FORT BENNING, Ga., (Aug. 31, 2016) -- Soldiers from the Maneuver Captain's Career Course Class 4-16 engaged in a field training exercise Aug. 24 at Selby Combined Arms Collective Training Facility.
The objective of the exercise was for the students to coordinate an attack on Selby Village and seize the buildings from the opposing force with minimal casualties.
"The overall objective was that the friendly forces are trying to re-establish local government legitimacy here and get the opposing force out," said Capt. Matthew Morrell, an MCCC student.
Key tasks included maintaining tempo throughout the seizure of the village, minimizing unnecessary collateral damage and preparing for enemy counterattacks.
"(The students) have been trying to do their troop leader procedures in the field and go through the planning process and synchronization process," said Capt. Jacob Dellinger, an MCCC student.
MCCC instructors made use of smoke canisters and barbed wire to create additional challenges to the field training exercise.
The invading MCCC students also had to contend with the opposing forces firing from the buildings in Selby village.
"Essentially, I think it was three companies who attacked here, so taking three different companies with three different types of leadership and then having them sync a plan together and then move out and execute," Dellinger said.
Dellinger explained that the MCCC students have done a lot of planning in the classroom, but in the field, students have to contend with different points of view.
"In the classroom, we've done a lot of our own plans on how we would do things, but it's kind of in our own bubble. When we come out here (in the field) we have to work with the person to our left and our right, who also have plans and then mesh it all together," Dellinger said.
When plans don't work out the way they're supposed to, communication is key, explained Morrell.
"If your plan doesn't go according to how you planned it, communication on the fly is definitely the best takeaway," Morrell said.
MCCC students also teamed up with Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation students for a complex terrain training exercise Aug. 26 at the old Martin Army Hospital.
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