During a military training exercise in 1995, in the Mojave Desert, I was on the side of a mountain freezing (that is, wet and cold from the rain and harsh conditions), and the only thing I could do was think about the good times in my life and my faith that I could push through.
National Training Center
The National Training Center (NTC) is in the Mojave Desert next to Fort Irwin, California. The NTC is an unforgiving and challenging isolated area ideal because of its over 1,000 square mile capacity for military maneuvers and ranges, its uncluttered electromagnetic spectrum, and restricted airspace.
The NTC is a training center where military units from the Army, Navy, Air force, and Marines (including foreign military units) train and prepare for war, in which there is also an opposing force stationed at Fort Irwin. That opposing force has one mission: to defeat the military units that come to the training center. Although I’ve been there several times (4 times to be exact), I never got comfortable with the rapidly changing harsh environment; I just learned to deal with the adversities.
Those adversities were the extreme heatwaves in the summertime and the extreme cold, wet, and rainy winters. For instance, the summers can reach a high of 114 degrees with the low 69 degrees, and the winters see a high of 62 degrees and with an average low of 36 degrees. And for this particular rotation to the training center, it was winter time (averaging high 60 and low 34 degrees), and to make matters worse, this was my first military training exercise and the first tour to the NTC – I was not prepared.
Each rotation to the training center is a 30-day rotation. In the first week, units are outfitted with GPS tracking systems, lasers that simulate direct fire (including small arms), and real-time interactive computer models for indirect fire. Nevertheless, I was excited to train, yet I didn’t know what to expect in the upcoming two-week force-on-force war-fighting exercise in the box. After the first week, units enter the box, which is the 1,000 square mile training area where there are tall mountains, narrow trails through the hills, mock-up villages, and plenty of wildlife.
Light Infantry Short Range Air defense platoon
In a Stinger platoon, there are six two-person teams in which my team’s first mission was to protect and defend the Task-force from an enemy air attack, while they would move through the Main Supply Routes (MSR). My team would also report on enemy movements, and report that intelligence up the chain of command.
I was armed with an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon (machine gun), a rucksack weighing about 50 pounds, and a Stinger missile weighing 36.3 pounds. The Stinger missile is a man-portable air-dense system that operates as an infrared homing surface-to-air missile. My Team leader carried the radio, an M-4 carbine rifle, and a rucksack weighing about 60 pounds. With the amount of weight, we were carrying, movements were very slow and deliberate.
Nonetheless, I wasn’t too happy about climbing up and down mountains loaded down with heavy gear, because, hell, I’m from Louisiana; there are no mountains or very high places in Cajun Country. Yet, our teams were dispersed out along a mountain ridge overlooking the friendly patrols that were coming through MSR.
The night before, all the teams were staged in a holding area waiting to push forward on our mission, yet it rained in which I woke up at or around 2 a.m. wet and cold. At first, I felt warm and then when I moved, I realized that I was soaking wet. “What the Hell,” I thought to myself.
I didn’t have time to change uniforms – the only thing I had time to do was give my platoon leader a green report. Basically, a radio check saying “all sensitive-items are accounted for” and move out toward our position, which was going to take about an hour and a half.
Once in position, we would camouflage our vehicle and move on foot to a high point on the side of the mountain (offering a point of good cover and concealment). Being my first training exercise, I did not waterproof my military gear, so everything got wet from the rain (my extra pair of socks, T-shirts, uniforms, everything). Now, I was in trouble –cold, wet, and extremely miserable. That misery would go on for the next 14 days.
You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.
The only thing I could think about was the times I was sitting on my couch in my barracks room watching a good movie. It’s incredible how during tough times, instead of focusing on how cold I was, I focused on the good times in my life and how, after this experience, I would reflect and push through more challenging situations.
Keep in mind; I could not call time-out and go inside of a building or warming tent; we were a two-person team in the middle of nowhere on the side of a mountain.
Indeed, there is research that says in tough times, find a sense of humor, take stock of all you’ve been through already, and make peace with the situation. Moreover, adversity offers valuable insights; as well, it is an excellent teacher!
You can learn from your mistakes – I never got caught up being unprepared again.
Tell me about a time where your lack of preparedness led to a valuable lesson?