some 550 cord, build a fire. Super Six did a short lecture on the subject and demonstrated the ideas to us and then sent us on our way. Now, if you've never tried making fire without matches or flint or a lighter or magnesium or whatever, you really need to try it. Only by sawing away for three hours on a friction bow can you truly appreciate the skill this takes. It takes something else as well - dry wood of the right kind. I must say it was almost comical to see each of us huddled around out little fire material with the wind gusting and the curses rising up to be carried away by it! Nobody succeeded. Super Six however, managed to start his fire by using a piece of 2x4 he found. This could be considered cheating but the effect was still one of amazement that it can work at all. Most of us vowed to try it all again on our own after learning more about the science of the thing. Next we lined up for our ration distribution - 3 MREs to last us until Sunday evening. Next on the agenda was determining our pace count. That's the number of steps you take in 100 meters. Its important to realize two things: first, how important it is to keep an accurate account of the distance you travel through the woods and second, how hard it is to do that when you're walking through the woods. This is a skill we will be getting lots of practice at over the coming months. A tactical road march followed. Here we were walking on a road, and when the time came to check distance, we had some differing opinions of the right answer. Everyone's pace count might be different, but the road is the same for us all. We should all be pretty close to the same number. We'll work on that. This month I'm carrying the AR15 instead of my M1A. This move will shave a lot of pounds off of my total combat load. I know a lot of people don't think the 5.56 is an effective round, but an awful lot of folks have been killed by it over the years. I'd bet those die-hard 7.62 guys wouldn't volunteer to be shot with a 5.56! All of a sudden the round seems scary-effective. The same goes for the 9mm as far as I'm concerned. Anyway, I admit that carrying the M1A feels a lot more hard core, but I guess I'm just getting old. We need 240 rounds of ammo with us regardless of caliber so you do the math. Back at the tent we get an unexpected and welcome surprise. We will be allowed access to Chuckwagon's $2 lunch. Since most of us had no breakfast that morning, we attacked the burgers like hungry wolves. What a great feeling. After lunch was lecture time. Basic patrolling. The late afternoon took us out to "the hole" for hand signal lessons and question and answers mainly centered around the communication process between a squad leader and his assistant squad leader (senior fire team leader). That cleared up a lot of confusion that many of us had about the subject. Back to camp and time for that yummy MRE dinner. Saturday night was cold! On Sunday morning we went out on our first serious patrol. Recon the property. Lots of good practice. Communication is a real challenge but its getting better. On patrol, we take turns being squad leader, senior scout etc. By the end of the course, we will all have had a chance to do everything and will be evaluated on it. This will help determine if we graduate or not. May 7, 8, 2005 Friday evening I pulled in a bit late and hunkered down in my vehicle for a good night's sleep. Some rain came through during the night and I was hoping it wasn't going to rain all weekend long. 0520 hours, my watch alarm beeps me awake. The temperature is pleasantly cool and the sky looks clear. Looks good. 0600 hours, camo class. Paint those faces and keep them that way. Face paint is an art that takes practice to get good at. It makes a world of difference on the battlefield though. We don't do it for fun after all, its about survival. Once we were properly painted up, we donned all our gear for a road march. "All our gear" includes the rucks too. Time for three miles on the road. This would also be an exercise in pace counting. Here's a word about rucksacks. As all civilian backpackers know, the majority of the weight of a pack should ride on your hips not your shoulders. The heavier the pack is the more important this becomes. Remember, your gear needs to be flexible and should suit the mission. If you plan on spending a week with the ruck on your back, don't wear a buttpack - that way you can cinch that waist belt around your hips to carry the load. If its not too heavy, resting the ruck on top of the buttpack is a good way to go ( the buttpack and pistol belt form a kind of waist belt) but thats not near as good as a proper hip belt. A vest is a great way to go when wearing a ruck, also the newer Ranger RACK chest rigs. These allow you