Polar Bears receive realistic training in U.K.

By Staff Sgt. Jennifer BunnAugust 14, 2014

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1 / 18 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, make their way up a hill in the Sennybridge Training Area of Wales as they march on to their next objective during Operation Commando Rattlesnake II, a joint trainin... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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2 / 18 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, make their way up a hill in the Sennybridge Training Area of Wales as they march on to their next objective during Operation Commando Rattlesnake II, a joint trainin... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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3 / 18 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, make their way up a hill in the Sennybridge Training Area of Wales as they march on to their next objective during Operation Commando Rattlesnake II, a joint trainin... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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4 / 18 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, make their way up a hill in the Sennybridge Training Area of Wales as they march on to their next objective during Operation Commando Rattlesnake II, a joint trainin... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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5 / 18 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, make their way up a hill in the Sennybridge Training Area of Wales as they march on to their next objective during Operation Commando Rattlesnake II, a joint trainin... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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6 / 18 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, make their way up a hill in the Sennybridge Training Area of Wales as they march on to their next objective during Operation Commando Rattlesnake II, a joint trainin... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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7 / 18 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, make their way up a hill in the Sennybridge Training Area of Wales as they march on to their next objective during Operation Commando Rattlesnake II, a joint trainin... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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8 / 18 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, make their way up a hill in the Sennybridge Training Area of Wales as they march on to their next objective during Operation Commando Rattlesnake II, a joint trainin... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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9 / 18 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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10 / 18 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, make their way up a hill in the Sennybridge Training Area of Wales as they march on to their next objective during Operation Commando Rattlesnake II, a joint trainin... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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11 / 18 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, make their way up a hill in the Sennybridge Training Area of Wales as they march on to their next objective during Operation Commando Rattlesnake II, a joint trainin... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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12 / 18 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, make their way up a hill in the Sennybridge Training Area of Wales as they march on to their next objective during Operation Commando Rattlesnake II, a joint trainin... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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13 / 18 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, make their way up a hill in the Sennybridge Training Area of Wales as they march on to their next objective during Operation Commando Rattlesnake II, a joint trainin... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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14 / 18 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, make their way up a hill in the Sennybridge Training Area of Wales as they march on to their next objective during Operation Commando Rattlesnake II, a joint trainin... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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15 / 18 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, make their way up a hill in the Sennybridge Training Area of Wales as they march on to their next objective during Operation Commando Rattlesnake II, a joint trainin... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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16 / 18 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, make their way up a hill in the Sennybridge Training Area of Wales as they march on to their next objective during Operation Commando Rattlesnake II, a joint trainin... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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17 / 18 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, make their way up a hill in the Sennybridge Training Area of Wales as they march on to their next objective during Operation Commando Rattlesnake II, a joint trainin... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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18 / 18 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers assigned to 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, make their way up a hill in the Sennybridge Training Area of Wales as they march on to their next objective during Operation Commando Rattlesnake II, a joint trainin... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

WALES, U.K. -- Crack! The flare pierced the night sky with a quick white flash. Soldiers fade into the shadows, but rapid rifle fire continues to echo throughout the village. Leaders yell out orders as their troops gain their bearing with the last flicker of light. All goes black, and the sound of combat boots scurry from building to building.

It was like a scene from the latest war movie. Weary Soldiers, who had marched several miles the previous day to their objective, hunker down on the outskirts of the village to gather intelligence on the enemy. They make their move under the moon and finally gain a foothold.

But it was not a movie, and it was not a war-torn country. It was the beautiful green rolling hills of Brecon Beacons in Wales, where Soldiers of 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team joined 1st Battalion, The Rifles, 160th Brigade, British army on their stomping grounds July 20-26 for a training exercise the Polar Bears will not soon forget.

The majority of the U.S. Soldiers are assigned to B Company with a few from other companies to fill in the ranks. Each platoon blended into a British company, which they call a coy. Once on the simulated battlefield, leaders guided their men from one skirmish to another. The Soldiers traversed several kilometers a day, often falling victim to an ambush or encountering a small enemy stronghold they soon overran. Their main objective was Cilieni Village, an elaborate Military Operations on Urban Terrain site consisting of several two- to three-story houses, a chapel and old tanks conveniently placed at the entrance and exit.

There were several blockades for the Soldiers to overcome to complete their missions. The terrain was an obstacle in itself. Whether a novice or a seasoned veteran, the rugged countryside took its toll on everyone. Sgt. 1st Class Robert Begley, a platoon sergeant with B Company, underestimated what the terrain would be like. Many of his younger Soldiers have only experienced the flat land in Fort Drum's training area.

