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Training ADA Soldiers for Military Operations on Urban Terrain Fort Bliss Advanced Individual Training Instructors and Combat Vets Turn Air and Missile Defense Soldiers into Street Fighters

Air Defense Artillery, January-March 2005

by Capt. Fernando Castillo

Combat in the contemporary operational environment has made Military Operations on Urban Terrain (MOUT) an integral part of Air Defense Artillery Advanced IndividualTraining (AIT) at Fort Bliss, Texas. Soldiers training today on our desert ranges might be in Iraq or Afghanistan within 30 days of graduation. As you might imagine, the video clips of detonating improvised explosive devices (IEDs), house-to-house fighting and ambushed convoys that appear nightly on network news lend a sense of urgency to MOUT training.

As commander of an AIT battery that trains Soldiers making the transition from one air and missile defense military occupational specialty (MOS) to another, I'm uniquely blessed. Forty-six of the 97 students currently assigned to our battery are NCOs, and more than 30 of them have redeployed from Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom within the past six months. Fifty percent of my lower-grade enlisted Soldiers have experienced combat operations in Iraq and/or Afghanistan. The impact these seasoned NCOs and combat veterans have on privates new to Air Defense Artillery and strangers to the contemporary operational environment is tremendous, and the benefits they bring to MOUT training are beyond exaggeration. They "train the instructors" by critiquing the training regimen to ensure it is up to date and accurately reflects the realities of the battlefield. They serve as role models, teachers and mentors to Soldiers who have yet to experience the sting of battle.

Military Operations in Urban Terrain is defined as all military actions that are planned and conducted on a terrain complex where man-made construction affects the tactical options available to the commander. It's nothing new or mysterious to the U.S. Army, as some network anchors and newspaper reporters would have you believe. We've been doing it since 1776 when Revolutionary Army Soldiers drove the Hessians through the cobblestone streets of Trenton, New Jersey. Throughout its history, the Army has fought the enemy on urban terrain, and no conventional or unconventional force does it better. What is new is that urban areas and urban populations have grown significantly during the late 20th century and have begun to exert a much greater influence on military operations. It is estimated that by the year 2010, 75 percent of the world's population will live in urban areas. Increasing population and accelerated urban sprawl have made combat in built up areas a pressing priority. Urban areas are the battlefields of the future, and combat in urban areas cannot be avoided.

When first learning about MOUT training, my initial thoughts were that this type of training was mostly for infantrymen, special operation soldiers, or the Military Police. However, as the Global War on Terrorism evolved with the rebuilding of Iraq and Afghanistan, air defenders throughout the Army began routinely conducting MOUT operations.

My executive officer, 1st Lt. William D. Marshall, who completed a one-year tour in Iraq with 1-4 ADA last April, is glad to see MOUT training at Fort Bliss. "Facilities for MOUT training at other duty stations are quite limited and the priority goes to Infantry, Armor, Corps of Engineers, and Field Artillery. The air defenders receive little or no MOUT training prior to deployment. Air Defense Artillery units have access to this type of training and need to use it as much as possible. While deployed to Baghdad, when conducting cordon and search operations, we usually used our Stinger platoon as the MOUT team while Bradley platoons conducted the outer and inner cordons."

Soldiers will not become experts in MOUT tactics at during AIT, but they will arrive at their units with a solid foundation of fundamental MOUT skills. Unit commanders will be able to mold these Soldiers into expert street fighters as they deploy overseas and take on real-world missions where their ability to learn and integrate quickly into their new unit will be paramount.