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| -Signs, Portents, and the Weather- |
| Law of the Jungle: US soldiers learning new skills for new threats |
| 2017-12-17 |
| [FoxNews] They are scenes reminiscent of the Vietnam War and the Pacific Theater during World War II: U.S. soldiers, caked with mud and dripping wet from monsoon rains, quietly traversing thick jungle brush. But instead of southeast Asia, these are the Hawaiian jungles northwest of Honolulu, where the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division is training some of our military’s bravest men and women to fight and survive in this unique terrain. It’s a less familiar sight for this generation’s soldiers, who have spent years patrolling the desert, mountain and urban landscapes of Iraq and Afghanistan. "Understanding how to fight in the jungles is invaluable training to us right now," says First Sergeant George Feghali of the 25th Infantry Division, who is training at the 25th ID's Lighting Academy in Wahiawa on the island of Oahu. "The way the army’s been focused for the past 16 years has been in desert urban environments," Feghali continues. "We’ve kind of gotten away from our roots." The academy is the U.S. Army’s first jungle training school since the last one, based in Panama, closed in 1999. While no one here can talk military strategy or policy, Lightning Academy was established at a time when ISIS, Al Qaeda and other extremist groups are gaining traction in the Pacific region, specifically in the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. And while there are no jungles in North Korea, heightened tension created by Kim Jong Un’s nuclear ambitions is another reason why preparing soldiers for deployment outside of Iraq and Afghanistan is vital training. While 70 percent of Lightning Academy's participants are from the 25th Infantry Divison, other military branches will train here also, as well as some in law enforcement agencies like the FBI. Feghali and Ruiz are among a class of 75 soldiers who began the grueling three-week course in November. By Friday's graduation, they were two of just 33 to make it until the end. "The goal is to be able to teach the skills so students survive, fight, [and] win in a jungle environment," says Geis. "Our job is to be ready to fight the next fight." |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #3 Bucket, Speaking as a survivor of that horror of a training program, all I can say about the Darien is that literally everything that walks, crawls, creeps, grows or swims in that region is either poisonous or it want to eat you. We slept in trees and ate snakes and grubs. We killed an Ocelot for dinner one day and found out that those big hairy tree spiders taste like crab. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom 2017-12-17 20:50 |
| #2 Want real jungle training? Panama, Fort Sherman, JOTC. Its a shame we closed that down. The jungle down there will kill you. Hopefully, these guys in Hawaii will reach back and get some history and learn from the previous JOTC. |
| Posted by: Injun Bucket8891 2017-12-17 13:32 |
| #1 |
| Posted by: Jasing the Limber5475 2017-12-17 05:33 |