The cadets separated into their four squadrons while the FTP cadets were rotated into different positions: element leaders, road guards, and the flight commander. The marching route took us from Stankowski Field, across Stadium Boulevard, to the off road bike and walking trails south of campus.
Crossing campus was good practice for using road guards. They are cadets in bright orange safety vests who march in front and behind the flight and block traffic so the flight can march safely through the intersection. The flight commander first enters the intersection to block traffic then deploys his or her road guards into position so that he or she can focus on marching the flight safely through the intersection. The flight commander is the last to leave the intersection once everyone else under his or her command is safely out of the road.
In addition, there were three stations where the flight stopped and practiced additional Warrior knowledge. The first station involved the familiarization of the inspection of vehicles in a hostile environment. Deployed military personnel who work in checkpoints must thoroughly inspect vehicles to protect from the threat of car bombs.
The second station involved reacting to heat stress. A serious problem in the military, heat stress is caused by not drinking enough water and the internal body-cooling system being overworked and includes symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, loss of coordination, low blood pressure, among others. "Hydrate or die", as the saying goes. Not knowing it was a planned event, cadets were expected to take appropriate action in order to assist and to get the sick cadets help.
Cadet Shirley fell out of formation and pretended to be suffering from heat stress. Her acting was so good, I briefly thought she was seriously ill even though I knew she would be acting sick at some point.
The third station involved being confronted by local hostiles, pretending to be friendly. Flight commanders were expected to identify a possible threat and take action to protect his or her flight from harm.
Cadet Wagner impersonated a local hostile at one of the stations. I believe Cadet Wagner watched the Borat movie several times in preparation for his role.POC trainers insured the FTP flight commanders were traveling the correct route while correcting invalid marching commands and adding stress in order to fluster the cadets. At Field Training, the cadets will be in a training environment 24/7 and must not let the added stress affect them. Operation Tenderfoot is always good practice for this.
