- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 430
OK where do I begin...
I had the opportunity to conduct Pre Deployment training at CMTC Wainwright from 23 April till 17 May.
This is a list of observations both good and bad and areas I as a Rifle Company Cpl see could be improved. I will say right now one of the largest problems was the use of MILES and not the WES and that is not the fault of anyone at CMTC staff.
Training area was well laid out with many mock villages strewn about the the maneuver box. However the lack of constant villagers presence was for many soldiers a dis heartening experience. Yes I understand not every patrol will encounter enemy presence but if we send out a patrol to a villiage it would be nice to have people there. About 90% of the Patrols I personally did was devoid of any contact both enemy and friendly. Troops need the interaction at all levels just to rehearse the skills they have learned from the TMST training they did back at their home unit, the lack of contact was indeed indicative as I myself now feel I have suffered skill fade in areas I believe crucial.
Excises scope seemed to be largely based on manoeuvring sub units about aimlessly, yes I know that is not so but when you have WO and many officers referring to your excises as a large scale JANUS Ex with live troops and no actual use for them then I think that's a problem. Yes I understand C/S 0 needs to be practiced and I believe it is a necessity but that is why we have JANUS for 99% of the Ex most soldiers feel they were not needed and also felt (myself included) that it was a pointless exercises at the Coy to BG Level, right or wrong that feeling cause a bad taste in a soldiers mouth and it effects all levels of training.
Contact with the enemy was shall I say frustrating at the least infuriating at the most, When the Oct's use themselves as cover to infiltrate enemy forces for a contact that's just wrong, If they can't find a way past the LAV and other surveillance systems here they wont be able to do it overseas either. I want to clarify however that was an enemy attack on a static FOB, many of the Ambush scenarios were well done in fact my C/S was ambushed and it was both well laid out and quickly done with the En-For players hitting us with RPG and small arms fire then running away so quickly as to totally making our counter attack useful in the slightest.
Oct's were for the most part not seen or heard from other then to do their job which is the way it is supposed to be however a select few need to re evaluate how they do business. Case in point during one AAR after an attack at a FOB it was brought up that a LAV had seen the En-For move into the contact area long before that C/S was killed the Crew Commander brought up that when it was obvious that vehicle and personell were Enemy he had "notionally" fired his 25mm and Coax to destroy that target, That OCT NCO then said what did you kill them with I did't hear any firing. That's right you did't cause we don't have 25mm blank and Coax will not fire the blanks for the 7.62 as if will not feed through the chutes properly. A point to improve on their is that NCO needed to learn how the system he was judging worked, it was all many of us could do just to not explode on that individual for not having a clue as to what would have happened had we had away to simulate that, I also understand that it will be rectified with the WES system but I still believe it is a large indicator of how that person and some of the other Oct's thought.
Live Fire portion of the Exercise was disappointing with at times more safety staff then people firing and constriction on the range for safety making it so tight that entire sections never fired a round. I understand that in actual Operations and in many fire fights overseas people wont fire their weapon, but this is training everyone should have be utilised from the C7 to the 84mm, not a single support weapon was used other then Coax by any Coy that I know of because restrictions for firing the weapon made their use next to useless IE: no spec fire, no firing into buildings to cover troop movement etc etc.
If I could give an overall feeling for my time spent at CMTC Wainwright and Ex Maple Guardian I will say it was a large waste of time, I firmly believe that the training I did at my home base and unit was far superior to anything I did in Wainwright and I was highly disappointed in what I did do on Ex Maple Guardian, I also know that I am not alone in this feeling from the newest soldier to some of the higher ups also feel this way. I think CMTC has a long way to go before that feeling will change and I hope that the points I brought up as observations from my Level will be seen as constructive and perhaps actioned. I know some members of CMTC personaly and they know me and I hope they see what my comments are and will work to at least add some of my thoughts to their planning for future Ex's they will conduct.
