Squad Tests. The best training that a soldier can get in a unit is when he goes out with his squad. Then his squad leader can show the squad how to perform a collective task, like how to lay and record a point minefield, and the soldier can be trained by the squad leader on the individual task that supports the unit task. In this case it would be how to place and arm an M-15 anti-tank mine. The problem in this example is that there are some resources that have to be assembled to make this training happen meaningfully. The squad leader needs the M-20 practice mine, the one that looks like the real M-15 anti-tank mine. Hopefully his company may have some, or his battalion. If not he can ask the unit's training NCO to get some issued from the nearest Training and AudioVisual Support Center (TASC). The M-20 practice mine is armed with the M-604 practice fuse. These come from the ammunition supply point (ASP) that serves the battalion, and they are drawn using the DA Form 581, REQUEST FOR ISSUE AND TURN-IN OF AMMUNITION. But the only way that the fuses will be at the ASP is if they were requested in the battalion's annual training ammunition forecast and actually ordered 90 days in advance. And if the squad leader wants to be realistic in finding a piece of terrain where placing a point minefield makes sense in terms of supporting a defensive plan or an offensive scheme of maneuver, then there has to be a request for a training area (normally done at least three months out during a quarterly range conference) or there has to be a request for maneuver rights if the training is to be accomplished on the countryside. The one piece of good news is that a squad just consists of one or two vehicles so a convoy request is not required. So now you are getting an idea of why we find soldiers training alongside their barracks with pieces of wood simulating mines, and why good soldiers get bored out of their minds. And you may begin to appreciate why we did a lot of battalion level training. Not because it was the best way to do things, but because resources just about have to be assembled at the battalion level to accomplish realistic training. So we did battalion-level Squad Tests and Platoon Tests. For both exercises the units moved around our sector from station to station performing the tasks there. The station evaluators were platoon leaders for Squad Tests and company XOs and some of the battalion staff officers for Platoon Tests. We generated some realistic, hard evaluations that were also really good training.

During one of the Squad Tests, we were at the Friedberg Training Area, not far from Frankfurt. The training area was bordered on one side by the autobahn, and there was a concrete walkway under the road that allowed people from a nearby German village to do some walking in the training area. We did our Squad Tests by "stations." A squad would be told to go to some point on a map where there would be some sort of scenario that would be accomplished and graded. Then the squad would be given the next grid coordinate and go there for the next exercise. This would continue until all squads had rotated through all stations. Usually each station was graded, sometimes pass-fail but often on a scoring system. If a squad was told to install a point minefield it would be graded on how the site was secured, how the mines were placed and armed, how the minefield record was filled out, etc.

At one of the stations near the concrete underpass, we created a scenario where a squad was told that saboteurs were in the area and were expected to try to destroy the local power station (It was actually a water pumping station surrounded by chain link fence but we "simulated" the power station part). Each squad leader was told he had 15 minutes of preparation time. The squads leaders generally used the time to set their men into a protective formation around the "power plant" and arrange defensive measures like where they placed their machine gun and how they would communicate. They fully expected that, at minute 16, they would be attacked by some other soldiers who were dressed up in opposing forces (OPFOR) uniforms. However, about two weeks before the exercise, we gave one of the equipment operators of the battalion permission to grow a beard. For Squad Tests we dressed him in lederhosen, knee-high stockings, and an alpine hat. We also gave him an artillery simulator and a M1911 .45 caliber pistol with one round in the chamber – the round only having the case and primer because Ferguson removed the bullet. He hid both in his lederhosen. And at minute 16 he strolled towards the "power station." Of course no soldier ever took notice of him because he certainly looked even more German than the locals. They just saw another German strolling through the area. But when he got close to the "power station" he pulled out the simulator and set it off. BANG! In every case, the soldiers were stunned. When the squad leader approached the "German" wondering what was going on, the "German" pulled out the pistol and "shot" the squad leader. BANG! We "wiped out" most of our squads that day.

At another Squad Test station, the arriving squad was met by the Station Grader who told the squad they were to move on foot down the road to the nearby wood line and create a target folder (a written plan with measurements and needed materials) for a point minefield (that would be emplaced on the orders of the tactical commander if the road had to be rendered at least temporarily impassable). Okay, so typically the Squad Leader would brief his men on the mission, select two or three go ahead and "secure the site," and prepare the rest for taking measurements and making notes. But while the squad was approaching the site, another Station Grader would come out of the woods with some type of bleeding stomach wound and mumbling something about being caught by a protruding stake. The soldier with the "bleeding stomach wound" had actually been made up using a Moulage Kit that we had obtained from our TASC. Moulage Kits are used for first aid training and have realistic "wounds" that can be affixed to mannikins or people. They also have make up to simulate bruises and burns, and simulated blood to make everything very interesting. Now the truth is most units don't check out Moulage Kits because, although they can create realistic scenarios, the effort to set them up is a lot of work. Well, we checked out a kit and we made the effort . . . and when that soldier came staggering down the road looking like he was holding his guts in with blood running through his fingers some of the squad members being tested freaked out. They didn't realize - at first - that the station was not testing them on Creating a Target Folder for a Point Mine Field, but it was testing them in First Aid. A lot of good stories came from that Station.