to carry much heavier loads in the ruck in relative comfort. I keep my buttpack on (pioneer SOP) but I leave it empty for heavy long term ruck humping. When we drop the packs for a short patrol, I can put essentials in the buttpack (mission dictated - MRE, poncho etc) and have them with me. Anyway, road marches are always fun and this one gave us another chance to compare notes on distance covered as determined by our pace counts. No two people are exactly in agreement, but for the most part, the differences were small enough to work in the field. One of these days we'll be doing a land navigation course to test ourselves individually when it counts. Most of us were toast after the road march. As a whole, we're not in as great a shape physically as we should be. All militiamen should remember that fitness is critical to mission success. I'd advise future candidates to get in shape before they get here. Its not SEAL training, but most Americans are pretty soft nowadays and will find it challenging. Back at camp we helped out the rest of the citizens with level one qualifications etc. as there were no senior members in the field that day. By the afternoon though, some regulars arrived and freed us up for more Pioneer stuff. We set up poncho shelters after another short patrol and got ourselves squared away for overnight. Most of us crashed out as soon as our beds were ready, but in the back of our heads we knew we had a night patrol coming at about 2230 hours. SuperSix kept watch and helped everyone wake up in time for our evening stroll through the woods. I strongly advise eye protection for night patrolling in particular. Nothing ruins a trip like a stick in the eye! A few miles later we were snug in our beds and snoozing. Sunday morning was sunny and damp. The dew had settled very heavy and all our stuff was pretty wet. We left our packs to dry and roadmarched back to camp with just a fighting load and some breakfast in our buttpacks. A couple of new guys showed up after breakfast. I went out on the level one walk with them and found out a bit about them. Both vets, they seem pretty well squared away. On the range, we began learning fireteam movement with buddy teams moving and providing covering/suppressive fire for one another. This training starts slow with a major emphasis on safety and baby steps first. Soon we were moving pretty well together and I think we all had fun with it. The last order of the day was to clean up the Griffin's Den. What a mess! We'll keep our eye on things and nail anyone we catch leaving a mess in there. Look out. Pioneeers - We Can Take It! June 4, 5, 2005 I arrived Saturday morning to find the other Pioneeer Trainees ( Mak-9, Mouse, Jester, Tinman) getting their war paint on amidst huge clouds of mosquitoes. I really hate those little blood-suckers, damn this could be a very long weekend. As much of a hassle as it is to apply face paint, the difference in camo effectiveness is remarkable. An unpainted face stands out like a pie plate in the woods. I think the group of us are becoming better friends now than before. When you spend time with people, you get to know them, that's usually a good thing. After all, its all about the man next to you. The first order of the day was a short road march. Walk two miles with a fighting load (no ruck). Our training fighting load by the way, consists of the following items: Boots and Socks, BDUs - top and bottom, T-Shirt, Patrol Cap or Boonie Hat ID Tags Wrist Watch Pocket Knife Notebook and Two Pens Belt LBE Suspenders and LBE Belt Pouches and Mags with 240 rounds minimum Battle Rifle Combat Knife First Aid Kit Cleaning Kit Butt Pack 2 - One Quart canteens with Covers Canteen Cup Water Purification Tabs Compass Pace Beads FRS Radio Personal items and food or poncho etc can be added as is desired, but most of the extras are carried in your ruck. This list is what you keep on you all the time. By the end of the walk, we were already feeling the heat. The forecast called for temps in the 80s with very high humidity - they were right. After the road march we went over the right way to search a body for gear and intel. We took turns at being the corpse, the security and the searcher. Its not easy being a dead enemy soldier, you get no respect! This was a hands-on exercise and was actually a lot of work. Next on the agenda was an ambush class. The temps were climbing now and most of the rest of the militia was on-site for regular monthly training. Fireteam buddy movements came next. Move while your buddy provides covering fire. We were really getting warm out there. Now get your rucks on, we're heading out. By the way, in our rucks: canteen, 2 qt with cover attached bag, clothing waterproof liner, poncho, camouflage poncho, nylon