Finished with Sill

The last 3 weeks of BOLC II went by surprsingly fast. We spent all three weeks in the FOB and slowly escalated our tempo from the "crawl" of simple training missions to full spectrum 24 hour operations (fancy army term for doing stuff non-stop)

The following pictures show the basic elements of assaulting structures in an urban environment. Entering a hostile room is by far one of the most dangerous thing a soldier can do in combat. We were just learning the basics, but even in practice you quickly learned that what we were learning was incredibly difficult.

This team has just breached a door and is assaulting through the "fatal funnel", the section of the door where most team members are likely to be hit coming through.















This is a portion of my squad working on "pie" drills. Moving down hallways and enclosed spaces while covering each team member in a 360 degree arc.














Climbing stairs adds another difficult dimension to urban assault operations. This is a team trying to move up stairs while covering 360 both vertically and horizontally.





















My buddy Micah Pawlata preparing to dismount the truck and assault Liberty City, the simulated town in Fort Sills range.

My squad just dismounted and is pulling security before the initial assault. My roommate Jeracka is our squad leader and gets the pleasure of humping the radio on his back.

This is FOB Kelly. Our home for 3 weeks. The little white buildings are "safety sheds". Small steel reinforced concrete structures that are designed to withstand tornados. If you look in the right hand corner in the distance is the clam-shell gym that was off limits because a tornado picked up a connex and launched it into the gym. Home sweet home.


Life wasn't all bad. We at least got a great view during sunset.

To finish the cycle our cadre auctioned of "pie your cadre in the face" tickets to raise money for local charities. This is our 4th platoon cadre SSG Cleason, who is freshly pied.

Overall BOLC II was just another "check the block" assignment for me. I didn't learn a whole lot, but I certainly appreciate the friendship that I have made and that I will keep throughout the Army. As of now I am back in Fort Benning, GA and I am preparing to start Infantry Officer Basic, which I hope will bring the challenge that I am looking for!