Platoon Tests. Once we were training at Campo Pond Training Area in Hanau for a week, doing bridging exercises there, and then moved up into sector for the second week for platoon evaluations. One of the things we did was to evaluate the platoon's motor march into sector, and I had a platoon to monitor. Going from Hanau to sector was just about a shot straight north, like going from Richmond to Washington, D.C. except the distance was only 25 miles. Well this platoon began by taking a turn West. Like going to Washington from Richmond by way of Cincinnati. They were w...a...y off the map. So I finally gave up on them some place on the Autobahn and told them to pull over. The place happened to be one of the autobahn rest stops that also had a US military concession stand, with cookies and drinks and other snacks. The soldiers cared less that they failed their road march; they were happy as anything to be able to fill up on junk food.

On another major exercise in sector, I was travelling by jeep to Headquarters Company when I came across a small convoy of ours of about four trucks. I stopped and asked them where they were going. "Headquarters Company," they replied, and I told them that's where I was going so they could follow me. They were happy and relieved not to have to worry about finding their way, and they all pulled in behind me for the trip. I checked my map, and found the best way to get there was to take a stretch of autobahn. So we pulled on the autobahn and I told my driver Clyde Ferguson to head south. And I fell asleep - must have been the rigor of the exercise. I snapped awake to find Ferguson still dutifully following my last guidance, "Drive south." And, yes, the four trucks were still with me. I checked the map - we had missed the exit, something that was going to be a bit hard to explain. But I noted that the Headquarters Company trains (supply) area was not far off the next intersection, so I told my driver to pull off the autobahn and we made our way there. We arrived just as they were serving a hot lunch. I went back to the NCO in charge of the four trucks and told him that I thought we should stop here first for lunch, as if it were my plan all along. All the soldiers were happy. We eventually made it to Headquarters Company, but with full stomachs.

In another exercise we had squads rafting down the Fulda River at night to supposed evade the enemy that had overrun the countryside. They were supposed to stop at one point and rig a bridge across the Fulda with (simulated) demolitions. Along the way from the bridge to their river extraction point they were ambushed by the opposing forces. I had ridden along in one of the rafts, and the ambush was an E-Ticket ride with muzzle flashes and lots of simulators and pyrotechnics. The simulators going off in the water were loud and raised columns of water everywhere. It was all probably good training, but this one was also fun and exciting.

We also "trained small." There was a very small training area right out the back of the kaserne. It had some old buildings, and was used as an S-4 storage area. We ran a lot of small exercises out there that kept the troops challenged and didn't cost us a lot of resources to conduct. As I said earlier, the nature of the political-military situation in Germany at that time was that US units were supposed to be able to “move-out” within two hours of being alerted. For the 317th, this was measured by having the battalion completely clear its kaserne and move to the close-in training area right out back, ready to roll into sector. The way to get to that area, however, was through a gate at the back of the motor pool. That gate had a chain and a padlock. Actually it would be more correct to say it had a lot of padlocks because every time the battalion was alerted we could never seem to come up with the padlock key and had to use bolt cutters on the chain. Now flash forward about ten years to when I commanded the 130th Engineer Brigade and ran a surprise alert on the 317th to see if it could “make” its two hour window. About an hour and 45 minutes into the exercise, I went to the motor pool and stood by that gate. The battalion commander came up to me and asked what I was doing. I replied that I was waiting for his people to come with bolt cutters for the chain. He assured me that would not be the case. Guess what? Some things never change.

The battalion had a newspaper called the Dig In. At the time, the Brigade S-3 was Lieutenant Colonel Bob Hardiman, a fire breathing officer if there ever was one. He could yell and scream and intimidate most anyone. The rumor was that the brigade commander could announce a visit to a battalion and that would result in a bit of scurrying to prepare, but that when LTC Hardiman was coming, people ran and hid. Now Hardiman was of the opinion that battalions (and brigades) ran around the operations of the S-3 section, and he was further of the opinion that the S-3 was in the best position to be the Battalion Public Affairs Officer, so his influence rippled down (probably thundered down is better) and so I was also the PAO. This was good because the battalion actually was authorized an Information Specialist (Raul Cuervo - whose wife held a similar position with a signal battalion down the road). So since I was the PAO, Raul was assigned to the S-3 section. Great! An additional person to put up and take down tents in the field and to help with other chores as required. And it didn't hurt that Information Specialists tend to be very bright and write well, more good traits. (Though I often accused Specialist Cuervo of having his wife do our paper.) So we cranked out our monthly newspaper, the Dig In, on our mimeograph, and worked hard to get interesting articles in it. Good opportunities for lieutenants to practice writing. And I came to share Bob Hardiman's opinion about the importance of Public Affairs.

The 317th was also my first introduction to serious volleyball. The S-1, Joe Leboeuf, was great at the sport, and I came to love it. Bonnie, too.

The battalion got to try out a concept that was actually superb, but never caught on anywhere else. We had a Training Activities Center (TAC). The TAC was composed of personnel assigned to the S-3 section, plus the Operations NCO of each company. Each day the Operations NCO of each company would be in his respective company area to get the day's training and activities off the ground, and he would return in the late afternoon to ensure that things were set for the next day. In the middle of the day they worked for me, and they each had a specialty such as training anmmunition, training ranges, or training land. They served the battalion with these skills, and developed personally and professionally from their work. As a result we better managed our resources and the quality of our training and operations measurably increased.

My time with the 317th also generated some good stories, and they can be found here.