Land Navigation...Easier Said Than Done...

Det 440 had quite an experience yesterday with AEF Capstone held at the Yates farm. We were all super excited for paintball, and were ready to use our land navigation, self aid buddy care, and small unit tactics training. The capstone had been planned for weeks, and the day finally came. Well...yesterday was cold, wet, and rainy! We were all decked out in our battle attire, and ready for war! Some of us were also nervous that it would be cancelled, because it was pretty gross outside. But then 1400 finally rolled around, and our capstone wasn't cancelled! We all armed ourselfs with CO2 and paintballs, and headed off into the woods for some fun. The FTP led the squadrons, and the POC were hiding in the woods waiting for the squadrons. The wing was able to use their prisoner detainment skills as well!

After a awhile, some of the squadrons had gotten lost, and were having trouble navigating their way to the checkpoints. Apparently land navigation is easier said than done when it comes to the middle of the woods with some rain, mud, and paintballs thrown in. But eventually all of the squadrons were on the right path. After awhile all the cadets were called in so we could do an all out war/ showdown!
The Op For (POC group) VS the Squadrons. The squadrons totally dominated the Op For when it came to numbers, but when it came to the actual fight...well lets just say OP For held their own. When we finally called it a day, the sun had gone down and we were all soaked and painted! After we turned in our weapons we all headed back to crowder to clean the paintball guns, and discuss how much fun we had, and what all we got to do!

Preparing for Vets Day!

Last week at Det 440 we learned some turning movements we will be using for the Veterans Day Parade. We also learned how to do an official Open Ranks Inspection (ORI). Today we used what we learned last week and had our first ORI of the semester. We wore our service dress, and the FTP led the squadrons in an ORI. We also practiced some more marching techniques on Stankowski field for Veterans Day. After practicing on Stankowski we ventured up to the front of crowder to form up for a Formal Retreat! FTP again, were in charge of the squadrons, and were really able to shine. We ran through the proper procedures within a matter of minutes, and when the time came to lower the flag we were able to do a proper retreat in respect to the flag!

I have to give some major props to the FTP cadets this semester! They are really stepping it up, and showing us they can lead. It is really important for them to start early, so when the end of the spring semester comes around (which it will before we know it) they are fully prepared for the challenges they will face at field training.