Playing Soldier
Day One
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
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.
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.
