Training with the National Guard

[oregonduck]

Gentlemen,

Over the May 5-6th weekend, I was fortunate to be able to serve as OPFOR during a very creative series of multi-faceted CQB and urban operation scenarios for Alpha Company, 2-162 Infantry, Oregon National Guard. With me as OPFOR were two friends of mine & fellow members of MVAC, Aaron & Brad.

We used our own gear, which got beat to hell and about $200.00 worth of stuff was destroyed, but it was well worth it.

The drill was held at the State Police shoot house in Goshen. The first day, we focused on three different scenarios as the OPFOR.
#1: We were friendly Iaqis inside a house that had been targeted for a cordon & search.
#2: We hated Americans but were unarmed and did not pose a serious threat.
#3: Fully hostile and willing to engage with automatic weapons.

Initially, only a fire team would enter the shoot house. These four soldiers would have to decide how to react to us, based on how we reacted to them. The first team through the door lit us up, even though we were friendly. That led to an interesting after action review!

The soldiers used their actual M4's and M249's with blanks. Believe me, the first time I got lit up at point-blank range by a SAW, the noise and heat from the gas discharge made me jump backwards about four feet, where I then smashed into a wall in the hallway. The OC's laughed their butts off at that one!

For two days, Aaron, Brad and I worked hard to help A Co. refine its CQB skills and real-time decision-making. In the process, we were detained and searched in every iteration. I've never been man-pawed so much in my life! The second day, we came back equipped with all sorts of intel nuggets for the soldiers to find on us. We had Google Earth maps of Camp Rilea with detailed notes on security at the front gate, maps of the Bonneville Dam with notes on a suicide attack. We even put together a profile on the 1st Sergeant's house, his wife, and their daily routines to make it look like we had them under observation. We then stuffed this stuff in all sorts of odd places on our persons.

On Sunday the 6th, I was tasked with being a battlefield reporter. The 1st Sergeant wanted me to find out as much as I could about his company, and to get photographs that would look as if the civilian detainees A CO. had scooped up were getting abused. As soon as put the press creds around my neck, I couldn't get a word out of the Joes. It was outstanding to see that. So, I decided to be a pain in the a$$. Using a Pentax DSLR, I started walking into squad formations while they were patrolling. Several times I tried to penetrate the inner cordon during search operations. Other times, I would try to get some up-close shots of the Joes in action, only to be detained. After that, I took to slinking around the hills overlooking the shoot-house and capturing the action with a 300mm telephoto lens.

It didn't matter where I was. The guys were all over me. I got dumped face down into gravel a couple of times, and one NCO collared my a$$ and dragged me by the back of my jacket away from his squad leader. I told him if did that in Iraq the next time the company goes over, I'd buy him a steak dinner when he got home! (The press over there is flat-out evil and anti-American in my book).

Also on Sunday, we tested the inner cordon during the searches and raids on the shoot-house. We did this by posting a sniper on the slope of a hill overlooking the facility. Several times, I got that job and was able to cause some casualties with an upgraded CA SLR105.

Inside the shoot-house, we could resist and inflict some casualties, but we never survived if we opened fire. The best we managed was to pin and chop-up a very inexperienced fire team as they entered the main room of the shoot-house. Two wounded men were trapped in an ante-room, while the other two members of the team were pinned in a hallway. We flanked them, and finished off the two wounded Joes. That said, every time that fire team came through later, they never repeated their mistakes and always lit us the hell up.

Another time, we had engaged a fire team that had moved through the shoot-house's main hallway in a rolling T formation. They'd swung into a side room, where Brad & Aaron had lit them up. I figured they'd be so focused on those two that I'd be able to flank them. So, I charged into the room from another doorway--only to meet the SAW gunner face to face and get hosed. The #4 man was right where he was supposed to be--it was great to see.

By Sunday, we started getting nasty. We had other civilians in the building. Some were hostile, some were friendly. Several times, I took a friendly female Shiite and held her at gunpoint in a room. She was against one wall, and I hid in a closet with a field of fire that extended only about halfway across the width of the room. This way, I could not be seen from the doorways. A fire team would come into to clear the room and would be focused on the female civilian. As they approached her, I was able to surprise the Joes and inflict a few casualties. The second time I did this, I was judged to be wounded. So, howling in pain, I writhed around on the concrete until two guys manhandled me out of the place and dumped me outside, where the medic practiced dealing with a sucking chest wound.

I was very impressed with all of that, as I'd shot two men in the squad before I was incapacitated. The men had the discipline to not finish me off, and instead dragged me outside for medical attention.

Most of the time, however, if we tried to resist inside the shoot-house, we were immediately tagged and bagged. If we were in any soldier's eyeline as they came through a doorway, we were toast. If we weren't, we could usually get off a few shots, but we'd immediately be smothered by American firepower. It was an awesome display of training, speed, fluidity of motion and flexible TTP's. Honestly, if I'd done this weekend in November instead of May, the book I just finished writing would have been a hell of a lot better.