camouflage gloves, leather work w/wool inserts water purification tablets or iodine drops foot powder insect repellent face paint lip balm bdus complete flash light, L-shaped w/red lens (military type) socks, wool cushioned sole 4 pair t-shirt brown black tape, friction or electrical sewing kit weapons cleaning kit, small arms shaving kit/hygiene kit large brown towel water proof bags (ziplock) one snap link terrain/weather: parka, cold weather sleeping bag, individual scarf, wool under shirt cold weather, polypro drawers, cold weather, polypro liner, field jacket This is a basic trainee packing list, you can carry any extras you might need, especially in the winter, just no extra food - one MRE per 12 hours. Once in the field, we settled into a 360 and had some food. The hungrier you are, the yummier the MRE. Let me add here that the genuine GI MREs are better than the civilian versions commonly available from Cheaper than Dirt etc. Some retailers will say they're the same but they aren't. Its worth the extra money for the real things. Think about how much you'll spend on beer on any given saturday night and stop complaining about the price of good food and gear. After brunch, we investigated some likely ambush spots and discussed some ambush basics while we were out. The march back in was no cooler or shorter than the one going out, funny how that works isn't it? At least the mosquitoes were busy suffering heat strokes and weren't that bad for mealtime. Back at base camp we covered basic compass skills taught by yours truly. We were going to need these skills on the graded compass course that was coming soon. Since I still have your attention let me toss in another recommendation - get the best you can afford. Go without and save up. Remember, that compass will be exposed to extremes of temperature, submersion in mud and water, and must maintain its structural integrity after you land on it, then it has to accurately determine precise degree measurements - all without batteries. If you're ever REALLY lost, you'll wish you had a good compass - I guarantee it. I'd go cheap in most other areas, but not rifles, knives or compasses. Saturday evening brought on the practice land nav course. Accuracy is important. We then went out on patrol with the specific objective of doing a stream crossing. We got a little muddy but no big problems there. As we came back to camp we covered linear danger zones (road crossings etc) and did a run through on that technique too. By this point we were all pretty well toasted and we got some much needed break time evening. A change of clothes and a promise of no night patrol had everyone feeling pretty good. Tomorrow was the compass course. I had a great night's sleep in a Guide Gear one-man bivvy tent. I can recommend it as a great alternative to donating blood all night long. Sunday morning. Sunday was forecast to be hotter that Saturday was, and storms were due to roll in that afternoon. I was hoping we could clear out before then and it looked like that was going to be the case. But not before the land nav course. Objective: find six smalll pieces of paper in the middle of a swarming, muggy nasty muddy patch of woods. Bring back the intel, and do it within 1 an 1/2 hours. We started 25 minutes apart. From point A, follow an azimuth for a given distance to point B. Write down the code you find there and read off your next azimuth and distance to point C etc. Think its a piece of cake? Try it sometime. I'm happy to say that we all passed the course. We rounded off Sunday afternoon with an on-line suppressive fire exercise. Using a fireteam and buddy teams, maintain fire on the objective i.e. cover your buddy's mag change so that the fire never lets up. That was fun and a good way to burn off stress. We Can Take It! July 8, 9, 10, 2005 I arrived at Camp Stasa Friday evening around 2045 hours. The weather was beautiful, blue sky, green fields. The grass was tall and home to many mosquitoes so I looked for a good place to bivvy near the cornfield. There it was - an alien crop circle. No corn growing in a circular area near the edge of the field - perfect place for my one-man bivvy shelter. The night was noisy with strange sounds. Tinman pulled in around 2230 and then SuperSix and Jester pulled in late at 0130 hours. They shot off some fireworks into the darkness but eventually turned in. Saturday morning my trusty watch alarm woke me at 0520. By 0600 Mak 9 arrived. It turns out that we had lost another member of the class. So we were four. Camo up and gear up. Road march time. At least it isn't too hot yet, a couple miles in gear can get you sweaty in a hurry. I heard it was going up to 87 degrees today and 91 Sunday! While on the march, we were to recon the road for