THE LANCE Liberty Battalion Army ROTC Newsletter, Fall 2004 www.rotc.neu.edu 2LT Lisa Kirby preparing for Convoy Operations in Baghdad, Iraq Former NU Cadet Leading the Way in Iraq By Cadet Jeffrey Barrett The Global War on Terrorism and Operation Iraqi One of her planned convoy trips was cancelled due to a Freedom continue, cadets entering the Army are high level of intelligence showing Improvised Explosive prepared and ready for possible deployment sometime in Devices, or IED’s, along the route. A different convoy their future career. This time came quickly for 2LT Lisa that went as planned brought 2LT Kirby into Baghdad Kirby, who is now serving in a signal platoon under the where she had her first glimpse of the city and its all too 10th Mountain Division stationed at Camp Victory, Iraq. apparent juxtaposition of elegant palaces and the relative 2LT Kirby graduated from Northeastern University in filth and poverty seen on the average Iraqi street. December 2003, and became a gold bar recruiter while Through her service in Iraq, 2LT Kirby is now a waiting to report for her Officer Basic Course (OBC). Combat Veteran and has earned her combat patch with She reported to the Signal Corps OBC at Ft. Gordon, GA the 10th Mountain Division. We all remember the on March 17th 2004. Upon completion of OBC, she shining example she set for all of us as a cadet and reported to Ft. Drum, NY, serving as a Platoon Leader newly commissioned officer while at Northeastern. We with the 10th Mountain Division. wish her the best of luck and pray for her safety during A recent e-mail home from 2LT Kirby gave us a this deployment. All of us at Liberty Battalion are unique look into the life of a newly commissioned extremely proud of 2LT Kirby’s accomplishments and officer deployed in Iraq. Along with pictures, we service to her country, and we thank her for them. learned of the daily dangers she faces through convoy operations. Page 2 The LANCE – Fall 2004 Liberty Battalion Fall FTX MS III Cadets Negotiating Water Obstacle at the Leader’s Reaction Course By Cadet Jared Krantz-Odendahl Cadets from Northeastern University and Boston training sites. MSIII cadets spent the majority of the day College arrived at Camp Edwards on Friday, November training at the Field Leaders Reaction Course (FLRC). 5th, and came face to face with strong winds that made The FLRC is a large obstacle course composed of 15 standing at attention nearly impossible. The battalion different lanes that each present unique challenges. fall FTX was held much later than usual, but the weather Throughout the course of the day we completed 8 lanes, was surprisingly mild. with each LDAC bound cadet leading at least one. Each We broke into our Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) after lane lasted one hour, consisting of fifteen minutes for the initial chaos of settling into the barracks. Cadets with planning, thirty minutes for execution, and fifteen leadership roles set about receiving and issuing orders. minutes for an After Action Review (AAR). MSIV cadets conducted a short land navigation refresher While the MSIII’s were at the FLRC site, the MSIs course. After the classes concluded, it was time for and IIs were learning to zero and fire the M16A2 rifle, personal hygiene and then lights out by 2200. The night flying on the UH-1 Iroquois helicopter, more commonly was pretty uneventful, especially for those lucky enough know as the Huey, rappelling off the 30ft and 60ft rappel not having to pull fireguard duty. towers, and negotiating the recently renovated Wakeup was at 0500 on Saturday morning. There confidence course. was a brief trip through the chow line for some pancakes, eggs, and sausage, and then it was off to the The LANCE – Fall 2004 Page 3 Cadet Matt Haslett at Rappel Tower As the MSIs and IIs were finishing up their day of high-speed training, the MSIIIs shot over to the rappel site to hit the 60ft tower before heading out on a 4K-ruck march to the bivouac site. Upon reaching the bivouac area we quickly set up hooches and broke into our MSIVs Teach Land Navigation Refresher Course MRE’s before heading out for our night land navigation briefing. Night land navigation is basically the same as While we were out in the woods searching for our day land navigation in that you are given an eight digit points, the MSIs and IIs were back at the barracks grid coordinate for each of your points, a map, a cleaning rifles and receiving additional classes on land compass, a protractor, and a score card. The only real navigation in preparation for their day land