FORT BENNING, Ga., (Dec. 16 2015) --"We're in the Army, right?" Staff Sgt. Justin Jones, drill sergeant, asked a platoon of Soldiers. "We're a warfighting organization, so part of how we win wars is through intimidation."
Jones instructed the basic training Soldiers of D Company, 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment, on how to properly carry themselves on the battlefield before they maneuvered the lanes and engaged targets during buddy team live fire Dec. 10-11 at the Oscar Range Complex.
Jones told Soldiers their fighting stance is important because it presents the image of a strong Soldier, but also helps them better engage their targets.
"Buddy, cover me while I move!" Pfc. Jeffrey Homan from Stuart, Florida, shouted to his battle buddy one lane over.
"Buddy, I've got you covered!" Pvt. Isaiah Grant from Beaumont, Texas, responded as Homan prepared to maneuver to his next fighting position.
Battle buddy teams made their way down the lanes communicating back and forth with their battle buddy until they reached the final barrier where they engaged the enemy with a grenade. Throughout the entire lane, they listened to the advice of their drill sergeants who maneuvered the lanes with them to ensure they were moving and engaging correctly.
"Keep your weapon pointed downrange," Staff Sgt. Benjamin Eckhardt told Grant as he maneuvered the lane.
The Soldiers prepared for this moment through rifle marksmanship train-up, lessons learned at the field training exercise and through hand grenade instruction.
"This is more advanced rifle marksmanship that we're teaching you, but the basics still apply," Jones said.
Homan said the buddy team exercise was exciting for him.
"It was pretty cool to take all of the stuff we've learned and put it together at one time," Homan said.
Grant agreed and said it was fun.
"(The event) was something I had never done, so it had me hyped," Grant said.
The most important thing during the training, Grant said, was attention to detail. Awareness of where his buddy was and communication between battle buddies came natural, Homan said.
Capt. Shinwon Moon, company commander, said the training incorporates ones of the most important aspects of all Army training - working together as a team.
"We're not teaching them to be individuals here; we are teaching them to be members of a team," Moon said.
While the event is typically a go or no-go event, Moon said D Company wants the Soldiers to value every shot and do their best.
"The consistent theme in our battalion is that we want to make every round count," Moon said.
The maximum score a battle buddy team could earn was 40 points of 60 total rounds between the two trainees.
Soldiers went through three iterations of buddy team live fire before shooting live rounds downrange. First, they did a dry run at the battalion, second they did a blank iteration at the Oscar Range Complex and then proceeded to perform a live run.
Homan and Grant said beyond the buddy team live fire, they were looking forward to the field training exercise and the 16K ruck march. Both said they were confident they'd make it to graduation.
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