EXERCISE RATTLESNAKE: US Army's MOST HATED Unit Gives UK Troops Hell
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- Опубліковано 20 сер 2024
- Meet the special US Army unit whose job is to give British and American troops hell, on one of the world's largest military exercises this year.
Exercise Rattlesnake in Louisiana is designed to test soldiers to their limits.
Forces News reporter Sian Grzeszczyk was granted exclusive access.
Report by @SianGrz and @FTVHan.
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The 1st & 509th: We're the most hated!
Every MP Unit: Are we a joke to you?
LOL. Even as a civilian I can understand that.
The 1st & 509th: We're the most hated!
Every MP Unit: Hold my beer!!!
"Every MP Unit: Are we a joke to you?"
Yeah, pretty much.
Yes.
Hell yeah!! Of the Troops and for the Troops!
"We always say, 'we stretch you to the point that we can see all your holes'."
Sir, get out of my barracks room.
Lol..... whoops!
Sounds like Big Bubbas in prison cell
It’s weird because the video doesn’t have the brazzers logo
Lololololol
Goatse funniest moments
"I don't get PTSD from Iraq, i get PTSD from Fort Polk"
-Former Specialist Zach Hazard
@ just watch Mikeburnfire video
And no, you can get PTSD from anything traumatic, hence the name Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
@@Madjo-qj2geIt’s a joke.
Is it because the base is so horrible to be stationed at? Middle of nowhere with nothing to do and no matter how hard you fight as OPFOR you’re not getting a medal.
He did get a challange coin from them.
@@Madjo-qj2ge…especially when the Post is Fort Polk
Dear UK soldiers, as a Louisiana citizen, I apologize for our mosquitoes.
…and poison ivy, ticks, biting flies, snakes, thorns, and 100 degree heat with 100% humidity.
Ft. Polk is an armpit.
You guys don't have fire ants?? As a fellow Deep South native I'm surprised you didn't mention those devils.
Mississippi delta ain't much better, camp Shelby is a pain
What about lions gators and bears
A great training location for jungle warfare.
If training was fun it would be called a holiday. 😝 Unfortunately this is how it has to be. It’s good for us it’s good for you.
I’d rather get deployed again then get sent to Ft Polk for training again.
than
Ft. Polk, is the ass end of the ass end of the ass end.
Man, I hated Polk when I was in. It's either hot or cold and it rains SO much.
@@suttone75 it snowed in Polk when we went but the worst of all is Hohenfels
Amen, that was my first duty station. I deployed out of there and then went to the 509th when I got back.
Absolutly hated my two weeks there. Didn't sleep for a week and a half, one of our guys tried to fight a wild horse and we learned the goats won't eat the mre omelets.
Lmao those goats would eat almost anything.. guess we didn’t try the omelets though
Bro! The omelets..a.k.a. instant bubble guts!
Ohh gawd the omelets🤮 that and the 2003 era beef patty mre🤮.We used to fight over had to eat it. Or paid the standard 40 bucks to the guy that was willing to take the cash to eat it.
Ok the guy fighting a wild horse in isolation send me howling. Hahahahahah. i nct breth.
It takes a certain kind of caveman to eat MRE omelets.
I lived at Polk for a few years when my brother was 1-509 OPFOR and became decent friends with a lot of Geronimo. Fast forward to when I joined the military and was stationed with the 82nd Airborne, we were sent down to JRTC for a training rotation. My brother called his old buddies still stationed at Polk and offered a bottle of bourbon to whichever g-man could "kill" me. My command ended up intercepting some Geronimo communications and pulled me aside to ask what I had done to incur a "bounty" being placed on my head... "Nothing that I can think of Sir, I just have a Grade-A a$$hole for a brother."
Just like the simulations
Now that’s funny!
That is actually hilarious. I can only imagine what the communications guys did when you told them
Whether you realize it or not, it made you a better weapon out there. Eyes up troop.
It's what brothers do best!
As a former 509er, I attest that the British airborne forces were the best unit I’ve ever come up against at JRTC. So 👍
We are just mental at everythink mate
We modeled our military off the British … Remember they are a world power
@@cooldudecs I think we also intentionally copied the German army actually.
