Infantry unit conducts winter combat training

By: Bill Phelan
Missouri National Guard Unit Public Affairs Representative

Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 138th Infantry Regiment, Company B of the Missouri National Guard stand in attack formation during recent winter combat training.
Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 138th Infantry Regiment of the Missouri National Guard simulate loading the wounded during recent winter combat training.
Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 138th Infantry Regiment of the Missouri National Guard conduct winter combat training. And a helicopter is used during the training.
WELDON SPRINGS, Mo. - Standing in a disgusting mixture of snow, slush and mud, 2nd Lt. Christopher Carpenter, of Kansas City, summed up a day of winter combat training for Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 138th Infantry Regiment of the Missouri National Guard.

"One of the qualities of an infantry Soldier is that you have to be tough," said Carpenter with a smile.

That toughness was put to the test as Soldiers of B and C companies recently braved snow and freezing temperatures to take part in raid, ambush and medical evacuation drills at the 89th Regional Readiness Command Weldon Springs Training Area in St. Charles County.

Weekend exercises included attacks on vehicles and enemy mortar positions, complete with simulated improvised explosive devices and Soldiers portraying hostile indigenous personnel.

"Our goal is to practice patrolling techniques, reconnaissance, and raid and ambush techniques," said Carpenter, B Company executive officer. "We have some of our own Soldiers playing the bad guys and then we stage an attack in order to destroy or capture the enemy and gather intelligence on what they are doing. This is the bread and butter of the infantry."

"We're a brand new battalion so we're gearing up to platoon-level operations going into annual training
this year in August," added Maj. Martin Clay, of St. Louis, the battalion operations officer. "We have a lot of new Soldiers straight out of basic training so this is, for some guys, the first time they've actually been in the field outside of a basic or advanced individual training environment."

"These missions are the backbone of the unit," said Capt. Mike Amador, C Company commander. "This is what builds cohesion in the unit and get's the unit working together as a team. This is the essence of light infantry. "

While B Company Soldiers overran an enemy mortar position, Soldiers of C Company practiced evacuating casualties from the field aboard a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter from the 1st Battalion, 106th Aviation Regiment based at Fort Leonard Wood.

Scheduled ground insertion drills had to be cancelled because of the weather, which didn't seem to faze Soldiers on the ground.

"I live for this," said Pvt. 1st Class Joshua Edwards, of Farmington, as he crouched in the snow with his M-16. "This is a blast."

"The snow is a motivating factor to keep moving," Amador said. "It also adds a bit of realism because there is snow in Afghanistan, so this weather couldn't have come at a better time."

"My guys enjoy this weather," said Carpenter. "This sort of training hardens these guys."

Following each drill exercise an evaluation process takes place to make sure that any mistakes or concerns are addressed.

"A Soldier has a lot of individual tasks but today is all about fitting together as a team and learning to trust each other," Carpenter said. "So every training session has an after-action review and that's a mandated part of training. It's not a blame session, it's a way to figure out what went right and what went wrong and what we can do to improve as a unit. This is the sort of training that will keep these men alive in combat so we expect them to take this very seriously and they do."

And despite the snow and the mud and the cold wind in his face, Carpenter beamed with pride watching his company perform.

"I've never met a more motivated bunch of guys," he said. "They're very eager to train and they have a great attitude. I'm very proud of all of them. I'm so happy to be here I can't even believe they pay us for this."