Soldiers conduct waterborne training at JOTC
Story and photos by Casey Fuller
(Tropic Times, Panama, Page 6, February 10, 1989)
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Company A, 3rd Battalion, 27th Infantry "Wolfhounds" tow poncho rafts in a lagoon during waterborne training. |
Fort Sherman, Panama -- Wearing olive green fatigues and a circle-brimmed "boony" cap, Staff Sergeant Luis Romero watches two soldiers rolling the edges of a poncho together to make a water tight seal.
Wrapped around an M60 machine gun and two rucksacks, the poncho raft resembles a green cocoon.
Tall and lean, Romero looks down at the two kneeling soldiers. Each soldier holds one of the twisted ends of the poncho and waits for instructions. With a Puerto Rican accent, Romero asks a platoon of soldiers sitting in a horseshoe formation: "What are you going to do now?"
"Fold the ends over," the soldiers respond.
"That's right. I call it making a goose neck," Romero says.
It was the first day of a three-week regimen at the Jungle Operations Training Center (JOTC), Fort Sherman. Waterborne techniques are just the beginning of the training referred to as "Green Hell" by those who are familiar with or have heard about JOTC.
In a matter of minutes Romero instructs the platoon of soldiers from Company A, 3rd Battalion, 27th Infantry, how to tie cords and rope to their ponchos in a series of square knots, half-hitches, loops, wraps and twists to make poncho rafts.
The soldiers work in pairs constructing poncho rafts. For some, remembering how to tie all the knots is the most difficult part of Romero's waterborne training. For others, the most difficult part is what you do when you are finished -- swimming with an M16 slung across your back, combat boots on your feet and poncho raft in tow.
Some soldiers made their poncho rafts faster than others or were faster swimmers. But that's not what Romero's training is about.
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A 27th Infantry soldier practices water crossing at "Green Hell," the Jungle Operations Training Center. |
"It's not a competition. It's a confidence event," said Captain Charles Albrecht, chief of the JOTC jungle warfare branch.
The same holds true for the rest of "Green Hell."
Sergeant First Class Francis Cortez, a Company A, 3rd Battalion, 27th Infantry platoon leader said, "There's no doubt that soldiers here are developing confidence and that they will continue to do so throughout the course.
"This is good training for the Light Fighter. It gives him an idea what it would be like to fight in a jungle environment," Cortez said.
Learning what it's like to fight in a jungle environment at JOTC includes guerrilla warfare techniques, one-rope bridges, poncho rafts, quick-fire rifle techniques and a variety of other infantry skills.
The techniques that soldiers learn during the first two weeks of JOTC prepare them for a Field Training Exercise (FTX) during the final week. By then, they know why JOTC is called "Green Hell."
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