WHITE SANDS !!
Congratulations! You've made it through 3 or more weeks of hard work, studying, and staying awake through PowerPoint Presentations from Hell! Your reward is so close you can taste it! Real time on the range, throwing live hand grenades, spending a few days in the field defending your FOB from insurgent attacks, and all the other fun stuff you've been looking forward to!
It's not gunna' be all fun and games, but BOY! the hard work can sure be fun!!
The
barracks are better than either Ft. Sill or Santa Fe. (Barracks are the
background building in the picture at left) Sure, Santa Fe was more modern, but
at White Sands you get a room with only 1 to 5 other guys! Chances are you
will get some time to head to a real PX (not as big or nice as Ft. Sill, but
certainly better than Santa Fe's hole-in-the-wall-with-horrible-hours).
The schedule is still pack jammed, but it includes generous time on the range, a
paintball event, hand grenades... WAY cool stuff!
On the shooting range - three practice turns with 40 rounds each, then the
qualifying round (not all on the same day) - you'll get feedback after each turn
Other lessons include -
 | MUDF (Movement under direct fire - both day and night) - including an obstacle course high crawl, low crawl, back crawl, assailing a wall all while in tactical formation. This segment ends with firing live rounds with tracers in the dead of night - AWESOME visual! |
| Night Vision - learning how to use a night-vision monocular at night AMAZING if you haven't experienced NVG's before! |
| IED identification and response
(see picture at right) |
| Hand Grenades |
| Land Navigation - including a LandNav course over a MASSIVE area in which you need to find 5 targets with nothing more than a compass, protractor, and a map. |
| Convoy Operations - loading into a duce-and-a-half, firing both dummy and live rounds while transporting in a truck! |
THE FORWARD OPERATING BASE
This is kind of the equivalent of your "Finals" for the course. Everything you have learned at Santa Fe and at White Sands will come together and be used at the FOB. Considering the heat, sand, and desert environment it's not a long stretch to realize this is preparing you for a desert in another part of the world... this is your first "dress rehearsal" for OIF and/or OEF. For our class, the FOB was 2 days of the last week, but our schedule was a bit screwy, so don't count on that timeline. Usually it's 3 days and placed differently in the schedule.
After your 5K ruck march you will erect your Forward Operating Base (FOB)...
...
and defend the perimeter that very night!
Don't expect to get much sleep at the FOB! You won't get two hours without
an insurgent attack! Massive Artie Sim (Artillery Simulation) shells will
wake you out of what sleep you get! If you are a member of the QRF (Quick
Response Force) you will need to be ready to go and at the attack location within
60 seconds!! Other members will post on the surrounding berms
ASAP!
Making use of night Vision while guarding the FOB
Under attack at the FOB
NOW comes some REALLY fun stuff!! After your time at the FOB you will be given an OPORD to search the surrounding area for insurgents. You will use your LandNav lessons to track them down. BEWARE of ambushes, though! This was the only part of training I walked away from thinking "this could have been done much better... with simulated rounds instead of M16 blanks." When the ambush breaks, it deteriorates into a "bang - you're dead!" "No! You didn't get me! Yes I did!" scenario. I understand that sim rounds hurt like hell, and leave a mark, but there would be no questions over who got whom first!
After your "Lane Exercises" you will hop aboard an LTV and head for
the Shoot House!
The Shoot House is a 7-room structure in which you will put your
entering/breaching lessons to test by attempting to seize the house,
"kill" the insurgents inside and rescue the American hostage.
Instead of utilizing your M16, however, you will be using paint balls!
A GREAT video of the shoot house can be found HERE
at MySpace
Group photo of 1st Squad, 1st Platoon Class 08-007 and the insurgents we
defeated TWICE! And damage inflicted on an insurgent by Sgt. Big Daddy
You then head back to the FOB, tear it down, 
...
have an AAR (After Action Report)/gripe session 
...
and begin your 8K ruck march back to the barracks.... HOWEVER.... a ceremony awaits you on the way!
CONGRATULATIONS!
You are now a soldier. It's not quite over... you still have
the graduation ceremony, But your tasks are done and as long as you don't @#$@
up in the last few days of out-processing, you will be graduated! You are
no longer an airman, a sailor, or a marine, you are now a United States Soldier!
This page was created by Private Charles Byrne any comments or
questions can be sent to
charles king ep a tya ho o do tc om (spaces are to avoid spammers . just
remove the spaces and replace the at with a @)
OTHER WTC SITES:
EMAILS, COMMENTS and QUESTIONS from this site:
warrior transition course - Topix This is a great bulletin board regarding the WTC program
WTC Home White Sands' WTC Page
Warrior Transition Course Soldiers Information Brochure The Official WTC Brochure in PDF format
Warrior Transition Course (ArmyStudyGuide.com)
The US Army Info Site :: View topic - WTC the no BS post another WTC bulletin board
Missile Ranger article on WTC Missile Ranger is the White Sands paper
WTC Graduation video on My Space (not our class)
Another WTC Graduation video (Class 010 June 2007)
Another WTC Video Jan-Feb. 2008
WTC Graduation Video (Class 14 2007)
White Sands Missile Range The home page of WSMR