a good ambush spot. With Jester as squad leader (we rotate that position constantly) we really checked out the possibilities. There's a lot to consider, but we found a suitable spot and arranged for various contingencies (rally points etc.) Our plan was to ambush the level one folks making their road march later that day. Next on the agenda was small unit tactics - the "center peel" maneuver in particular. We ran through this one so many times, we were exhausted but hell - We Can Take It! Our training took us a bit overtime and the alarm was raised that some folks were out on their two-miler. Damn! We wanted to ambush these folks. If we could get into position at the right time, they wouldn't see us set up. It turns out that the only way to get into position at the right time was to run! I mean run, in gear in the heat, no Nike track shoes - it wasn't easy but we made it. The ambush went off smoothly and everyone that needed to die would have. That felt pretty good. About 1300 hours came lunch time. MREs. When you're really hungry they're really good. After lunch was patrol time. The heat wasn't letting up, neither was the humidity. Heat injuries are a reality to watch for - even among the young and in-shape. Learn all you can about them, it can save your life. Super Six's idea of a fun patrol was to take us out through the swamp. Not near it or over it or around it, but through it. The green slime floating on the water was a very nice color I must admit, and the water felt cool compared to the high temps we were working in earlier, but wet is wet. Mud is mud. We finally got back on dry land and headed towards the range. Back at the range, we all had a good sit-down to dry our feet. The afternoon brought more center peel training with the addition of live fire. We were getting quite exhausted. Time for class in the big tent. Class that day covered the SALUTE report and METT-T. Then we all took a much-needed nap. After all, we'd be up most of the night. As evening approached, we marched out to scout out some positions for overnight OPs. Mak 9 and I would man OP-1 and Tinman and Jester would have OP-2. I think we had the better spot, a nice little nest among the trees. OP-2 was out in the big field near the irrigation ditch. No shelter. We marched back in to eat our dinner and check gear for the night. We covered radio procedures that we'd use that evening and established a challenge and a response. Before heading out for the night however, it was time for mid-term reviews. We each took a turn in the big tent with SuperSix. He made sure we knew how we were doing and what we needed to square away if we were to finish the course. This was very productive and a good way to evaluate. Packs on, head out. Mak 9 and I arrived about 2200 hours. We were to watch the road up near the farmhouse and would be the first to spot anyone coming in that night. OP-2, out in the field, would watch "the bend" and the range end of things. We were to have alternating radio checks every hour throughout the night. Aside from the mosquitos that kept buzzing in my ear, the night wasn't half bad - at least not for OP-1. I don't exactly know what happened in OP-2, but suffice to say, they had a very tough time with the critters. Rifles were loaded and whipered radio messages like "I've chambered a round, if you hear a gunshot, its just me." were to be heard that night. Ask Tinman or Jester about that evening sometime, I'm sure they'd have a story to tell you. Back at base camp, SuperSix was having his own adventures with god-only-knows-what. I guess it made enough noise for OP-2 to hear but out at OP-1, things were fairly peaceful. Mak 9 and I packed up and returned to base at 0600 hours. Tinman and Jester got there soon after but without their gear. Their OP was still operational though unmanned. They had one hell of a rough night and I don't think either one of them got more than an hour sleep all night. Time for Sunday morning's chow. This time we all tried a T-Ration. Its a big five pound tray of - in this case - eggs and bacon bits and cheese. Its supposed to feed the whole squad and it did a pretty good job of it. Overall not too bad. First thing after chow on Sunday was range estimation class. You need to know how far away a man is if you're going to shoot him. OK, this skill is useful for mapmaking and recon too. Range estimation was followed by more live fire center peel maneuvers. The day was really heating up and it was just after noon. By this time Tinman was falling out with heat exhaustion so we decided to call it a week-end at about 1400 hours. What an awesome weekend with a great bunch of guys! We Can Take It! August 5, 6, 7, 2005 Friday August 5th, 2000 hours. I roll in to camp Stasa and I can't believe how