After the explosion came disorientation and shouting, noise ringing in a smoky haze that danced between light and shadow in a back alley.
After a few moments, when it began to clear, Sgt. Christopher Parks faced a sobering reality: A possible weapons cache, reported earlier by intelligence sources, has been confirmed in the building immediately in front of his squad. The explosion proved the cache's existence. Unfortunately, the same explosion that destroyed the cache, probably an IED, left the patrol in a bad situation.
Staff Sgt. James Kurth may be dead.
Fortunately, this is a training exercise at Fort Sill and the only casualties in this scenario are a few bruised egos. The exercise was one in a series of field exercises the Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 4th Field Artillery went through to prepare for future deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
For a battalion specializing in the operation of the Multiple Launch Rocket System, the training represented an effort to supplement the skills of modern artillery Soldiers, who often assume roles outside of their regular duties. Spanning Oct. 26 through Nov. 6, the training covered live rocket fires and an array of basic skills, from mounted patrols to urban assault tactics.
The battalion training program emphasized an important area of combat readiness: communication and cooperation with host nation citizens. In one training scenario, the battalion used professional role-players to simulate influential civilian leaders who resisted the Soldiers attempts to establish cooperative relationships ... just like what can happen on a patrol during a deployment.
"It allows the Soldier to feel the realism of what a key leader engagement in Iraq or Afghanistan might be like," said Thomas.
The exchange between Soldiers and those playing the local nationals rapidly shifted from mutual respect to outright hostility and back again.
"I got to work on my leadership engagement and my courtesies and the customs of the culture," said 2nd Lt. Tyler K.Walls, A Battery platoon leader.
The encounter often left Walls with little room to maneuver. Yet, the experience is one he values. Improvement in people skills, situational control and planning are all areas the exercise is helping him develop, he said.
"Learning from our mistakes, that's the most important thing in training," said Walls. "Hopefully, we can build on it for next time."
Which is the point, said Thomas, of a drill designed to exploit even the slightest flaws.
"The scenario is not meant for anybody to be able to succeed," he said. "It's training. What we want them to do is to come in here and learn."
For Soldiers with multiple deployments under their belts, much of their combat expertise can be drawn from firsthand experience, while the newer Soldiers must rely on simulations for that knowledge, said a resurrected Kurth.
"It's a great training event for Soldiers who've never deployed before," he said. "You never know when you're going to have to do this in combat."
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