The camp itself is basically for communications and intelligence.
It was manned by 6th Intelligence Company out of Edmonton.
Normally you would have a platoon defending this position with out
posts and listening posts, however since we were just a section,
our main task was to provide security and buy time so that when an
attack came, the troops from 6 Intelligence Company were able to
make last transmissions, and destroy all documents because
realistically a section is not going to hold back a platoon or two
of infantry so close in. In addition the infantry attacking would
have air support and artillery as well as engineers and reserves
for the attack.
We set up trenches around the wire
in about 6 or 7 locations. Again, it was impossible to cover all
angles since we were so spread out, but we did a pretty good job.
We had a contact post out by the trucks, in some bushes, so they
could report if they saw any enemy and challenge those who wished
to enter the base. We also had a roving sentry who also was tasked
to spot any enemy. We were told that an attack would come from the
front, (in the photo, the direction the trucks are facing) so
that’s where we were looking the entire time. Our trenches were
set up toward the front more than any other area of the camp.
As it turned out, all attacks came
from the opposite direction. The first attack came at about 1600
on Saturday 27Mar. We spotted their recce (reconnaissance) patrol
of 3 guys and the call went out out across the line to "STAND
TO!!" Everyone went to their trenches as quickly as possible.
Those not on contact point or sentry were eating or resting until
their turn to go out.
Once we were in our respective
trenches covering our arcs, GRITs were given to determine where
the enemy is. GRIT stands for
Group: Which ever
group you're talking to, be it a platoon, section, weapon,
fireteam, individual, etc.
Range: How far the
enemy is
Indication: where
the enemy is, and,
Type: only the
section commander gives this order, indicating type or rate of
fire.
So a typical GRIT for us in Support
Section would come out "Support, 100m, one fist left of center
of arc!” and at that point the section commander
would indicate rate of fire (normal, slow, etc.)
It really got our adrenaline
going. We waited for about 15 minutes while the recce element
went back and the full platoon came in for the attack. It was
easy to spot them since it was in the day time. The enemy was 3
Platoon of "A" Company, attacking in force thirty strong.
However, everyone was using C7 rifles, so there was no machine gun
support which is the normal method of attack. The defence actually
went really well, with our weapons accounting for every single
enemy soldier but one. We were able to critique their attack, and
valuable lessons were learned by 3 Platoon. My MILES gear did not
go off during the attack, so I survived.
We then went back to patrolling the
camp. It got dark at about 1930 and it was very difficult to see.
In addition to that, we had a huge generator powering everything.
It was extremely noisy and we had no chance of hearing anything
out in the forest. Another attack came in at about 2230 and this
time they had the advantage as we could neither see nor hear. We
had no idea they were there until the first shots went off. Then
came the pyro. They used explosives to breach the wire around the
camp and effectively chucked simulated grenades into our trenches.
We were barely alive long enough to get a mag worth of rounds
downrange. The entire battle lasted 5 minutes before we were all
identified as casualties.
After that, we continued our patrols until 0530 in which it was
time to basically pack everything up and head home. |
