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When Liverpool, England, native Spc. Innocent Bennett
talks, he doesn't sound like fellow Liverpudlian Ringo
Starr, or any of the Beatles for that matter. His British
Commonwealth accent is linguistically seasoned by years
abroad in Europe, Africa and finally the United States where
he serves with 1st Battalion (Airborne), 143rd Infantry
Regiment, Alaska Army National Guard.
Hunkered behind a
small berm, Bennett's accent was a nonentity as he bellowed
his status to his battle buddy.
“Right side set!” he
screamed, straining to cover the sonic distance to his
cohort and override the din of weapons fire.
“Left side
moving!” came the response.
Bennett peered through the
optics of his reflex site, superimposing the red LED dot
over the bunker that concealed the opposing force who aimed
to shoot him. He squeezed the trigger in timed succession,
keeping the enemy's head down while conserving ammunition.
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Alaska Army National Guard Spc. Innocent Bennett, B Company, 1st
Battalion (Airborne), 143rd Infantry Regiment, engages opposing
forces during an individual-movement techniques lane May 14, 2016,
at the Alaska National Guard's Alcantra Armory in Wasilla, Alaska.
Soldiers used paint-marking training rounds to up the stakes for the
training that is usually conducted using laser-based training
devices. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. David Bedard)
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The infantryman was embroiled in an individual-movement
techniques (IMT) training lane flavored with a twist of
realism – the usual blank ammunition and laser transmitters
were replaced by paint-marker training munitions. Lasers
don't hurt. Paint markers ... traveling at 375 feet per second
... do.
Strong Foundation
Staff Sgt. Garrett Kirby
suffers no foolishness. The 1st Squadron, 297th Cavalry
Regiment, Soldier pulled no punches when he instructed
fellow Guardsmen through the IMT lane. The stakes of combat
are too high to wear kid gloves in an infantryman's game.
When a paint marker hit, it felt like a Charley-horse punch,
except the stinging sensation was focused into a small
circle .223 inches in diameter. Soldiers jumped the first
time they were hit, and they got real small behind cover.
“A lot of times, we do this with blanks and there's no
feedback from the enemy,” Kirby said. “What guys tend to do
since they get smoked from bounding for so long is their
rushes get longer and longer ... This (training) includes pain
in the equation, so they know the enemy is targeting them.”
Just as stinging as the paint rounds were Kirby's rebukes.
When a Soldier stopped short of the refuge of a berm, he
screamed at him to high crawl with a purpose. The Soldier's
battle buddy was counting on him to get set and suppress the
opposing force.
Kirby was looking for pure aggression and
decisive action, and he chastised buddy teams when they
showed anything less. Conversely, Kirby praised teams who
boldly got after it. Closing with and destroying the enemy
is the mission of the U.S. Army Infantry, and IMT provides
the cornerstone for that mission.
“Any good unit is good
at the fundamentals,” Kirby said of the IMT lanes. “If
they've mastered the fundamentals before they get into the
more advanced stuff, they have a good solid foundation.”
Leading The Assault
Bennett is a combat veteran who
served with 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry
Regiment, an active-duty unit stationed at Joint Base
Elmendorf-Richardson.
He brought his experience to bear
during his efforts to turn the tables on the opposing force
and the advantages Bennett's adversaries had by way of an
ambush.
The technique of the three-to-five-second rush is
simple enough and is exemplified in an equally simple axiom:
“I'm up. He sees me. I'm down.”
I'm up: Bennett popped
up, trading the sanctuary of his cover for the opportunity
to rapidly cover ground.
He sees me: It took a short
second for the opposing force to identify the bounding
infantryman. It would take another instant for the enemy to
draw a bead on him and send effective fire.
I'm down:
Bennett was down before the opposing force could capitalize
on his temporary vulnerability. The erstwhile Englishman
found the cover he needed low-crawling through a deep tire
track.
This dance went on for two nerve-racking minutes
– a waltz between battle buddies and those who doggedly
opposed their assault.
The closer the infantrymen got to
their objective, the more the flying paint rounds made the
enemy munitions' presence known. A zip could be heard as
they passed over head. A symphony of rustling arose from
trees as the paint passed indiscriminately through the
leaves. A staccato of thunks drummed on the compacted soil
of the berms, the rounds seemingly desperate to get at the
Soldier hiding behind the earthen refuges.
Eventually,
Bennett managed to maneuver to the bunker's flank. He had to
strain to get a good sight picture through the goggles of
his paintball face mask, but he managed to string together a
barrage of effective fire.
Instructors ended the
exercise; Bennett's team had prevailed. The opposing force
crawled out of their bunker and everyone was on the same
team again. The temporary adversaries told Bennett his
marksmanship was spot on and made their jobs quite
difficult.
Bennett said IMT is always a rush, and the
paint rounds added to the exhilaration of the training...
“What you experience is all your senses are heightened,” he
said. “Your heart rate is up. You have to pay attention to
what your buddy is doing. You're not just going through the
motions. You're bringing back all those years of training –
from basic training to going to your unit enforcing what you
learned.”
The infantryman said it is vital to train with
and understand his battle buddy if they are to thrive in
combat... “I know exactly how he's going to react, and he
knows exactly how I am going to react,” Bennett explained.
“That really makes a difference knowing the guy next to you,
what he's doing. This is what they have been training us for
– knowing each person's movements, and that's what makes the
American Army great.”
By U.S. Army National Guard Sgt. David Bedard
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2016
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