Illinois National Guard Soldiers Train with Ultimate Training Munitions

Story by Sgt. Adam Fischman, Illinois National Guard Public Affairs

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Illinois Army National Guard Soldiers Staff Sgt. Matthew Madiar of Bensenville and Staff Sgt. Brandon Patchett of Oak Park with Troop C, 2nd Squadron, 106th Cavalry Regiment engage the enemy.

MARSEILLES, IL (05/06/2011)(readMedia)-- Twenty-six Illinois Army National Guard Soldiers engaged one another with the latest Man-Marker training systems during an instructor course designed to educate and familiarize Soldiers to safely and successfully train their own individual units April 28 at Marseilles Training Center (MTC).

What was expected to be only 14 Soldiers turned out to be 26 from various units and job skills. The course allowed Soldiers from all over the state to experience the most realistic training with the lowest injury risk. The knowledge will be brought back to those Soldier's units.

"My goal here is to make training better for Soldiers," said Staff Sgt. Andrew Prentice of Streator, the MTC training aids, devices, simulators and simulations (TADSS) coordinator. "With this new state-of-the-art equipment available, there is no doubt we are accomplishing exactly that."

The course included classroom training on the technology and benefits of the Ultimate Training Munitions (UTM).

Soldiers were introduced to was a conversion system for all of their actual weapons. The kit converts the service M-16 and M-4, M-42 9mm pistol and M-249 Squad Automatic Weapon into a non-lethal training device.

It is much more sophisticated and realistic than paintball. The conversion kit completely replaces the bolt, removing each weapon's ability to fire live rounds.

The close combat mission capability kits (CCMCK) also keeps the weapons cleaner than using traditional blanks because they do not produce carbon buildup. They are also to be operated

clean and dry without lubricants.

Parking lot-sized areas of 75 meters in almost any location become safe training environments with the UTM rounds. There are no longer the same 3100-meter restrictions and live-round regulations that govern

where training can be held.

"It is difficult to name just one or two benefits of training with UTM rounds," said UTM Master Trainer Eric Seto. "If you look at all the (military occupation skills) throughout this group, there is a variety of backgrounds that range from administration to Infantry Ranger and everything else between. Once this equipment is in their hands, they all get excited about it because it's so simple, easy to use, realistic to train with."

Following the classroom session Soldiers were introduced to the Military Operation in Urban Terrain (MOUT) site, where the arriving convoy of Soldiers was unexpectedly hit by a simulated Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack.

"It definitely surprised them," said Prentice, "The more realistic, concussive feelings of something going off even makes you want to put your head down at certain times. Soldiers in training don't expect to see the visual as well as the explosive sound experience attributed to a simulated explosion."

With the Pacific Coast Systems and 155/2 joint artillery shells, the sound, pressure, and visuals of an IED explosion can be simulated accurately. After the explosion, Prentice held a hands-on course allowing Soldiers to set up these simulated IED's on their own so they could learn and, in turn, train their own units how to set up these lanes.

They could be detonated a number of ways whether it be by pressure plate - using a vehicles weight on the ground to set it off - or simply by a remote switch.

In addition to the simulated IED course, Soldiers were also given the hands-on training on of the UTM course, where they engaged one another in a "shoot and be shot" session with the man-marker rounds followed by firing of additional weapons and movement-to-contact drills.

The man-marker round fires a small cosmetic wax projectile that is color coated in red, blue, or yellow to mark its target. However, in addition to the colored mark the round leaves, it also includes a sting of light pain with each contact to the body.

"It actually hurts," said Staff Sgt. Brandon Patchett of Oak Park, the noncommissioned officer-in-charge of training with Troop C, 2nd Squadron, 106th Cavalry Regiment from Aurora. "The pain aspect of this technology allows the training to be much more realistic because Soldiers are taking cover when they need to

rather than engaging the enemy without care of becoming engaged themselves."

The shoot-and-be-shot scenario allowed Soldiers to actually understand that there is no mistaking when a Soldier gets shot.

"When a Soldier gets shot, they know it," said executive officer of range operations 1st Lt. William Hamby of Marseilles. "Questionability of whether you are hit or not is eliminated because there is definitely a pain response that changes the behavior of Soldiers during training."

Man-on-man encounters brought the day to a new level of realism. Natural survival instincts were brought to life as each Soldier avoided getting hit by man-marker rounds. Soldiers were seeking cover, changing magazines and using verbal and non-verbal communication to engage their opponents in the MOUT site.

At the end of the day after the adrenaline simmered, the Illinois National Guardsmen were excited about bringing their newly acquired training back to their units. With the knowledge of the new equipment and assets available to all Illinois National Guard units training opportunities were endless.

"All the soldiers that were here from all the varying units worked extremely well together to get this done," said Hamby. "They gave the utmost respect to the instructors were attentive, asked questions, and did exactly what they needed to do to get the most they could out of the training, and that was neat to see."

photo 1) U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Adam Fischman, Illinois National Guard Public Affairs/ Illinois Army National Guard Soldiers Staff Sgt. Matthew Madiar of Bensenville and Staff Sgt. Brandon Patchett of Oak Park with Troop C, 2nd Squadron, 106th Cavalry Regiment cover one another while engaging the enemy during movement to contact drills to test new man-marker training rounds April 28 at Marseilles Training Center.

photo 2) U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Adam Fischman, Illinois National Guard Public Affairs/ Illinois Guardsman Staff Sgt. Matthew Madiar of Bensenville, Troop C, 2nd Squadron, 106th Cavalry Regiment targets the enemy's location during movement to contact drills while testing new man-marker training rounds April 28 at Marseilles Training Center.

photo 3) U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Adam Fischman, Illinois National Guard Public Affairs/ Illinois Guardsman Staff Sgt. Brandon Patchett of Oak Park, Troop C, 2nd Squadron, 106th Cavalry Regiment fires new man-marker training rounds through the Modern Operations in Urban Terrain site window at enemy team forces April 28 at Marseilles Training Center.