Fort Bliss Monitor

Vermont Reservists conduct live-fire exercise

Dustin Perry
Assistant Editor

Spc. Roger Lang, an assistant gunner with the 1st Battalion, 172nd Armor Regiment, waits to fire from a bunker during an Entry Control Point live fire exercise at McGregor Range.

Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 172nd Armor Regiment, a Reserve unit from Lyndonville, Vt., culminated nearly two months of training here with an entry control point live fire exercise Jan. 21 at McGregor Range.

The range for the event was built from scratch to provide a realistic live fire scenario of an ECP for a typical fixed facility, installation or forward operating base. It is also currently the only one of its kind operating within the Reserve component, and is one of the last training exercises the 1-172 will conduct before deploying next month.

“Being able to man and defend an entry control point is one of the things this unit’s going to have to do when they deploy,” said Lt. Col. John McClellan, battalion commander, 1st Bn., 361st Infantry Regt. “It’s taking a range fire situation and adapting it to a very specific application that our Soldiers face in theater right now.”

To begin the exercise, an unknown vehicle approached the ECP and was searched. During the search, a simulated rocket-propelled grenade strike then forced the Soldiers to move back, seek cover and return fire to pop-up targets in the form of both opposing forces and trucks. The unit tried to make the range scenario closely replicate a likely attempt to breach an ECP.

“We have modeled this [training] on convoy live fire and close quarters combat models. Other live fire events that the Army has done for many years, they’re all structured like this,” said McClellan. “How close is it? Nothing is the same as a truck actually blowing up at your entrance gate, but this is as close as you’re going to get.”

Pfc. Cory Hagan, a gunner with the 1-172, said the training was great and very hands-on. Hagan said that through the training, he was able to learn how to properly react to things that may happen once he’s deployed.
“It just kind of gets you in the habit so it’s more like a reaction rather than something you have to think about,” said Hagan.

Also in attendance to the exercise was Air Force Maj. Gen. Martha Rainville, adjutant general of the Vermont National Guard. She was on hand to check the progress of the Soldiers and to address any questions or concerns they had.

“I wanted to come and talk to [the Soldiers], talk to their leadership, see how they feel about their training and see how they’ve integrated with their mission and what’s going to be asked of them,” said Rainville. “By this point in a deployment, they actually want to do additional training and get more range time, augmenting their training themselves.”

A dry run was also held the day before using blank ammunition to prepare the Soldiers for the live fire and ensure they were familiar with all the safety precautions. It is also a requirement in the unit’s training doctrine.

“I think this is a natural progression from what we’re seeing in theater and what they’re expected to do. You really get multi-echelon training and a lot of things happening at once,” said McClellan.



www.bliss.army.mil	Published for the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community	January 27, 2005

<map name="boxmap-b4"> <area shape="rect" coords="0, 589, 120, 600" href="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" > <area coords="0,0,10000,10000" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=&creative=92501&camp=8117&link_code=dl1&path=subst/misc/amazon-cobrand-cc/v3/marketing-from-associates-step1.html/ref%3Db1_assoc_29" > </map>	Vermont Reservists conduct live-fire exercise Dustin Perry Assistant Editor Spc. Roger Lang, an assistant gunner with the 1st Battalion, 172nd Armor Regiment, waits to fire from a bunker during an Entry Control Point live fire exercise at McGregor Range. Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 172nd Armor Regiment, a Reserve unit from Lyndonville, Vt., culminated nearly two months of training here with an entry control point live fire exercise Jan. 21 at McGregor Range. The range for the event was built from scratch to provide a realistic live fire scenario of an ECP for a typical fixed facility, installation or forward operating base. It is also currently the only one of its kind operating within the Reserve component, and is one of the last training exercises the 1-172 will conduct before deploying next month. “Being able to man and defend an entry control point is one of the things this unit’s going to have to do when they deploy,” said Lt. Col. John McClellan, battalion commander, 1st Bn., 361st Infantry Regt. “It’s taking a range fire situation and adapting it to a very specific application that our Soldiers face in theater right now.” To begin the exercise, an unknown vehicle approached the ECP and was searched. During the search, a simulated rocket-propelled grenade strike then forced the Soldiers to move back, seek cover and return fire to pop-up targets in the form of both opposing forces and trucks. The unit tried to make the range scenario closely replicate a likely attempt to breach an ECP. “We have modeled this [training] on convoy live fire and close quarters combat models. Other live fire events that the Army has done for many years, they’re all structured like this,” said McClellan. “How close is it? Nothing is the same as a truck actually blowing up at your entrance gate, but this is as close as you’re going to get.” Pfc. Cory Hagan, a gunner with the 1-172, said the training was great and very hands-on. Hagan said that through the training, he was able to learn how to properly react to things that may happen once he’s deployed. “It just kind of gets you in the habit so it’s more like a reaction rather than something you have to think about,” said Hagan. Also in attendance to the exercise was Air Force Maj. Gen. Martha Rainville, adjutant general of the Vermont National Guard. She was on hand to check the progress of the Soldiers and to address any questions or concerns they had. “I wanted to come and talk to [the Soldiers], talk to their leadership, see how they feel about their training and see how they’ve integrated with their mission and what’s going to be asked of them,” said Rainville. “By this point in a deployment, they actually want to do additional training and get more range time, augmenting their training themselves.” A dry run was also held the day before using blank ammunition to prepare the Soldiers for the live fire and ensure they were familiar with all the safety precautions. It is also a requirement in the unit’s training doctrine. “I think this is a natural progression from what we’re seeing in theater and what they’re expected to do. You really get multi-echelon training and a lot of things happening at once,” said McClellan.