"Ernie" Center Stage ... BWT, IED's and Table 2

Here is a quick overview of what Platoon 4024 has done this week of Phase III training.

Basic Warrior Training continues

During the day and night movement exercises, recruits practice and demonstrate the basics of infiltration skills learned during classes, such as the high crawl and low crawl, how to approach walls and remain concealed, how to negotiate their way through a tangle of barbed concertina wire, and the hand and arm signals.

In today’s world of Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, basic land navigation might seem like something from the past. However, batteries fail, equipment breaks, and if you don’t know the basics, even the best technology won’t do you any good. During Land Navigation I, recruits learn the basics of land navigation by figuring out where they are on a map in relation to identifiable objects like man-made features (roads, buildings), prominent landmarks (mountains, rivers), and by using compass directions (north, south). They learn how to use the lensatic compass and military topographic map, and that when used together they can locate their position and navigate more precisely from point to point, day or night.

Sara is also being introduced to the basics of identifying Improvised Explosive Devices, or “IED’s.” A very real and current threat on today’s battlefield, knowledge of what they are, and how to identify them is a valuable and very necessary skill.

"Ernie" takes center stage again. Firing the Table 2 course of fire, formerly called “Field Firing,” is a follow-on to the basics learned during their firing during Table 1, or the Known Distance (“KD”) course of fire.

Table 2 is a course of fire that takes the basics and applies them to the methods and techniques used in combat. Our "almost Marine" Recruits learn how to fire their service rifle while wearing their Kevlar helmet, body armor system Outer Tactical Vest, and personal load bearing equipment while using a 3-point tactical rifle sling. They will practice shooting at a single target while in a stationary position, and then learn how to engage both multiple and moving targets. They will then fire the Table 2 course of fire for score, and the combination of their Table 1 and Table 2 results will be used to determine their final marksmanship score and the resulting marksmanship badge.