Should you feel you want more in depth information I will be happy to answer as best I can both publicly and in PM
HitorMiss
I had the opportunity to conduct Pre Deployment training at CMTC Wainwright from 23 April till 17 May.
This is a list of observations both good and bad and areas I as a Rifle Company Cpl see could be improved. I will say right now one of the largest problems was the use of MILES and not the WES and that is not the fault of anyone at CMTC staff.
Training area was well laid out with many mock villages strewn about the the maneuver box. However the lack of constant villagers presence was for many soldiers a dis heartening experience. Yes I understand not every patrol will encounter enemy presence but if we send out a patrol to a villiage it would be nice to have people there. About 90% of the Patrols I personally did was devoid of any contact both enemy and friendly. Troops need the interaction at all levels just to rehearse the skills they have learned from the TMST training they did back at their home unit, the lack of contact was indeed indicative as I myself now feel I have suffered skill fade in areas I believe crucial.
Excises scope seemed to be largely based on manoeuvring sub units about aimlessly, yes I know that is not so but when you have WO and many officers referring to your excises as a large scale JANUS Ex with live troops and no actual use for them then I think that's a problem. Yes I understand C/S 0 needs to be practiced and I believe it is a necessity but that is why we have JANUS for 99% of the Ex most soldiers feel they were not needed and also felt (myself included) that it was a pointless exercises at the Coy to BG Level, right or wrong that feeling cause a bad taste in a soldiers mouth and it effects all levels of training.
Contact with the enemy was shall I say frustrating at the least infuriating at the most, When the Oct's use themselves as cover to infiltrate enemy forces for a contact that's just wrong, If they can't find a way past the LAV and other surveillance systems here they wont be able to do it overseas either. I want to clarify however that was an enemy attack on a static FOB, many of the Ambush scenarios were well done in fact my C/S was ambushed and it was both well laid out and quickly done with the En-For players hitting us with RPG and small arms fire then running away so quickly as to totally making our counter attack useful in the slightest.
Oct's were for the most part not seen or heard from other then to do their job which is the way it is supposed to be however a select few need to re evaluate how they do business. Case in point during one AAR after an attack at a FOB it was brought up that a LAV had seen the En-For move into the contact area long before that C/S was killed the Crew Commander brought up that when it was obvious that vehicle and personell were Enemy he had "notionally" fired his 25mm and Coax to destroy that target, That OCT NCO then said what did you kill them with I did't hear any firing. That's right you did't cause we don't have 25mm blank and Coax will not fire the blanks for the 7.62 as if will not feed through the chutes properly. A point to improve on their is that NCO needed to learn how the system he was judging worked, it was all many of us could do just to not explode on that individual for not having a clue as to what would have happened had we had away to simulate that, I also understand that it will be rectified with the WES system but I still believe it is a large indicator of how that person and some of the other Oct's thought.
Live Fire portion of the Exercise was disappointing with at times more safety staff then people firing and constriction on the range for safety making it so tight that entire sections never fired a round. I understand that in actual Operations and in many fire fights overseas people wont fire their weapon, but this is training everyone should have be utilised from the C7 to the 84mm, not a single support weapon was used other then Coax by any Coy that I know of because restrictions for firing the weapon made their use next to useless IE: no spec fire, no firing into buildings to cover troop movement etc etc.
If I could give an overall feeling for my time spent at CMTC Wainwright and Ex Maple Guardian I will say it was a large waste of time, I firmly believe that the training I did at my home base and unit was far superior to anything I did in Wainwright and I was highly disappointed in what I did do on Ex Maple Guardian, I also know that I am not alone in this feeling from the newest soldier to some of the higher ups also feel this way. I think CMTC has a long way to go before that feeling will change and I hope that the points I brought up as observations from my Level will be seen as constructive and perhaps actioned. I know some members of CMTC personaly and they know me and I hope they see what my comments are and will work to at least add some of my thoughts to their planning for future Ex's they will conduct.
Should you feel you want more in depth information I will be happy to answer as best I can both publicly and in PM
HitorMiss