Playing Soldier

Day One

Published on October 30, 2006 By pseudosoldier In Work

The academic (technical competence) portion of the course is over, and I get to try my hand instructing something I've done far too little of: field craft (tactical competence). I was nearly giddy this afternoon as I put on my flak vest and load bearing equipment, and strapped my kevlar helmet onto my head.

I'm reading ahead, as my practical knowledge (such as it was) has atrophied from long disuse. I realized that my copy of Field Manual 7-8 (Infantry Squad and Platoon) is over a decade old now; more than half of my actual training experience is from that timeframe as well.

My soldiers trust me to be straight with them; I'll tell them when I don't know something, but I'll go look for the answer as soon as I can. (Example: It's the M40 protective mask; the M42 is the vehicle crewman version. I'll let Dee-Ay-Zee know tomorrow.) Like I said, I'm going to be doing my homework for this. Tonight's subjects: hand and arm signals, patrolling and individual and squad movement techniques. I want to make sure they can have as successful an exercise as possible.

Comments

ParaTed2k

on Oct 30, 2006

ah, you take me back to PLDC. I was assigned to teach a block of instruction on Patrolling... imagine my shock and awe, when I looked over the "class" and noted that all but 3 of the 12 troops seated in front of me wore Ranger Tabs. What was I (a parachute rigger and radio-teletype operator) supposed to teach a bunch of Rangers? The fact was, I didn't have to teach them anything, it wasn't them being evaluated for what they learned, it was me being evaluated for my teaching technique.

I learned a little late, but you're welcome to learn from it. ;~D

pseudosoldier

on Oct 30, 2006

The difference being that I'm not being evaluated at all, and I am indeed an instructor. Eight years in, no tactical assignments, and I have to teach IET soldiers in AIT how to be better tactical combatants.

No pressure, right?

Spc Nobody Special

on Oct 31, 2006

Eight years in, no tactical assignments, and I have to teach IET soldiers in AIT how to be better tactical combatants.

The hell you say. You know how to work a floor buffer don't you? That's one of the most crucial tasks a tactical soldier needs to know. That and how to apply dry sweep. Yeah.

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