Following our re-mission from points further north, we’ve finally settled into a routine here. Daily training occurs with the assistance of some CF troops from our partnered battalion. The IA unit is newly stood up, so there are the associated growing pains, but progress comes in leaps and bounds instead of inch by inch. We’re trying to get some of the baseline systems and procedures in place as they’re standing up, since it’s easier to shape a thing from the start than to re-shape it after it’s constructed incorrectly, but it’s definitely no picnic.
No good blog post would be complete without some pictures, and this one will be no different. Doesn’t matter what army you’re in, if they have a PT manual, rifle PT is in there. It sucks, big-time, but hey, that’s what it’s supposed to do. Witness the duck walk, in all it’s glory!
The Romanians are an incredibly competent unit, and their soldiers are very squared away. Here they demonstrate 360-degree security when regrouping at a rally point after breaking contact.
The IA squad looks similar, with a little coaching:
This picture was taken inside the shelter on the training area we were using to demonstrate house clearing procedures. Simple 4 man stack, assume a square room, etc, etc. I went inside to observe after we’d done the demonstration, and was struck by the shadows cast on the corrugated plastic walls by the assembled entry team outside.
With the exception of my leave post from back in the states, I generally just have pics of other guys doing the training, since I’m usually the one behind the camera. I handed off the Canon to SFC Shuck while I was acting as a demonstrator for the 4-man stack, and he got a couple of really good pictures. That it’s me in the photos is just a cool bonus.
4-man stack outside:
1st man in:
Note: before any of you tactical types leave comments about what we’re doing wrong, remember we were training inside and outside actions for each man. Door orientation, what to do with windows, etc, etc… not covered yet.
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