FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- Sappers assigned to A Company, 41st Engineer Battalion, collaborated with Soldiers assigned to C Company, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, to fortify defensive fighting positions that ena- bled the infantry to destroy hostile forces during 2nd Brigade Combat Team's Mountain Peak exercise Oct. 26 to Nov. 5 on Fort Drum.
Focusing foremost on perimeter defense, Staff Sgt. Travis Kling, a platoon sergeant from A Company, 41st Engineer Battalion, and his Soldiers constructed a deadly labyrinth of concertina wire (C-wire) designed to funnel the enemy into the kill zone.
"We've set up a complete engagement area with numerous obstacles in order to keep (the enemy) from moving south through our position," Kling said. "We have two 11-row obstacles of C-wire, limiting the enemy's maneuverability through choke points on roads, and in open areas we have created fixed and turn obstacles to keep the enemy in the engagement area longer."
Kling said maneuvering through the series of twists and turns created by the C-wire obstacles would be a hazardous and time-consuming process.
Although largely responsible for the construction efforts, Kling and his Soldiers sought the advice of their infantry brethren for advice on where to block the most likely avenues of approach.
"The engineers described their capabilities, and we described what we wanted to do," explained Spc. Alex Knittel, fires team leader, C Company, 2-14 Infantry. "We both made a cumulative decision on how we were going to lay everything out.
"It's good when you have both units coordinating together to help the success of the mission," he added.
Laboring through the night with limited rest, together they finalized the barbed wire obstacles (tangle foot) located 100 meters away from their headquarters and C-wire obstacles (fixed and turn) at 25 meters out, ultimately securing the outer perimeter.
Refocusing their efforts on improving individual fighting positions, the engineers used D6 bull- dozers and High Mobility Engineer Excavators (IHMEE) backhoes, to ease the burden of manu- ally digging foxholes.
"They had bulldozers to rip up the earth for us (because) we were in a pretty rocky area," Knittel said. "Our entrenching tools were not cutting it. … Moving four inches of dirt an hour was pretty tough. So they brought in their machines and were able to make fighting positions and pushed earth where we needed it for making obstacles."
Finishing their fighting positions by concealing them with vegetation from the surrounding area, they settled in for the night -- waiting, listening and wondering if their collective hard work would pay off.
"The obstacles worked perfectly. They funneled (the enemy) into the open field," Knittel said with a grin. "It's like attaching soda cans to a rope and someone hitting it. You could hear them out in the field tripping over C-wire, breaking brush around it, cussing and yelling at each other."
Capitalizing on their foe's misfortunes, Knittel and his team engaged with their heavy weapons system, stopping enemy forces dead in their tracks.
He added that the muzzle flashes seemed to flow rhythmically through the night, like an orchestra of fires in the wood line.
"We were able to use our 50-caliber machine gun positions to our advantage and pretty much decimate their first wave of attack," Knittel said.
"No one was able to get back to our tactical operations center; no one was even able to get within 100 meters of our company headquarters element, where our commander and first sergeant were located."
Remaining composed during the firefight let the "Golden Dragons" of 2-14 Infantry suppress nearly 300 enemy Soldiers while sustaining limited casualties.
Knittel contributed mission success to teamwork, experience and coordination with other elements on the "battlefield."
"Our engineer attachments and detachments were outstanding," he said. "When we work together, we can accomplish anything.
"This was one of the best adjacent-unit coordinations and usage of attachments (that) I've seen," Knittel added.
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