MCGREGOR RANGE, N.M. -- For the second time this summer, Mustang Soldiers from 125th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, took to the supply routes of the Fort Bliss Training Complex for a convoy live-fire exercise, Sept. 20-23.
The training was their fifth general FTX since they first took to the FBTC in April as a battalion which was less than a year old.
The four-day CLFX, in which Soldiers trained with the M2, M240B, and M249 SAW automatic weapons, not only offered valuable training time for the Mustangs themselves, but running Main Supply Route Mustang on Range 37 stands to also benefit following units as the 125th BSB is the first outfit to break in the new lane. Sgt. 1st Class Enrique Angulo, the CLFX's noncommissioned officer-in-charge, said the expanded complexities of the simulated enemies on the lane expanded Soldiers' skill sets in how to combat them.
"The specialists who configured this range definitely put a lot of thought into it,said Angulo. "They're trying to mirror conditions we'd see in Afghanistan and other locations. Angulo made a point to credit the building of moving and sheltered targets, all which were automated and controlled by Mustang observer/controllers who rode the lanes to monitor their fellow troops' progress.
New to the Mustangs' CLFX scenarios this week was defending an entry control point and reacting to sniper fire.
Expanded was what Soldiers call "hasty vehicle recovery." This was the first CLFX in which the Mustangs utilized Light Medium Tactical Vehicles, and recovering one after a simulated IED strike requires some abilities not as necessary in recovering a conventional Humvee.
Also expanded was their training on calling for fire on enemy positions. Where during the battalion's first CLFX, the extent of the training was simply making the call. Now Mustangs were relaying precise grid coordinates to supporting fire elements with the assistance of Global Positioning System equipment.
While the expanded realism newly available at FBTC's Range 37 benefited the CLFX, Angulo said the new and expanded scenarios Mustang Soldiers overcame over the four-day evolution weren't due to the new innovations, but instead were worked in by design.
"We've purposely increased the amount of stress we put upon leadership and Soldiers since our first FTX in April," said Angulo. "In the Army we have a crawl, walk, run phase approach to training. [In terms of CLFXs] we were crawling in April, then we moved to walking, and now we're in the run phase as Soldiers are completing tasks with minimal guidance from observer/controllers."
Maj. Eric McCoy, 125th BSB's executive officer, said there's a noticeable difference in the amount of tactical training logistics Soldiers receive today in comparison to yesterday.
"There is somewhat of an irony in the emphasis on convoy live fire procedures within the 125th BSB and other sustainment units on Fort Bliss," said McCoy. "The 507th Maintenance Company, from Fort Bliss, was one of the first logistics units to be engaged by the enemy during the early days of Operation Iraqi Freedom. One of the important lessons learned by senior Army leadership was that while we emphasized a high degree of technical proficiency in pumping fuel or turning wrenches, we did not emphasize the basic fundamentals of defending against and defeating enemy aggressors. Now we are seeing a paradigm shift in the thought process of the Army logistics community where we are attempting to create a culture of being 'sustainment operators', proficient not only in our logistics mission, but in being lethal Soldiers as well."
Pfc. Jerome Gillis, a Soldier from 125th BSB's Alpha Company "Roughryders," said while the new scenarios and physical challenges kept him on his toes on Main Supply Route Mustang, he said he felt the best lessons learned for him were the ones he learned from the Soldiers he rode the lane with.
"It's definitely good training to get into the trucks with the NCOs and see how they function and conduct themselves," said Gillis. "The junior Soldier has been with the battalion since it was stood up in 2009 and added that he's seen himself and his fellow Mustangs grow in the CLFX arena, stating that the training "ran a lot smoother" in comparison to CLFXs earlier in the year.
The Mustangs' breaking in of Range 37 was their last scheduled CLFX of the year, and whether they were crawling, walking, or running on FBTC's main supply routes in 2010, Angulo said the desired outcome has always been the same.
"I want [Mustang Soldiers] to walk away from this with the experience of participating in a combat logistics patrol, under combat conditions," said Angulo. "We tried to make it as realistic as possible."
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