@@cooldudecs a lot of our military is actually modeled after the French and Prussians who helped form our young Army during the American Revolutionary War.
if you are hardened by british food. that exercise isn't really that much of an inconvenience
Loved how when that Colonel swatted the mosquito and was like "he's already got his scouts out against me". XD
That was a yellow jacket -- They're spawn of satan.
@@mhamma6560 same thing for a Colonel
@@rafmonkey96 not sure about that one, his "Carl face" from sling blade raises questions.
Hahahahaha yeah that gave me a good laugh too
Real
brits: hey we're going to america lads! Gonna be a great time!"
Opfor US: I see the british are coming
LMAO
OPFOR = Minutemen
Trainees = Redcoats and Loyalists
You mean the Woke Brigade are coming!!
Would be funny as hell if the 509th sent someone dressed like Paul Ravere through the training area yelling "The British are coming! The British are coming!"
@@gaspainsify That would be awesome
I was impressed by the OPFOR at Ft Polk, and it truly was a great experience to learn from so many failures. It's been about 20 years since then, but I recall the continuous harassment by Hind-D helicopters, BMPs, and OPFOR who would blind our NVGs in tunnels with bright lights before shooting us. Couple the fun training with the thirsty mosquitoes and the local Cajun dialects I couldn't understand and our uncomfortable training experiences became eye openers as to all the ways we could die. I really liked their unorthodox approach.
You have to wonder what it'd look like if a Cajun tried to communicate in English with a Scotsman.
@@cwpo1973 especially if neither is sober. It could be very entertaining.
Ft Polk is redneck country. Not Cajun. I'm from Cajun country, and was stationed at Ft Polk in the late 80s to early 90s. The only time I needed french was with a guy at the nco academy there who was in the La National Guard...... Which I also served in. Lol
@@chrisgillmore3947 I agree it's most certainly redneck country, but the barber was every bit as Cajun as he could be.
@@cwpo1973 And that thought gets you today's prize...
I was in The Royal Marine Commandos for 15 plus years (now retired) and the one thing that makes troppers better soldiers above all else is Training , training and more training , this lack of training is probably one of the top 3 factors in the Russian Armies dismal performance in Ukraine (and I'm glad of that dismal performance ) .
And their utter lack of unit cohesiveness. All militaries have hazing but the Russians are straight horrible to their own. Who would want to serve or fight?
More training and wasting money
Yes. Also their complete disregard for the life and well-being of their soldiers.
Putin just sends new "soldiers" into the meat grinder and calls it a day while he's eating first-class food in his war luxury environment.
Hah, I like how you went back and edited, just to make it 100% clear m, in case there was any doubt whose side you were on / rooting for there. Heheh. Thanks for your Royal (?) / military service, my man. Part of me wishes I had, and acted upon, the opportunity to put some time in when I was young enough. 36 now, too late - ah well, geez, what can you do about it now? ❤️ 🇺🇸
@@booey28 If more training saves lives then it's definitely not a waste of money, on the battlefield everything has to be second nature you can't afford to make mistakes. All that does is put you at risk and the lives of those next to and around you, so the more training the better. But saying that the training has to beneficial to the goal of succeeding in battle. In days gone by training was based on square bashing and shooting on a range, with banet charging mixed in, which was all instruction lead. These days although there is a certain amount of square bashing, battle field training is just as, if not more important as that's the real thing that saves lives. It's being proved currently in Ukraine, where Russia is just sending in thousands of troops with little or no trai training,, whereas the Ukrainian armed forces are not only highly motivated, wanting to kick Russia out of there country, but are being highly trained.
“If you can sneak up on someone while they’re sleeping, and kill them, you just tell them go back to bed..”
Bruhhhhh - these guys are the real deal.
These drills are a waste of time really. The soldiers of the future will be gamers. 🎮🎮 recruiting will be happening on twitch.
@@ziwer1 Wow... You're very disconnected from reality. Go back to your little internet world.
@@ziwer1 Then What if your Power, WiFi, or Hotpockets supplies are cutoff? 😄
Wars have already been won. Subverting a western country for 50-60 years did the trick.
@@TLouski it's very obviously a joke lmao
Just amused at an American colonel talking about cricket bats, obviously for the benefit of the British audience 😊
Southern hospitality lol
Yea ,you can tell it isnt natural for him to say it. He just looks unconfortable
I appreciate the effort, he's welcome over here any time hahaha
He gave it a solid effort
DId i miss it? Which part of the video?
