MCP Training

About two weeks ago we had five days of MCP (Mounted Combat Patrol) Training. My Company was the only one in the Battalion to have five days of MCP. We are a class two Company, and everyone else is class one. In a nut shell, that means we are the only Company authorized to conduct a mission outside the wire. Don't worry, my chances are slim to none. Relax, I'm a cook! But we like to joke about how Echo is the "infantry" of Aviation.

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The first day of MCP was a little boring, as you can see from the photo on the left. It is a tiny photo, so maybe you can't see so well. Sorry, I won't have my camera for another week. We spent the morning in classrooms learning about IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) and UXOs (Unexploded Ordinances). We also learned how to read the signs and identify them by type. Most of us have had these classes at least once already, but you can never have them too many times. Then we spent about an hour waiting around for the classes to start for the second half of the day. Those classes were outside and included Aid and Litter, Nine Line MedEvac, LACE and SALUTE Reports, Line and Box Formations, constructing a hasty helicopter landing zone (HLZ) and a couple others that I cannot remember right now.

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The training progressed in three stages; Crawl, Walk, and Run. On days two through four the pace quickened. We were assigned chalks (the group of people in the convoy), each chalk had five or six vehicles, and each vehicle had people assigned to certain jobs (driver, Truck Commander(TC), gunner, and two passengers). The convoy also had a Convoy Commander (CC) and an Assistant Convoy Commander (ACC). So now you know all about the TCs, CC, and ACC, as well as the HLZ, IED, and UXO, and the rolls they played in MCP. Ha, ha! Sorry, had to do that. Try to follow me as best you can. All questions can be directed to Google.com. :)

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For about a day and a half I was the gunner. It was fun. I had the best view in the truck. The last two days I was the TC. That was also a lot of fun. I controlled the radio and got to call the shots. It's the one time during this deployment where I got to tell my First Sergeant what to do (he was my driver). As we drove around we encountered different scenarios and were tested on how we reacted. The courses we drove were miles long, and had many hidden obstacles. The instructors would come over the radio and say "Truck six has been hit by an IED," or "Truck two was hit, gunner has a severe head wound," and "Truck four is down, no injuries." For each of those we had to conduct different tasks as a team. We towed trucks, set up HLZs, called in MedEvac, suppressed small arms fire, etc. We also had a couple of urban missions where we had to maintain security in a village while our ACC and two other soldiers talked to the locals. We were not allowed to take any photos during that portion of the training. There are Middle Easterners that help conduct the training.

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Overall, I think it is some of the best training I have received to prepare for this mission. If this kind of training would have been available at the beginning of the war it would have saved hundreds of lives. The instructors were well informed, organized, and still knew how to have fun. They also helped make the training as realistic as possible. Everyone got a magazine full of blanks to fire, and they were setting off flash-bangs and smoke canisters all around us. One time we got about 15o yards before realizing that we lost another truck, because there was so much smoke and chaos.

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I found a video that can give you an idea of what the training was like. It is a little long, and the picture quality isn't very good. If you pay attention you can hear the soldiers yelling "IED," or "Contact Left!" Everyone in the truck repeats it to make sure the whole truck knows what's happening. You can also here them calling for LACE Reports (Liquid, Ammo, Casualties, Equipment) and Nine Line MedEvacs over the radio. Our training wasn't as fast paced as it looks in the video, and I think they are shooting at targets with live rounds. We had blanks and were not allowed to shoot at anyone within 10 meters. Safety first!

Mounted Combat Patrol Training