Reconnaissance creams off the best
September 10, 2010 // Narodna Armiya
Camouflage cloak on, laces tied, a scout abandons all his usual being. He no longer belongs to himself, his commanders, or his own memories. He ties grenades and a knife to his belt; he puts a pistol in his bosom. That’s how he disavows his past and his future, keeping them within his heart. Like a bird of the forest, he has no name. He could easily go by without any articulated speech, resorting to bird’s whistle for alerting his partners. He becomes part of the field, the forest, the ravine. He becomes the spirit of those spaces. A dangerous, stalking spirit which bears only one thing deep in his mind: his mission…
This passage from the Star, a legendary novel about scouts, suits best to describe the look and mood of the soldiers who came to compete for the title of the best reconnaissance party of the 8 Army Corps of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The event dedicated to the Day of the Ukrainian Defence Intelligence was held at the 204 Units Training Centre.
Ten reconnaissance squads composed of officers, contract soldiers and conscripts took part in the challenge. Fourteen reconnaissance troopers from the State Border Administration observed the championship in order to debut next year.
- Our boys completed a 30-kilometer battle march with full kit, so don’t be surprised if they frown too much - says Col. Oleg Kamkamize, 8 AC chief intelligence officer. - They slept in the woods on “beds” designed by them, and ate MREs. Same will continue over the 5-day-long championship. The winners will get the Challenge Cup, steamers, and a cake.”
Some of the contestants literally used their last effort to complete the march, reconnaissance instructors say, even though they are their units’ elite who meet training requirements with ease.
The scouts sat quietly in a nearby grove before the next stage of the challenge. They were speaking in subtle voice, telling jokes and demonstrating their worn-off combat boots. Even without the distinctive SF gear, the breed of these boys is seen at once: instead of indulging themselves in the sunshine, they chose mosquito-populated pine shades for rest. Rule No. One of every scout – not to draw attention.
The second day of the championship began with an ambush. The primary objective was capturing a vehicle with a high-value informant.
Each group had to come up with its own way of achieving the goal. Reconnaissance party of the 72 mechanized brigade bet on speed and marksmanship. A SUV sped up through the woods before being stopped by a sniper shot. It took just several seconds to secure the package. The group decided to inflict additional damage to the enemy by booby-trapping the SUV.
To complete the second task, participants had to run through a mine obstacle course. Each explosion means one trooper is out. The group is disqualified after losing half its members. A narrow, several dozen-meters-long trail contains uncountable number of trip wires, pressure mines skilfully placed by the engineers from the 95 airmobile brigade. The only difference from a real combat is that the explosions occur a dozen meters away from the soldiers.
- This is a trip wire – says engineer platoon leader Lt. Nebybko. We use a chameleon line, either green or transparent. We refer to the lessons learned from the most recent wars, particularly in Chechnya. We choose places most attractive from the scout’s point of view: where the habitation is less dense, between the trees, as well as at the beginning and at the end of danger zone – where soldiers lose some of their guard. A trip wire is much harder to detect if it’s placed at an angle instead of traditional horizontal position. In Chechnya, they even placed wires one meter above the ground, or higher, so that it could be set off with a radio antenna. Those are very hard to detect, especially if they’re not in direct sunshine. When the night falls, I can hardly find all the mines I installed during the day…
The scouts have sore eyes after the minefield crossing. It takes just a single false motion to cause a fountain of dirt and rocks next to you. Adrenaline rushes through the veins and it has to be taken hold of again. No wonder that some of the soldiers get grey hair after the course. The engineers are this year’s obvious winners. At the end of the day, we should feel happy for their skills and for the scouts’ trails that are not always so dangerous.
The third test of the day was reconnaissance of an unknown populated area. A short briefing, individual tasking - and off they go. The group moves on both sides of the main street. While there weren’t any surprises on the way “there”, the scouts were ambushed on the way back. Automatic weapons fired from a half-destroyed building. These short seconds were the moment of truth for the scouts. The judges turned their entire attention to them, while a special “black box” registered soldiers’ every movement and order. A detailed blamestorming after the test will show whether there was chaos or clear algorithm in their actions… Threat neutralized, the group leader collects data on the proved targets. Only then the timing stops.
The final challenge – mountain terrain, river crossing – caused no troubles to any of the groups.
- It would be wrong to think that each group will be judged only by time taken to complete a mission – says Col. Kamkamize. – We judge by the tactics, soldiers’ individual training, and endurance. We carefully analyse every stage and every error. The boys spent a whole year preparing for this challenge, so they deserve such scrutiny.
