Defense Phase

Defense was a little more interesting that doctrine. We started with learning about the big picture in defensive operations and then focused on what the engineers would do in the given situation. The way they teach us here is frustrating. My classmates and I are all going off to be platoon leaders but they are teaching us things on a much higher level. Here is the army structure from lowest to highest:

Squad: 12 soldiers, all enlisted with a squad leader
Platoon: 3-4 squads, with a platoon leader (that's what LT's like me lead)
Company: 3-4 platoons, with a company commander and an executive officer (XO)
Then proceeds to Battalion, Brigade, etc.

So they are teaching us company and battalion level tactics and knowledge, when we really need to be learning about platoon level. Once you become a captain (company commanders are captains), you go the Captains Career Course. So ideally, you would learn this stuff there, not here. Like I said....frustrating.

We learned about different type of mines and explosives and the effects that they have. Also, how to lay different minefields in order to manipulate the enemy.

We had a tactical exercise without troops (TEWT) for the defense module. We were given and operations order and had to apply the military decision making process and mission analysis and then do a brief. Thankfully they split us into groups of about 15 so we could spread out the work. Then we used JANUS, which is basically a video game to execute our plan. It was nice to get out of the death-by-powerpoint classes and do some hands on stuff.