2008 Woodie Awards
ROTC cadets face mock ambush in Iraq scenario
By: Anna Lieth
Issue date: 3/3/08 Section: News
Last update: 3/3/08 at 6:37 AM EST
Last update: 3/3/08 at 6:37 AM EST
After classes Friday afternoon, junior Jon Harless, a member of Duke's Army Reserve Officer Training Corps, expected to meet up with his troops, load Black Hawk helicopters and take off for Blackstone, Va. Once they landed, Harless was to participate in simulated negotiations and secure the area.
The mission's sequence of events, however, did not go exactly as planned.
"As soon as we landed we were hit with indirect fire," said Harless, who served as Platoon Leader for the mission. "I was just trying to get my information from my different squad leaders and trying to figure out what is going on and how to best respond."
The mock mission was organized as a teaching activity for 31 freshmen, sophomore and junior cadets made up the American forces (BLUEFOR), with juniors leading the group. Senior members teamed up with the Cadre-the program's faculty-to simulate the opposition forces (OPPFOR), who were dressed as Iraqi soldiers and civilians.
Participating ROTC cadets were told the mission would consist of negotiations with opposition leaders. What leaders did not tell them was that they would be ambushed by enemy soldiers and forced to respond as they landed in Blackstone.
For freshman Wade Sidley, this simulation was only his second mock mission and the most intense.
"As a freshman, you know what you are supposed to do, but you are kind of unsure at first," he said. "It's kind of nerve-racking-but you look to the older leadership."
Senior Alex Frank, who was the operations officer in charge of planning the event with two Cadre members, said the event was slightly different from past ROTC simulations.
"This was a much more difficult type of mission," Frank said. "[The BLUEFOR] had to react without any prior knowledge of where the enemy was."
ROTC members and faculty made the mission extremely realistic, sophomore Philip Cotter said.
"There was a lot of fake artillery-like a giant firecrackers-and we heard huge explosions," he said. "All of a sudden the whole area would fill up with light, simulating the confusion."
The mission's sequence of events, however, did not go exactly as planned.
"As soon as we landed we were hit with indirect fire," said Harless, who served as Platoon Leader for the mission. "I was just trying to get my information from my different squad leaders and trying to figure out what is going on and how to best respond."
The mock mission was organized as a teaching activity for 31 freshmen, sophomore and junior cadets made up the American forces (BLUEFOR), with juniors leading the group. Senior members teamed up with the Cadre-the program's faculty-to simulate the opposition forces (OPPFOR), who were dressed as Iraqi soldiers and civilians.
Participating ROTC cadets were told the mission would consist of negotiations with opposition leaders. What leaders did not tell them was that they would be ambushed by enemy soldiers and forced to respond as they landed in Blackstone.
For freshman Wade Sidley, this simulation was only his second mock mission and the most intense.
"As a freshman, you know what you are supposed to do, but you are kind of unsure at first," he said. "It's kind of nerve-racking-but you look to the older leadership."
Senior Alex Frank, who was the operations officer in charge of planning the event with two Cadre members, said the event was slightly different from past ROTC simulations.
"This was a much more difficult type of mission," Frank said. "[The BLUEFOR] had to react without any prior knowledge of where the enemy was."
ROTC members and faculty made the mission extremely realistic, sophomore Philip Cotter said.
"There was a lot of fake artillery-like a giant firecrackers-and we heard huge explosions," he said. "All of a sudden the whole area would fill up with light, simulating the confusion."
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