Combat Out-Post Rotation

Combat Out-Post (COP) Keating, Afghanistan; Operation Enduring Freedom IX (OEF), was a challenging deployment that tested our knowledge of Reconnaissance Operations. The three Scout Platoons in the Troop rotated duty assignments; COP Defense, dismounted patrolling, and manning Observation Post (OP) Fritsche. The Troop’s rotation consisted of the platoons conducting one four month rotation at the OP, and executing missions from the COP. The rotation inside the COP was broken down evenly between the remaining two scout platoons; one month of executing patrols and one month of COP defense.

This deployment was not like my other deployments, it challenged me and my platoon physically and mentally. Forcing me to think out-side the box and come

I had already been deployed to Iraq twice before this deployment, once during the initial invasion into Iraq, and the other was during Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) 05-07. Throughout those two deployments I experienced a great deal of combat and witnessed a tremendous change to the Rules of Engagements (ROE). 3rd BCT was just reorganized and re-designated 16 April 2007 on Fort Hood, Texas. In preparation for our upcoming deployment to OEF IX, the unit executed several training events; Live Fire Training Exercises, The National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin, California and the unit also sent all the Section Sergeants to the Army Mountain Warfare School to receive an 80 hour block of instruction in Basic Military Mountaineering. The training prepared us for the different dynamics of the fight we were about to face, and learned a new ROE for the enemy based off the information that we were receiving from 1-91 CAV the unit that we were going to relive in-place. Only about sixty percent of the guys in the unit had been deployed before but none of us had ever been deployed to