Reconnaissance parties of the 95 airmobile, 1 armoured brigades and 54 reconnaissance battalion (last year’s champions) dominated this year’s challenge. Soldiers from the 72 mechanized brigade also put up a decent performance. However, the champion will be known shortly, after the final debriefing.
Olexiy Andrushin
This passage from the Star, a legendary novel about scouts, suits best to describe the look and mood of the soldiers who came to compete for the title of the best reconnaissance party of the 8 Army Corps of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The event dedicated to the Day of the Ukrainian Defence Intelligence was held at the 204 Units Training Centre.
Ten reconnaissance squads composed of officers, contract soldiers and conscripts took part in the challenge. Fourteen reconnaissance troopers from the State Border Administration observed the championship in order to debut next year.
- Our boys completed a 30-kilometer battle march with full kit, so don’t be surprised if they frown too much - says Col. Oleg Kamkamize, 8 AC chief intelligence officer. - They slept in the woods on “beds” designed by them, and ate MREs. Same will continue over the 5-day-long championship. The winners will get the Challenge Cup, steamers, and a cake.”
Some of the contestants literally used their last effort to complete the march, reconnaissance instructors say, even though they are their units’ elite who meet training requirements with ease.
The scouts sat quietly in a nearby grove before the next stage of the challenge. They were speaking in subtle voice, telling jokes and demonstrating their worn-off combat boots. Even without the distinctive SF gear, the breed of these boys is seen at once: instead of indulging themselves in the sunshine, they chose mosquito-populated pine shades for rest. Rule No. One of every scout – not to draw attention.
The second day of the championship began with an ambush. The primary objective was capturing a vehicle with a high-value informant.
Each group had to come up with its own way of achieving the goal. Reconnaissance party of the 72 mechanized brigade bet on speed and marksmanship. A SUV sped up through the woods before being stopped by a sniper shot. It took just several seconds to secure the package. The group decided to inflict additional damage to the enemy by booby-trapping the SUV.
To complete the second task, participants had to run through a mine obstacle course. Each explosion means one trooper is out. The group is disqualified after losing half its members. A narrow, several dozen-meters-long trail contains uncountable number of trip wires, pressure mines skilfully placed by the engineers from the 95 airmobile brigade. The only difference from a real combat is that the explosions occur a dozen meters away from the soldiers.
- This is a trip wire – says engineer platoon leader Lt. Nebybko. We use a chameleon line, either green or transparent. We refer to the lessons learned from the most recent wars, particularly in Chechnya. We choose places most attractive from the scout’s point of view: where the habitation is less dense, between the trees, as well as at the beginning and at the end of danger zone – where soldiers lose some of their guard. A trip wire is much harder to detect if it’s placed at an angle instead of traditional horizontal position. In Chechnya, they even placed wires one meter above the ground, or higher, so that it could be set off with a radio antenna. Those are very hard to detect, especially if they’re not in direct sunshine. When the night falls, I can hardly find all the mines I installed during the day…
The scouts have sore eyes after the minefield crossing. It takes just a single false motion to cause a fountain of dirt and rocks next to you. Adrenaline rushes through the veins and it has to be taken hold of again. No wonder that some of the soldiers get grey hair after the course. The engineers are this year’s obvious winners. At the end of the day, we should feel happy for their skills and for the scouts’ trails that are not always so dangerous.
The third test of the day was reconnaissance of an unknown populated area. A short briefing, individual tasking - and off they go. The group moves on both sides of the main street. While there weren’t any surprises on the way “there”, the scouts were ambushed on the way back. Automatic weapons fired from a half-destroyed building. These short seconds were the moment of truth for the scouts. The judges turned their entire attention to them, while a special “black box” registered soldiers’ every movement and order. A detailed blamestorming after the test will show whether there was chaos or clear algorithm in their actions… Threat neutralized, the group leader collects data on the proved targets. Only then the timing stops.
The final challenge – mountain terrain, river crossing – caused no troubles to any of the groups.
- It would be wrong to think that each group will be judged only by time taken to complete a mission – says Col. Kamkamize. – We judge by the tactics, soldiers’ individual training, and endurance. We carefully analyse every stage and every error. The boys spent a whole year preparing for this challenge, so they deserve such scrutiny.
Reconnaissance parties of the 95 airmobile, 1 armoured brigades and 54 reconnaissance battalion (last year’s champions) dominated this year’s challenge. Soldiers from the 72 mechanized brigade also put up a decent performance. However, the champion will be known shortly, after the final debriefing.
Olexiy Andrushin
