by Staff Sgt. Jo A. Hoots and Sgt. Dee Ortiz
29th Infantry Division Public Affairs
FORT PICKETT -- About 90 soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 115th Infantry spent a part of their annual
training here supporting a Welch unit from the exchange program between the United States and the
United Kingdom.
The 131-man company from the 3rd Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers, spent five days in the woods
with the 1/115th learning the American way of assaulting and ambushing objectives, according to
Command Sgt. Maj. Ross Jackson, 1st Battalion command sergeant major. At the end of the training
period, the fusiliers were certified to American standards in squad assault, ambush and enter and clear a
building.
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An M-60 machine gunner fires to protect troops as they move from
house to house. |
“It’s been difficult,” Jackson said. “Often they revert back to their way.” The fusiliers specialize in
Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain, so the 1/115th wasn’t teaching the basics, only the American
way.
“They’ve been taking it at a slow pace for us because we aren’t used to the heat,” said 2nd Lt.
Chris Arvon-Jones, with the fusiliers. He said that there are some definite differences in the way
Americans and the Welch units conduct ambushes.
“An American ambush would be about five soldiers ambushing a whole platoon or company. A
Welch ambush would be platoon-size or more,” Arvon-Jones said. The Welch fusiliers could use a linear
ambush with as many as a battalion.
After the train-up period, the 1/115th cut the Welch fusiliers loose and stepped back to support the
unit and observe them in operation during an attack on the MOUT. At about 4:30 a.m. the following day,
the fusiliers prepared to assault the Marcalan capitol of Norfolk.
Attempting to move into the city from the surrounding woodline, the Welch soldiers were pinned
in their location by a heavy barrage of M-60 gunfire from a Marcalan gun crew defending the city’s
perimeter. Sniper fire from abandoned buildings slowed forward movement by the four squad elements
from the Welch company.
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Members of Welch Royal Fusiliers display their flag to indicate that all
enemy troops have been eliminated.
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The M-60 gunner was taken out when two squads laid down a blanket of heavy fire while a third
squad flanked the gunner crew from the side. With the gunner dead, the four squads moved to enter and
clear the first building.
Despite being harassed by sniper fire from buildings throughout the city, the Welch soldiers
continued clearing a path to their objective -- City Hall. With both sides suffering heavy casualties, the
fusiliers used tactics learned from their Maryland National Guard counterparts.
When they reached City Hall, they met with another machine gun nest perched on the top floor of
the building. The fusiliers ducked into a culvert and set up their M-60. After heavy fire from both sides,
the Welch entered the objective and killed the gunners on the rooftop. They secured the building and
posted the Regimental flag from the rooftop indicating their victory.
Battalion Executive Officer Maj. Michael Nacincik said, “The most valuable thing we’ve gained
(from the training) is the exchange of infantry tactics between us and our NATO allies. The NATO
doctrine is very similar with some minor subtleties. We have the confidence of knowing that our allied
partners are on par with us. When you go into conflict, you want to know your allied partners can pull
their weight and we’re confident they can.”