navigation difference is the lack of sunlight. There was a exercise the following day. Wakeup Sunday morning number/letter combination at each point that was to be for the MSIIIs was 0530, while wakeup for the MSIs and recorded on the scorecard, as well as a “clacker” that IIs was slightly earlier, however, before you start feeling creates a unique pattern of small holes in the card. Each too sorry for them, remember they were sleeping all nice MSIII cadet was tasked with locating five points, three and warm in the barracks while the MSIIIs were out being the minimum standard to receive a “go” on the freezing in the woods. After the MSIs and IIs arrived at exercise. Not surprisingly, a majority of the MSIIIs did the bivouac site, there was a quick briefing for the very well, most finding four or all five of their points. upcoming land navigation exercise, and then we had our The exercise officially ended at 0100, at which point we second and final hot meal of the weekend. all crawled into our bed rolls and tried to conserve as much body heat as possible for the night ahead. MSIs and IIs during M16A2 Familiarization Cadet Henry demonstrates low crawl Page 4 The LANCE – Fall 2004 Unlike the night land navigation, during this exercise The following morning wake-up was at 0430 to each cadet had eight points to locate, with a minimum tackle our first event of the day – the Army Physical standard of five. MSIIIs went out alone, while the MSIs Fitness Test (APFT). Thanks to our physical training in and IIs were paired in groups of four to five cadets with preparation for the competition, the team’s event- one or two MSIVs/Cadre along to assist. Once again, a winning average was in the high 330’s. CDT Joshua majority of the MSIIIs were very successful in locating O’Dor had the brigade Ranger Challenge individual PT their points, and the MSIs and IIs were able to get a award-winning score of 388. We changed uniforms and good taste of a land navigation course. After finishing headed out to the rifle assembly/disassembly site. Our the exercise, we were transported by vans back to the confidence, thanks to numerous visits to the Newton barracks where we conducted a battalion awards Armory, showed in the team’s performance, and we took ceremony before boarding the buses to head back to a commanding lead early in the event. Boston and our respective schools. We then moved to the rope bridge site. The team had Overall, the weekend was a great time and we intended on crossing the obstacle by walking through it, received excellent training that will really help to we had trained for weeks on this method. However, the prepare the MSIII cadets for LDAC this coming MOI was adjusted and as a result, our performance had summer, while also giving the younger cadets a good costly mistakes. The team knew the obstacle “O”-course introduction to Army life. was bound to be a smoker, we had proved earlier in the day that our fitness levels were to the challenge, thus we Ranger Challenge attacked the course with ferocity. Whether it was a high wall, a low crawl, or a litter carry for over a ¼ of a mile, By Cadet Christopher Rosser we remained focused every step, and wound up placing high. After a fantastic MRE lunch, we moved over to the Ten weathered cadets from Boston College arrived at range to display our marksmanship skills. However, due the Ranger Challenge competition after eight weeks of to stiff competition from the other teams, we did not fair unwavering dedication under the watchful eye of Cadet as well. We had one more event before the day was out – Matthew Meloni, with a resolve toward victory. The land navigation. Achieving a top five finish in the event standard for training from the onset was to win, and that was a matter of executing – plotting good references on is exactly what we sought to do when arriving at Devens the map, running like the wind, and keeping our eyes Reserve Forces Training Area (RFTA) that Friday peeled. afternoon. By Sunday morning, we knew mathematically that The first event the team faced was the patrolling test, first place was out of the question, but we still wanted to a 40-question exam covering Chapter 3 of Army Field give our best. With this in mind, we competed in the Manual 7-8. We finished a delicious spaghetti dinner, rucksack run course taking first place in the event. In the conducted personal hygiene and hit the hay in end, we closed out a tremendous weekend with a 3rd preparation for the physical challenges that awaited us place overall finish, and more importantly, let everyone the next day.