Day 66: War Games

This week we have been training and preparing for mounted combat patrols (MCP). An MCP consists of leaving base in a group of armored vehicles with mounted weapons and accomplishing some kind of mission. It is much more than simply moving from point A to point B. We learn to assure that we have adequate communication between those in the patrol and headquarters. We practice scenarios in which we are ambushed or hit with explosive devices. We simulate injuries and loss of equipment and how we would deal with these circumstances. Basically, we think of everything that could happen while we are on patrol and try to come up with an organized and safe way to deal with each possible scenario. Tomorrow we go out and are tested on our all of these skills in a real life practical exercise. So in preparation, we went up to the MCP simulator this afternoon. The simulator is like a big video game. We get in our vehicles, surrounded by big screen televisions, and drive around on patrol. The technology actually was pretty good. We could see people walking by, vehicles approaching, bombs going off, helicopters flying by, etc. We also could fire on targets with both large and small weapons. It was pretty realistic and a good exercise. Hopefully it will help us do well on our real MCP tomorrow.

A look from inside the simulator

One of the lab specialists practicing his shot