tall the corn is! You can't see anything past this huge wall of corn. Pretty cool. I set up my tent and head to the range to dial in a new scope for Doc's M4. I'm simultaneously testing out the Beta-C Mag (flawless so far). Highly recommended. I settle in for a beautiful night's sleep. No crazy critters, no rain, fireflies, a beautiful starry sky..... Saturday morning 0520 hours. Its supposed to get hot again today, its been a hot summer too. You can't fight the weather. The first order of the day is weapons' class. Each of the remaining four takes a turn teaching a weapon to the class. This will be a necessary skill if we are ever to train civilians to fight during times of crisis. Also, you never know what weapon you'll have to fight with in an emergency. Jester - AK-47 Mak9 - G3 / CETME series Tinman - AR 15 Family Bishop - M1A Weapon M stepped up to give us a lesson on the Daewoo he so often carries. This was all a good time and very productive. I learned a thing or two and that's always a good thing. Road march time. "Tactical" (don't you just hate how overused that word is?). As we rounded muddy corner we noticed the rest of the militia folk heading out for their tactical march. After our turn-around, we didn't see them. Smells like an ambush. Since I was squad leader for this particular patrol, I pulled us off the road and into the woods. I hoped we could come up behind the ambushers and ambush them. As it turns out, they weren't waiting to get us and we just hid in the woods and watched them all walk by. I'm sure they were suspecting an ambush on their way back so we double-timed back to the range. Six wanted to play some mind games with everyone by appearing at the range even though we had not been seen on the road. It all gets complicated, but we used our training effectively and we felt really good about doing it too. The four of us have gotten much better at silent communication and teamwork. Next up - some immediate action drills. React to linear ambush to your flank. Ambushes are bad. Its much better to avoid them altogether - just trust me on that one. If you're not dead in the first few seconds, the enemy has F'd up big time. That's a break I wouldn't count on getting. Stay alert! Several reps of this was a nice pre-chow workout. Chow time. Beef Ravioli MRE, perhaps the best MRE I've had. It tastes just like the cans mom used to open. After chow, there's a big patrol coming up this afternoon. Drink lots of water. For some reason the M1A and 240 rounds of 7.62 NATO in those big heavy mags are kicking my ass today. The temp is up in the 80s and the sun is nice and bright. No time to complain. Off we go. We're doing another full recon patrol of the property as well as establishing a series of points on the ground that will forever be referred to by letter designations (point Alpha, Bravo etc.). We'll know what we're talking about even if nobody else does. One of our most important jobs is recon. Its not flashy or great war-movie stuff but it is critical. The militia will know the terrain better than any stranger in our land. That's a huge advantage for us. With no fire support at our disposal we will have to choose our battles carefully. Gathering intel will be the critical step to staying alive and picking our fights. I walk point for a while then we switch it up. We're always rotating jobs. That's good training. Point is a tough position. In the real world you need your best man up there, not anyone expendable. Along the way, SuperSix spots what he's sure is bear sign. I must admit it does look like a small black bear to me. We ought to name it. After a creek crossing (twice) we're good and muddy. Everyone is overheating at this point too but <<We Can Take It!>>. Two quarts of water on the fighting load go fast in this weather. Water purification technology is critical. On the last leg in to camp we decide to try to covertly infiltrate the range. Our mistake was being too noisy when we were still far out. Some folks heard us. Once we kicked into stealth mode however, nobody had a clue. We were able to get within hand grenade range and hunkered down for recon. The mosquitoes don't seem to care that you've already given blood that day, they just never stop sucking - especially when you're trying not to move or make a sound because the tangos are looking right at you. A whistle gave us the signal to move in. Nice job Tinman in Squad Leader slot and nice job everyone. The four of us are really getting along well together and we make a good team. Break time. I headed downrange to get in a few rounds of left-handed bowling pin shooting, followed by Tueller drill sprints. That was a nice time. Anytime you get to stand side by side with your wife and shoot guns is a good time. Surprise! For