By Jonathan Byington
Satellite surveillance shows opposing forces have constructed a series of defensive positions, resupply routes and a landing zone with preparations being made for a counter-attack. The mission: conduct an area ambush and deliberate attack to destroy enemy forces traveling along resupply routes and capture an enemy bunker.
Before the mission begins, squad leaders huddle to receive a briefing with details contained in football-like plays. ?Operation Cougar Blue? is under way.
Upon command, the squads disperse and begin to infiltrate the surrounding territories. Operation orders given, BYU ROTC cadets armed with paintball guns begin a weekly military science class lab in Rock Canyon.
As one squad nears an enemy area, a solider walks into a grassy area marked as a minefield.
?Everybody hates mines, but you have to deal with it,? says Maj. Will Franklin, BYU ROTC training officer.
Franklin yells to the cadet that his left leg has been blown off by a mine. Mines are made to injure, not kill because they can reduce the fighting force from one to three because two soldiers have to help move the injured, Franklin said. He travels with the squad to observe the skills of the leader and cadets. His job is to make mental notes of poor miscalculations and good judgment calls
Despite the injury, the remaining squad members continue to slowly move along an empty creek bed, positioning themselves for possible ambush.
Within minutes, an all too familiar popping sound erupts. Paintballs explode breaking the silence. Cadets begin yelling.
One enemy is dead and one injured. After a brief body search, cadets begin to move out, carrying the corpse and injured enemy out of the creek bed. Mission accomplished.
* * *
Thursday?s demonstration is all preparatory for any event that the military science students may encounter when called into active service.
After the mission, Franklin led a debriefing with the cadets to discuss the mission and determine what portions went well and where improvement could be made. The warning about the specific mine had not been given to the leader, despite an order to do so. The squad identified the need to improve communication as a priority.
For Franklin, war is fresh in his mind having returned from active duty in Iraq last November. Two years have passed since the United States lead an attack on Baghdad to oust then-dictator Saddam Hussein from power and establish a democratic government.
?These guys in six months to a year will be on the front lines [after they graduate],? Franklin said. ?They need to be prepared.?
Many cadets are scheduled to compete in a summer camp in which similar missions will be used to showcase their leadership skills.
?The real focus of these exercises is leadership development,? Franklin said. ?Even if he [the squad leader] didn?t do everything right, did he lead??
Cadets have been in training since Fall Semester using the Army?s ?crawl-walk-run? technique for learning.
Cadets begin by learning individual skills ? during the crawl stage. They are later made to walk through the missions that helps them to become familiar the concepts of engagement. A final step is the actual run through, where the cadets participate in field missions.
?When we are in a battle situation, we are supposed to react in the proper way that we have been taught,? said Cadet Josh Bills.
After the debriefing, the cadets immediately began preparation for the second part of the mission while squad leaders received the latest intelligence information and orders for Part Two.
* * *
The same enemy forces that received serious setbacks during the first part of the mission have become more hostile and fortified the few defensive positions that they have left. They have set additional minefields to the west and are rumored to have taken prisoners. Mission: destroy enemy forces, defensive positions and the landing zone.
A squad of cadets begins negotiations when they discover a freelance journalist has been taken hostage. The journalist, a Daily Universe reporter, is forced to kneel with his hands behind his head as guns are pointed at him. His captors force the reporter to his feet. He is being used as a human shield in the exercise.
The opposing squad advances and a gun battle ensues. Paintballs fly as the fray mounts.
As the opposition surmounts, the journalist and his captors are overtaken. He is eventually released and the two opposing soldiers are killed.
* * *
?It?s all fun, but when you hear those paint balls snapping in the trees around you, it gives you a little adrenaline boost to move,? said Cadet Benjamin Bringhurst, a 22-year-old political science major, role-played one of the opposing soldiers during the hostage standoff.
Following the training, 24-year-old Cadet Adrien Alvarez said the mission was accomplished.
?We ambushed the troops and [during the second mission] we rescued the hostage,? he said.
Alvarez said he appreciates the experience he has gained in ROTC.
?I feel it is an honor to wear the uniform, Alverez said. ?I am trying to earn it.?
The cadets accomplished their missions and continue preparing for next week?s mission, summer camp and, eventually, active duty in the U.S. Army.
