Mountains Phase: Week Two

Hello everyone!  Before I post what Patrick's week has/will continue to look like, I thought I would give a quick update about John and me.  I am currently in my 37th week of pregnancy, and things are going really well.  The doctor says that John is in the right position to be born, so now it's just a waiting game.  FYI:  Babies are supposed to be in position now, so this does not mean that John will come early.  We are still praying for a late baby!  I'm doing really well, besides feeling like I'm going to pop every time he moves!  I just think he's doing flutter kicks to build up his Ranger legs like his daddy. :)

Speaking of Daddy, here is what Patrick is doing this week.  Enjoy!

Day 7 (10/6):  This day you will receive your platoon level patrol base class and conduct cadre led patrols.  Once the class is over, you will move to an open field and conduct a practical exercise in which the instructors will critique the students.  After the practical exercise is complete, you will have a few hours to work on your SOPs.  After dinner that night you will start your cadre led patrols.  You can expect to conduct multiple patrol vases lasting late into the night.

Day 8:  This will be your one full day of cadre led patrols.  This day will be identical to what you can expect for your graded patrols.   This day will start with the Chain of Command receiving the order and then issuing the OPORD in the planning bay.  After the order, you will start movement and move until you make contact with and observation post.  After contact, the Chain of Command will change and you will move to the ORP and conduct actions on the objective for this mission.  After this is complete, you will change the Chain of Command and repeat the process.  When finished, you will pick up and move back to the planning bay to prepare for tomorrow which will be the firs day of graded patrols.  At the end of this day, the Ranger Instructors will select the Chain of Command for tomorrow’s mission.

Day 9-12:  These four days will be your graded patrols.  These graded patrols are all platoon size, consisting of four squads and a platoon headquarters element.  Day 9 will begin with a full OPORD and end with the occupation of the patrol base at night.  Days 10 and 11 will start with a Fragmented Operations order in the patrol base and end with the occupation of the patrol base at night.  Day 12 will start with a FRAGO in the patrol base and end with a walk back to Camp Merrill.  The graded patrols will consist of one of four missions:  rescue a down pilot, movement to contact, raid, or ambush.  All students should get at least one patrol during this four day period, but depending on the class size, you may get more.  The daily schedule for these missions will be quite similar to the missions at Camp Darby.

Day 13:  The primary mission for this day will be recovery, refit, and critique of the first four days of graded patrols.  On this day, you will spend a large amount of time working through your platoon SOPs and addressing any area that your platoon struggled with during the first days of graded patrol.  This day is for your benefit to fix what you need to work on so take advantage of it and ask questions.  You will likely get three meals, two of them in the mess hall.  The day will end with the selection of the Chain of Command for the first graded mission of the five day field training exercise.

Day 14-18:  These five days will all be platoon level graded patrols.  The missions, Chains of Command, and schedule will be the same as the first field problem.  Every mission will begin with an OPORD/FRAGO and end with a patrol base.  If you passed your patrol during the first field problem, you will likely not get a patrol during the field problem.  Day 18 will end as you walk back to Camp Merrill that night.  Once you arrive at Camp Merrill, you will turn in all of your platoon equipment, not including the weapons, and likely fill out your peer evaluation reports prior to going to bed.