CAMP CROWDER, Mo. -- It isn't easy being an insurgent in Neosho, Mo.
The long hours. The blistering heat. And, of course, constantly having to come up with new ways of haassing the Missouri National Guardsmen training in the area.
Such was the case for several members of the headquarters detachment of the 229th Multifunctional Medical Battalion.
During the battalion's annual training exercise, eight members of the Jefferson City-based unit, acting as a fictitious militant group, attempted to disrupt the battalion's operations through attacks and harassment. The battalion's other two units, the Kansas City-based 205th Area Support Medical Company, and the Springfieldbased 206th Area Support Medical Company, fended off the attacks while performing their medical duties.
Generally, the "militants" came in groups of two to four, said Capt. Joseph Schmitz, a member of the insurgent group. Because the training exercise was geared more toward the units' medical duties, the attacks were rarely intense, and the militants gave up easily.
"If they shot at us at all, we were pretty happy with that," he said.
Simulating an insurgent group involves a fair amount of acting. During a late-night scenario, Schmitz played a local townsperson with a minor shoulder injury. While waiting to be treated, Schmitz addressed everyone who passed him as "GI," and spoke in broken English -- phrases such as "You want I help, GI?" and "I am not fighter."
On the last evening of the exercise, the militants ramped up their attacks.
The long hours. The blistering heat. And, of course, constantly having to come up with new ways of haassing the Missouri National Guardsmen training in the area.
Such was the case for several members of the headquarters detachment of the 229th Multifunctional Medical Battalion.
During the battalion's annual training exercise, eight members of the Jefferson City-based unit, acting as a fictitious militant group, attempted to disrupt the battalion's operations through attacks and harassment. The battalion's other two units, the Kansas City-based 205th Area Support Medical Company, and the Springfieldbased 206th Area Support Medical Company, fended off the attacks while performing their medical duties.
Generally, the "militants" came in groups of two to four, said Capt. Joseph Schmitz, a member of the insurgent group. Because the training exercise was geared more toward the units' medical duties, the attacks were rarely intense, and the militants gave up easily.
"If they shot at us at all, we were pretty happy with that," he said.
Simulating an insurgent group involves a fair amount of acting. During a late-night scenario, Schmitz played a local townsperson with a minor shoulder injury. While waiting to be treated, Schmitz addressed everyone who passed him as "GI," and spoke in broken English -- phrases such as "You want I help, GI?" and "I am not fighter."
On the last evening of the exercise, the militants ramped up their attacks.
-
- groups:
- News, News and Politics, Politics, WTF, 2 more
-
-
-
-
- Ihatethemall
- added this
