As summer draws to a close and autumn begins to ease its way into the Fort Riley air, it can easily be seen that the past few months held much more than BBQs and good times in the lives of Bravo Company Soldiers. Through the continuous building of the company, NTC, and Bravo’s unparalleled training schedule, not only have the Bushmasters as a whole become noticeably stronger and more proficient, each and every Soldier within the company has undoubtedly gained invaluable knowledge and experience, holding true to, and striving to set the standard for the Iron Ranger’s definitive, “semper paratus” way of life.
July proved especially beneficial to the company, in that, the entire month was spent at the National Training Center (NTC), located in Fort Irwin, CA. During the long anticipated desert training, Soldiers overcame the arid landscape, long days, and unforgiving sun while taking part in an extremely physical and mentally engaging simulation of a deployed unit’s standard tasks and real world trials in a modern warfare environment. Soldiers actively took part in tasks by establishing traffic control points, conducting patrols, performing proper searches, reacting to enemy contact, meeting with the local populous, and flawlessly employing the long list of equipment and technology recently introduced to the company. One such introduction was the RQ-11 Raven, a small remote controlled plane with the ability to take detailed photography from an elevation of 1,000 feet above ground level. All together, the RQ-11 was flown a total of 48 hours, demonstrating the true expertise of the few Soldiers previously trained on the craft. Meanwhile, vehicle crews gained better understanding and became more proficient at their respective roles in the daily use of the HMMWV (High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle), The M2A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and the M113 Armored Personnel Carrier, while performing in realistic battle drills and often having to quickly take action against well-planned, enemy confrontation, led and enacted by professional role players. Upon completion of their NTC experience in late July, the Soldiers of Bravo Company returned home with an enormous wealth of newfound knowledge, gained experience, and colorful stories, anxious and ready to be reunited with their loved ones and partake in a long awaited and well deserved block leave.
On August 23rd, block leave had come to an end and the Bushmasters were once again at full strength and standing tall, eager to pick up right where they had left off the month before. As Bravo Company continues to train and build upon the lessons and experiences taken from NTC, the months of September and October are already packed with valuable range time and opportunities to further advance the company, on every level, and fine tune their skills. Upcoming shooting ranges consist of a day and night qualification on the M-4 Carbine, M-249 SAW, M-240B, M-2 .50 caliber machine gun, and the M-203 grenade launcher. In conjunction with the shooting ranges, Bravo Company is also set to execute a claymore range, and once again experience the CS gas chamber on a day dedicated to the instruction of CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear), focusing mainly on defense, personal protection, and decontamination as well as the implementation of the M-42A2 protective mask while inside the CS chamber.
With all of this upcoming training and equipment re-familiarization, it goes without need for saying, that Bravo Company will be quite busy and almost constantly on the move this fall. Always learning, steadily progressing, and never passing up an opportunity to set the standard.