Loved being an OPFOR. We were a smaller OPFOR unit with 1st Army Div E, but I learned 10x more about infantry tactics than I did as an infantryman. It's amazing how much faster you are without 30 people above you giving you orders
must be nice
I was stationed in Korea inside the DMZ, Camp Liberty Bell, we participated in team spirit during the harsh Korean winter, 2 weeks training no tents, we were light Infantryman, every 5 gallon jugs of water was frozen solid. It is one time I'll never forget, hard training equals better soldiers. GO ARMY!!!!
I'll take 100° heat and mosques over frozen canteens and digits any time.
Hiked some trails in Seoul. Terrain is brutal.
What is the meaning of DMZ ?
@@nighthawk3305 De-Militarized Zone. It's the border between South and North Korea
@@brandonmead1941 thanks for the info
"As usual, no prisoners. Questions?" Beautiful!
ah yes, Geneva suggestion
@@pitedapollo6175 One of the main ways of having "no prisoners" is to use enough firepower so no one survives. So long as the damage is justifiable, its a technically an allowed loophole. But here he's probably just referring to the training role they're playing.
@@pitedapollo6175 "never heard of it".
Patrick Swayze: Red Dawn
What's beutiful about mass murder?
@@osmanbey3281 it's war. you do what had to be done
As a former Marine (US) I really love watching the friendly rivalry and camaraderie that only the harshest of circumstances brings in these soldiers.
It was the hardest training ground I had been to as an F.O. of light airborne in the 101st. Airborne. We thought we were a nimble force, man Geronimo humbled us.
We enjoy watching your stickers on the back windows at the stop lights.
Don't sell yourself short, sir. Once a Marine, always a Marine. Thanks for your service.
@@yoJawn I was a Marine as well (2000-04, 0351), but I have to say I'm not quite my 'former' younger self. LOL.
This mini documentary barely scratched the surface about JRTC Fort Polk. As a former Fort Polk resident, 1-509er, and OCT I can tell you that to fully appreciate what goes on there you’d have to assume every side of the training operation. Literally millions of dollars are spent in every rotation to make it as gruelingly realistic and maximum training value as possible. Even visiting the local town and the people is like being in a foreign country. Think Walmart people mixed with Cajun spice. It was certainly an experience to remember and say I got the Fort Polk Louisiana stamp of Authenticity, but I’m glad to have moved on to better things/places. 6-12 month deployments are seemingly easier than the 15-30 longest days of your life training at Fort Polk.
As a former Geronimo, it’s good to see they’re still giving everyone hell
I did two rotations at JRTC, once as bluefor, once as opfor. Opfor was probably the most fun I ever had in my life!
I was a Geronimo back in '07, it was great.
It sucks now because they don't let you grow out your facial hair and hair anymore. That was one of the only cool parts. Other than that living in Lousiana in the middle of nowhere blows.
Thank you all for serving
Id spend my two week vacation playing opfor. I'd bring a grill and do my cooking. Get to harass people at night making their life miserable. Sounds like a fun two weeks to me.
Night time Opfor was a blast! God I miss the good ol days.
The rivalry is fun and competition keeps everyone sharp, but as a US citizen I know I'm not alone in thanking my lucky stars that the UK is on our side. God bless you glorious sons of guns and thank you for all your sacrifices.
Our UK counterparts and the Bundeswehr!
@@adrianfigueroa4181 amen!! I love them all.
We're all made from the same stock and we can all trace our lineage back to the Germanic tribes. A time
when we were all smacking the romans about in wild and untamed forests. Some things never change.
🇬🇧 ⚔️ 🇺🇸
@@GhostsOfTheAngelcynn we are all brothers.
Never has truth sounded so sweet!
God bless our people, world wide. We are in for trouble soon and our brotherhood will never let us down. As you said- we fight in the woods bare handed, or as an impenetrable spearhead of controlled aggression.
Love from an English Sapper.
