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2-1 Fine Tunes Teamwork Skills

Oct- 1-2004 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

Strykerdad172nd sends a link to this article describing the training taking place in Alaska for the 172nd.

[Link to Full Article] (Photos included)
Cpl. Douglas DeMaio, 20th Public Affairs Detachment

FORT GREELY – For the past two weeks, troops, from Company B, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, spent much of their time in the field receiving platoon external evaluations during battle drill training at Donnelly Training Area.

From reacting to hostile fire to dealing with civilians on the battlefield, each platoon is tested on its capacity to deal with adversity.

As senior leaders in the battalion assesses the platoons’ performance and ability to adapt to the battlefield environment, one obstacle stands out in the minds of many: a majority of them have spent their career being foot Soldiers, light infantry.

“Infantry fighting concepts are the same whether you’re mounted or dismounted and our Soldiers and leaders are able to adapt now that they are mounted on a very capable platform,” said battalion commander Lt. Col. Chuck Webster.

That platform, the Stryker, helps infantrymen grasp the concept of close with and destroy the enemy by means of fire and maneuver.

“Close, fire and maneuver is the spirit of the infantry,” said platoon leader 2nd Lt. Duke Reim. “The transition to a motorized unit is working itself out. Troops out here are training well. We’re just trying to integrate these vehicles.”

Stryker battalion leaders are integrating into operations during platoon external evaluations.

Similar to using a queen in chess to capture the king, Strykers hold similar qualities of maneuvering on the battlefield.

“The Stryker by itself, with its speed, its protection, and its ability to deliver an infantry squad anywhere on the battlefield is just incredible,” Webster said. “It increases our ability to be able to deal with almost any situation.”

During the platoon external evaluations, testing the platoons’ ability to deal with almost any situation became a recurring theme.

When exiting the Stryker and carrying out command decisions during combat, Soldiers must overcome an objective while maintaining communication.

The chaotic, unfamiliar environment mixed in with limited intelligence and an unpredictable enemy poses several challenges.

“Some of the problems we’ve been having is ‘How is the platoon leader going to communicate with the company commander?’” said company commander Capt. Rusty Topf. “How is he going to talk to his dismounted squads and his vehicles? How does he control all these different moving pieces? If he can’t communicate, or if we don’t have that piece worked out, are we going to lose a lot of potential combat power that is available for him?”

The platoon leaders and squad leaders are learning to work together, said Webster. With every iteration these men go through, they learn to be more agile and effective when dealing with situations.


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