reasons undisclosed, we're done for the weekend. What a treat! SuperSix may have had some personal business to attend to, I don't know - all I know is I just got a Saturday night and a Sunday dropped in my lap. Cool by me. One month to go! We Can Take It! September 9, 10, 11, 2005 Its almost over. Friday evening about 2030 hours Doc and I roll in to Camp Stasa. Doc is along tonight for the "official sleepover training" that was supposed to happen this weekend. Several folks were already camped out and the atmosphere was family friendly with spouses and children in tow. Its probably not going to be a hardcore training evening. We set up our tent and I checked in with Super Six to find that I had the midnight to 0130 hours guard duty shift. Not too bad, but by the time I get to sleep I'll have about three and a half hours left till morning. Oh well. The campfire was nice and several folks were up late chatting. Tinman rolled in this evening too and was pretty fired up to knock this thing out. He may get the award for "Person Who Most Wanted to Graduate". There was nothing going to stand in his way right from the very start seven months ago. Saturday, 0520 hours, I'm awake. There's enough time for me to get in a yummy breakfast of beef stew MRE. Mak9 and Jester pull in by 0600 hours. Time to put on my makeup. First thing on the agenda is a quick two-miler. No problem. What's next? A quick orientation on the L1A1 ( FN-FAL) rifle from Super Six was next. This was followed by a skills test. An AR-15, an AK-47 and the L1A1 were disassembled and jumbled up into a pile. We each had ten minutes to come up with three functioning rifles. Every one of us came in well under five minutes! Good job! We can take it! Our next test consisted of finding a suitable location for an OP and to build a hide there that could not be seen even when looked at directly. The hide had to provide concealment and comfort for a two-man team and had to give a direct view of the forest road. We had two hours. At least the mosquitoes weren't bad. Jester and Tinman formed one buddy team and Mak9 and I formed the other. Mak9 and I scouted for about an hour and finally decided on a location. Our hide would be behind the root struture of a giant tree that had fallen over. The trunk even provided us with good cover in case things got hot. We dug (drilled) a hole through the dirt that was stuck between the tree roots and that gave us a nice view of the road. From the road, nothing seemed out of place. Our right flank was blocked from view by a nice thicket. Someone could only spot us by wandering off the road and out around the thicket to our right. The whole thing took us about forty minute or so to get right. We hunkered down for a rest with twenty minutes to spare. Two hours was up. Super Six radioed for us to come back to camp and get some chow. He was headed out to try his best to spot our hides. About an hour went by and over the radio we hear "Mak9 and Jester get out here". We were sure that he had found the two hides. I couldn't stand the suspense so after about twenty minutes ar so I wandered out to the woods to hear the news. It was good. Neither team's hide could be found. Both offered excellent views of the road and both were comfy for two men to sleep and observe in shifts for several days. Back to camp. It was afternoon now and we pioneers were slated for a joint exercise with the rest of the militia folks. Mak9 and I each headed up a fireteam to run a short patrol through the woods to practice fireteam movements. That went very well. There were a couple of new guys that followed along just great too. Time for a meeting in the Griffins Den. A toast! With canteen cups raised high and Coca-Cola in every one, a toast to the Pioneers Class A-104! We made it. We're done. For the next hour or so we discussed some ways to change and improve the program for next year. There are several months to hammer out the details, but the program will change in several ways. We're all pretty grateful that Super Six went through with the program. One man can make a difference. Is the Pioneer program for you? That's a tough question. If you're looking for a new hat to wear, just go out and buy one. If you're looking for a new patch to sew on your uniform, save your thread. If you're looking to challenge your fortitude and endurance, and sharpen and test your militia skills, then sign up. Do you want to be a leader? Do you want to be someone that others can count on to go the extra mile? Do you know how to take responsibility for everything your men do and fail to do? Can you eat last, drink last, sleep less and carry more than you ask of any of your men? Think it over. Maybe I'll see you next year. Pioneers - We Can Take It! |
 |  |  |  |