@@mikeyengland6363 love and respect back to you brother from an ex infantry man.... If there is such a thing as an ex soldier. There most definetly is another fight on the horizon for our kin, this side and state side of the Atlantic. At least we know for certain the ex forces community will stand together and take the fight to them. Deus Vult 🏴 ⚔️ 🇬🇧
As someone who never served, I gotta say, this looks fun as hell. But I'm sure it isn't once those camera's are off and gone. To all those who served, and currently are serving, thank you for your service.✌️✌️💪💪💪💪
It's fun the first time, then it's just being dirty, hot, and miserable
MIght want to check out One Shepherd Leadership Institute. I first saw it on Brent0331 channel.
Edit wow I sounded like a bot. sorry I was just trying say if you think this looks fun. the one shepherd program seems like a good fit for some fun.
I trained there with the 101st Airborne. I was "killed" by Geronimo shortly after contact. Can verify, they are very good.
Well that's all they do bro if they was defeated easily there would be no point in the place existing
@@scottjohnson8996 We knew that. It's incredible how massive an ambush a small, lightly armed force can inflict on a convoy.
@@emigrator08 guerilla warfare is the most effective for me dude. I bet it was a hell of an experience.
@@scottjohnson8996 Even though I knew I wouldn't actually die, it was very stressful and a little terrifying. Training isn't like actual combat, but it is effective in getting troops ready for it.
They should be, they know where you are, what kit you have, how many and where you're going.
I've played "enemy" in UK and Germany as a soldier.
Its fun.
My last one was wrecking Coldstream Guards doing their cadre.
What makes Geronimo so affective is that a lot of the units haven't been in terrain like this since their time in basic training and AIT. So a lot of soldiers forget how to move in a heavily wooded and humid environment
@suzi milimeter not if they keep lowering the standards to be "more inclusive"
@@timothynaquin8899 I don't think it's lowering the standards it's just that recent conflicts have not been fought in wooded areas more or less urban environment but not the Ukraine war might change that but your right in a way this type of training is a game changer
@@bigga1093 that's my point. I didn't say that the standards were lowered at Tiger Land. You are correct about where the majority of our troops were fighting in arid/urban environment. I remember when Tiger Land was set up for training to prepare troops for Bosnia and Kosovo. They used civilians that spoke Cajun French as role players.
Plus they cheat 100%
@@M60gunner1971 if you ain't cheat'n, you ain't try'n... Lol
I remember at the end of JRTC they're like "yall did great, you really showed them how the 82nd does it" and blah blah blah and I'm just sitting there remembering that we lost the whole company in less than 10 minutes. Was probably closer to 5.
OUUCHHH
Lmao I got DX for not wearing a seatbelt. They pulled my med card to see what the injuries were. It was tripple amputation. And then I got smoked after I came back from the Aid Station 😂😂
@@m.j.darmody3576 - you had one good limb, soldier... put your G.D. seatbelt on! 🤣🤣
Hey, if y'all held up as long as 5 or so minutes, you did good. Most of the regular guys only give OPFOR a three-minute workout. Us maintenance types? We got a stand-to time wakeup call of being "killed" in our tents, no challenge at all for them. Mind you for me that was at Ft. Irwin, but the same principle applies.
What’s funny is I remember doing an OPFOR rotation there and we took out an 82nd Stryker platoon lol
Thank you to everyone who served their country!
0:09
Only a member of the US Armed Forces can say that with a straight face 😂
the guy probably lost a bet, i think the entrende it was intentional.
This doesn't do it dividends, not only do these guys train there day in day out, they have entire entrenching systems built into the facility and they just pop up out of nowhere, they have false walls built into rock formations and fake floors built so they can hide for days.
They're constantly harassing you and have higher ups pulling their hair out.
They're great.
Like the Taliban?
@@NateVHVT is this based on your extensive knowledge and experience?
@@joshescude7160 why so hostile lol
That's not very realistic is it.
@@scottliverpool7187 its not supposed to be, its supposed to be even harder than real life so the troops arevready for anything, you don't under train or under study for anything in real life
"the brits are comming" lmao that had me dead
It was good but to be the annoying history buff it should have said the regulars are coming
They are just regular British soldiers, take no notice of that pretty reporter! Lol Not paras or marines!!!
The UK/Britain is finished we (Scotland) will be leaving soon our place is in the EU and not the UK
Saor Alba (Ala-Pa)
@@SaorAlba1970 Nonsense. You nationalists are going nowehere.
