AMMAN, Jordan: A radio crackles to life on what seems like another routine security patrol in a remote village. 1st Lt. Brent Lemler, of Bravo Company “Bushmasters,” 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry Regiment, keys his hand-held radio and responds.
While listening to the communication, he motions for his squad leaders. After a moment, 1st Lt. Lemler relays to his leadership the tasking he has received.
“A high value target’s cell phone has just pinged in our vicinity,” said Lemler.
His team has been tasked with searching a nearby building to attempt to locate the high value target that his team has been tracking for months. The target is suspected of producing homemade explosives that have targeted coalition convoys on the main supply routes with devastating consequences.
After explaining his plan of action, Lemler’s platoon disperses. They soon secure key terrain in the village and setup an over-watching position on a nearby elevated location. The platoon then begins to survey for various threats that an urban environment can conceal.
The conditions are set and the entry teams move into position.
While this reads like a story stemming from any number of real-life missions from the Global War on Terror, in reality, it’s a training scenario. The Soldiers of Bravo Company trained on the collective task to conduct a security patrol and escort civilians from the battlefield during a training event at the Joint Training Center, near Amman, Jordan.
“White space on the calendar equals training. Everything we do now, as an Army, is focused on readiness,” said 1st Lt. Rory Hight, company commander of the Bushmasters.
Soldiers from Bravo Company of the California Army National have been training on light infantry tasks during the months of January and February, in order to meet the Army’s Sustainable Readiness Model guidance.
“We are constantly seeking opportunities for our own improvement and to maintain our readiness as a unit,” said Hight. “The Sustainable Readiness Model reminds us we need to maintain our unit proficiency on team, squad, platoon, and company level infantry tasks.”
The Bushmaster’s primary mission has been on the Jordan Operational Engagement Program, which focuses on regional security and partnership building with the Jordanian Armed Forces. The next JOEP rotation is set to take place in late February, which has created an opportunity for the Bushmasters to use the break between JOEP rotations to maintain their proficiency they earned during pre-mobilization training.
Bushmaster company leadership has created stimulating and realistic training on the challenging terrain and dusty ranges of the Joint Training Center for their Soldiers. The company training has focused on weapons proficiency, squad and platoon level movement to contact scenarios, military operations in urban terrain, and company level defense operations.
“This is as good of environment to train in as any. We try to throw countless scenarios at our leaders and Soldiers, to get them thinking on their feet,” said Hight. “The enemy of the future will challenge all our Soldiers, so we conduct our training in a complex and dynamic environment against a peer or hybrid threat as we seek to challenge ourselves more and more.”