"I've deployed four times, and (I didn't think) there could be too much worse terrain than walking through an irrigation field in Iraq, and then I got introduced to Brecon. The Brecon is breaking people," he said. "It is really tough terrain, and it really put our Soldiers to the test and let them see what kind of rigors they had to go through in order to operate in such harsh conditions."

There were a few minor injuries, but the Soldiers kept up a rigorous pace throughout the course and attacked their objectives with great enthusiasm.

"It was brutal walking up these hills and stuff, because we do not have those hills on Fort Drum, but the training I got here was definitely some of the best I've had in the Army so far," said Spc. Andrew Hartwig, an infantryman in 1st Platoon, B Company. His platoon was grouped with A Coy for the duration of the exercise.

Hartwig was attached to a British rifle squad when A Coy attacked Cilieni. They pushed out from their harbor (patrol base) around 10:30 p.m. to get settled in around the village so they could hit it right before dawn.

At the first house they tried to clear, their opposition pinned them down with machine-gun fire from the windows. A training grenade thrown in the upstairs window gave them the opportunity they needed to storm the door, but slabs of sheetrock and particle board made it difficult to climb the stairs.

"So we are trying to get up these stairs, and we are just falling down. It was definitely one of the harder times that I've had clearing a house," Hartwig said. "At Fort Drum and at some of the MOUT sites I've been to, there's only some furniture in there that you can put inside the door, but this time we could actually fortify the houses, and some of them we came up to, we (had to) crawl under (concertina wire). It definitely added a little bit more element of realism to it that I've had so far."

Each coy had a turn at defending and attacking Cilieni Village. When it was their turn to barricade, it was all up to the imagination and available items. Begley was taken aback by how far they could set up defenses at the village.

"It was really good," Begley said. "The big thing I liked best about training at this MOUT site was they have a little bit more ability to make it more realistic. We were able to place (concertina wire), and it added to the realism just that much more. People really had to assault while trying to be careful. If you ask any Soldier, it was super, super realistic.

"There were times when we were defending, I honestly felt that 'wow, this is a real combat situation,' and it really took me a second to pull myself back; we are training, not in real combat," he added. "The realism level was top notch. I'd find it really hard pressed for anyone to be able to compete with it."

The infantrymen were not the only ones to receive great training.

Forward observer Sgt. Briceton Langley, assigned to the fire support team in Headquarters and Headquarters Company, has spent the past four years as a Polar Bear. He has participated in several training exercises at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif., and Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, La., so he greatly appreciates the change of pace and the opportunity to train with the British fire support team.

"I think the training area is great here (in Wales); it's a good combination of different environments and elements you cannot get at (Fort) Drum," Langley said. "I think it is one of the neater things that you can do. … It helps us get back to what we are supposed to be doing."

Although Langley was unable to call for fire because of the differences between the two armies and no assets to call for during this exercise, he and 2nd Lt Marcel Seely, fire support officer from HHC, were able to compare their thoughts and U.S. doctrine with the British. Seely said this trip was very beneficial to him and the FIST Soldiers. Langley was able to be part of the plans process, which prepares him for becoming a fire support noncommissioned officer, and the radio transmission operators were able to train in the capacity of forward observers, something they have not had the opportunity to do in the past.

"A lot of the RTOs are here as forward observers by themselves, and that's pretty much the best way to learn -- trial by fire," Seely said. "(The guy) I was working with went through the process of planning all the targets. He does not get to call for fire because we do not have the assets available, but just going through the motions of planning and asking their platoon leaders what route they are taking and saying 'this is where I'd put an OP if I were you.'"

"It's just one of those lifetime opportunities that they are not going to have too many of," Seely added. "Plus they are having fun talking to the British soldiers and their counterparts. It's a good time."

As a seasoned combat infantryman, Begley takes being a leader seriously, and he wants the best for his Soldiers. He not only picked up on the British tactics but took the opportunity to observe their leadership style.

"For me as a leader, the best part was just seeing how other leaders interact with their Soldiers.

They have a different leadership style," Begley said. "It was beneficial for me to see that and open my eyes to make me see that maybe I need to focus more on this or that."

"I want my Soldiers to get the experience of training under a different country's military. I've trained with the Bolivian army, so it is always a great experience for me," he continued. "To train with other militaries is always just really good, and it teaches them how to interact with a different nation and be able to become more diverse in thinking."

All in all, the consensus from the Polar Bears was that training with the British army was a worthwhile experience.

"I liked interacting with the British," Begley concluded. "The soldiers were really welcoming. We had a British lance corporal who was our radio operator for the whole exercise. He was just a really helpful relay assistant, a really super smart Soldier, and all the Soldiers of the 1 Rifles are incredibly supportive. They really took us in and showed us that they are invested in us because they know that one day they may need us and we may need them."