Overall, the weekend was pretty arduous in some respects. Getting searched by every fire team or squad coming through the shoot-house was physically exhausting. There was broken glass all over the ground both outside and inside the shoot-house. Several times, I ended up with glass fragments down my a$$ crack. Once, while wounded, I got slammed into a wall and my glasses broke. And during one raid, we pinned a fire team in a hallway and caught them in a triple crossfire. Unfortunately, Aaron shot an E4 I was in New Orleans with from about 3 feet with an Echo 1 M16. The BB hit him in the nose and actually penetrated into his nostril. The next day, he could actually blow air through the hole the BB created.

Nevertheless, I've got to say that weekend was about the most rewarding thing I've done since I got back from Katrina with the 2-162. It was tough work, but the practical application of airsoft technology in a training environment like this was really quite effective. Combined with all the other things we did as obnoxious civilians, the soldiers were presented with a wide range of issues to deal with--while under fire at times.

We brought several gas pistols, including a TM M1911, a KWA Gloc 23, several CM030's, two Echo 1 G36's, an Echoe 1 M16, a CA MP5A4, a CA SLR105, and two CMO28 AK-47's. If anyone ever has the chance to drill with a Guard unit as either COB's (Civilians on the Battlefield) or OPFOR, bring gear you can afford to have thrashed. During searches, the guns were sometimes kicked away from our dead & mangled corpses. Other times, they were dropped, or tossed, or bumped into walls, etc. They took a lot of abuse, especially when we lent our gear out to other civilian volunteers who joined us as part of the OPFOR. In the end, both CMO30's went down, one of the CMO28's suffered pretty serious damage, and three or four magazines & clips for the rifles & gas pistols ended up non-functional. The soldiers worked hard to be as gentle as they could, and the damage was not their fault. What we were doing was pretty physical and rough on the weapons, pure and simple.

The fact that A Co. pulled off such an innovative series of exercises on a standard drill weekend and not during summer AT is pretty remarkable. It required a tremendous amount of planning & preparation. That it went so well is a testament to the leadership and the NCO's of the company. Overall, it was an unforgettable experience, one that I'll treasure for a long, long time. Alpha Co. is an outstanding unit full of veterans & hard core, kick a$$ NCO's. Their company commander, CPT. Jones is a combat veteran, a hard charger and a first rate human being. Just being around them was an honor. To be part of an exercise that may help save lives down the line, well there's nothing more important than that.

There is an opportunity for the airsoft community to help with the war effort. Functioning as COB's or OPFOR is not going to be for everyone: it requires a lot of maturity, the ability to follow the directions of the OC's and senior NCO's, and you'll get tossed around a lot. Using the airsoft weaponry is an important component, but not the only one. If you're looking for a fun, laid back weekend of running & shooting, this ain't it. But if you want something challenging and important, this is the way to go.

I'll be contacting the other company commanders in the ONG who I know in the coming weeks. If anyone would like to participate in another such drill weekend, please PM me.

Requirements:
1. Be at least 18.
2. Have good health insurance.
3. You are reliable and punctual.
4. You don't mind getting searched by dozens and dozens of guys. This includes the old "card swipe" down your a$$ crack.
5. You have your own gear and are prepared to have some of it crushed, stomped, dropped, banged, or otherwise abused.
6. You are disciplined, can follow directions and can maintain your composure and not lose your temper.

Thanks,

John B.

[Pulsipher]

John That was an awesome read. I would love to help out too!

[KA-BAR]

sounds like alot of fun that i wish to be having. gimme a ring john, PM me and i will give you my number.... oh and by the way, you own me tons of drinks! LOL, now pay up!





KA-BAR out

[Crusader 6]

wow awesome!

[Kendodude]

If those CMO28s were TM AKs, they would've survived.

Awesome to hear your story!

[Lil' Buddha]

Great read John. This type of thing is so much fun, and the fact that you are offering a service that could litterally save lives makes any damaged gear worth it. I see these types of opportunities becoming the "bread and butter" of airsoft play for some teams. In fact, we are talking about pulling together some full Middle Eastern kit in order to bring up the realism for our boys.

I do have one concern for those of us performing this service: The bad guys have been known to read English websites. Being conscious of OPSEC is something I have been thinking through.

[Braddock]

I do have one concern for those of us performing this service: The bad guys have been known to read English websites. Being conscious of OPSEC is something I have been thinking through.

Yes quite tru.

I talk to my brother in law in Iraq (82nd Abn) alot on the phone and via internet, and that is also a concern in our conversations.
That and fvcking IEDs...
die insurgent scum !!

anyways, back on topic...

[Skywalker]

Very well put together write up. I admire your willingness to help our armed forces be successful in their missions. If I was 18, I'd volunteer to help in a second.

Again, very good story.

[Wonderer]

t's a very nice read and sounds like it was a LOT of fun. I'd love to see some local units join us as some scirms, competitions, and events. You should see if they'd be interested? With CQC6 coming up in July and FI3 in August there is much fun to be had.