JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- For Spc. Anousone Leutphova – a chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological specialist with the 95th Chemical Company – maneuvering as part of a fire team undertaking infantry tactics required a lot of memorization.
The Rockford, Illinois, native had to remember radio protocols, the nine-line medical evacuation format, how to cross a danger area, how to bound on foot and set up overwatch in support of other maneuvering CBRN Soldiers, and how to consolidate on the objective while keeping his Army Combat Helmet on a swivel watching for counterattacks and vehicle-borne bombs.
Each of these tasks taken alone is simple enough, but Leutphova had to be able to dynamically do all of them simultaneously and under duress when his fire team conducted maneuver training Aug. 17, 2017, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson's Infantry Battle Squad Course.
Normally charged with detecting CBRN threats on the battlefield and decontaminating personnel and equipment exposed to these threats, Capt. Gerald Ratchford, 95th Chemical Company commander, said maneuver training is important for his Soldiers even if isn't part of their daily task set.
“My training objective for the company is to validate our team leaders and their ability to maneuver their Soldiers in a simulated combat environment; that's important even for a chemical company,” the Tampa, Florida, native said. “We're Soldiers first, and we can't always count on [battlefield] security. These Soldiers need to know how to maneuver their forces should we ever have enemy contact.”
At the center of one team was Sgt. Tremaine Jackson, who is normally a CBRN squad leader. It was his job to train the four other Soldiers in his element how to safely carry out individual movement techniques along with a catalog of other individual skills they would need to master before putting it all together on the range.
“I had to show the team that I am able to lead them the right way – lead by example,” Jackson, a native of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said. “I showed them the way versus just teaching them by the book.”
The sergeant said the training followed a crawl-walk-run paradigm. Soldiers carried out the fire team attack on the objective with no ammunition, working out the kinks in their movement, weapon muzzle awareness and communication.
In the walk phase, the team loaded blank ammunition, getting accustomed to firing their weapons and managing their ammunition expenditure.
During the run phase, the Soldiers used live ammunition, shooting man-shaped popup targets on the objective.
Jackson said rainy Southcentral Alaska weather contributed to the challenges of the training. The Soldiers' wet-weather gear was caked in mud and they had to take deliberate steps to avoid slipping down the often steep terrain.
Once the team was close enough to the objective, an instructor-trainer called out, “Contact, contact!” The team rapidly found cover and returned fire, before half of the team – a buddy team of two bounding Soldiers – got ready to advance.
“Cover me while I move!” the Soldiers shouted.
“I gotcha covered!” their cohorts replied.
“Moving!”
The ballet of fire and maneuver, cover and bounding, was all part of an effort to overwhelm the enemy with swift violence. Once they fought through the objective, they quickly set up security while assessing actions that needed to be taken in light of the situation.
“It doesn't stop once the popup [targets] are taken down,” Ratchford said. “There are actions on the objective such as assessing a casualty.”
Pfc. Esteban Guerrero, a CBRN specialist from Modesto, Calif., leapt into action to come to the aid of a simulated enemy casualty. He checked him for weapons and booby traps, finding intelligence documents that would prove useful to the continuing fight. Finding a nasty leg laceration, Guerrero applied a tourniquet.
With so many things happening on the objective, Leutphova had a laundry list of items to report to the company command post. While still covering a field of fire, the specialist rattled off reports one after the other. For their part, Soldiers in the CP wrote down the reports, helping the company and higher command to develop a picture of the battlefield.
“It's very tricky, but you just have to pay attention, stay focused, and do your battle drills,” Jackson said of the fog of war. “You have to teach your Soldiers to always look at the bigger picture.”
Ratchford said his CBRN Soldiers had a lot to learn about infantry tactics at the beginning of the week, but it was all coming together after a few days of constant drills.
“Today, they are ready to go and fight as a team,” he said.