@@truckerfromreno you'd better start actually paying attention - we're off, we're out of this 'union' !
Sending a big thank you to all the Men and Women out there serving! Not just the US Troops, all of our allies as well.
Amazing! Much love to America and Britain. Two great nations, who are interrelated.
- From Canada
Fort Polk is where I went for Basic Training, I can't recall having a good time, but what i was taught did help me survive in Vietnam..
Like many of our generation, Ft. Polk or "Little Vietnam" was Basic and/or A.I.T. before shipping off to Vietnam. I still remember the smell of the sewage treatment plant from our wooden barracks. Then there were the company signs showing us the difference between rattlesnakes, copperheads and cottonmouths. Which did come in handy when we spotted a cottonmouth on one of the ranges.
@@duanekirish877 south fort 1970 c51
@@duanekirish877 Tiger Land! 16weeks of HELL.I would not visit Fort Polk again ever if they pay me!
Went to fort Polk 1970, basic and ait………
@@benterwellen You was there a little bit before me but you had to remember The Casino in Leesvile. I do and didn't catch anything or get mugged!
I used to love being OpFor, we never worked too hard and always made sure to attack during meal times haha
That's just cruel. ;)
Yea we call them enemy party here, sweet gig.
And don't forget that 3am raid with blowing up the van at the gate and storming the fob from all directions.
did you ever have to serve in the real world were every thing was not in your favour
but it is great to see that there are units like yours so simulate the enemy. keeps every one on there toes
This is all OPFOR units do. They take other units out to ground that they (OPFOR) know intimately, and pound them into the terrain. They are so well trained, and so knowledgeable about their surroundings, to the point that if your unit can hold its own against them, you can then face anyone else at the losing end of 10-1 odds and come out on top.
Facts!
I love that the Geronimo guy's look like some normal folk instead of the tough & muscle up dude you think of when hearing "Most hated"
During my first rotation at JRTC, I was assigned to a light Infantry unit. We got our behinds handed to us; it was painful. About four years later, I went as part of a Special Forces unit (I had been in SF about two years then). That rotation we totally destroyed OPFOR. Their feedback was that we were just as unpredictable as they (OPFOR) were and they were not expecting that.
I had a similar experience brother, both as a soldier in the light infantry getting schooled, then later as a First Sergeant of a company task force that schooled the OPFOR. The difference was being a First Sergeant and setting the tone for my boys. We went to hunt. We were exceptionally aggressive and the OPFOR didn't expect it.
Part of that is when you're in Big Army they drill you to doctrine and rarely ever let you deviate from that. That makes you predictable so they know exactly what you're going to do. 509th has seen so many rotations come through they just shrug it off.
You start to be really successful there when you get aggressive and start getting flexible on doctrine.
I went to a couple of JRTC rotations where command just treated it as a drill to practice more and more dumbf**k doctrine and we got our asses handed to us, predictably.
It was only one rotation where command took it seriously and treated it as combat training, and on that rotation we gave as good as we got.
Biggest problem is being predictable. In that situation, get loose and get really unpredictable. 🤣😂they do good work training people how not to get kia
Anyone who spent any time in the Pinelands of NC and pushed through Robin Sage should be more than prepared to make anyone’s home field advantage obsolete! Regular units must get humbled very quickly much like how that environment beats down everyone who operates in it.
" I have no message for the Welsh cavalry, I'll be there to shoot you soon." LMAO the most US soldier response I have heard in ages. Love it!
Welsh cavalry: "We have Gurkhas. Please leave your arms at the door. And your legs."
Geronimo: "I'ma report you for hacking".
@@ah11980 We went to kill Osama Bin Laden, not to bottlefeed Afghanistan for 20 years.
@@ah11980 tf is that supposed to mean ofc we killed him lol oh wait are you a tin foil hat kind of guy 😳
Nice sentiment on a training exercise, meanwhile in the real heat US soldiers were hiding in an airport while the SAS and Parachute regiment were out rescuing British citizens.
The US military response.......getting the commander of the 82nd airborne to phone the SAS commander on the ground and demand/beg the British stop rescuing British citizens because it was embarrassing to the ooh ra gung ho best of the best of the best brigade...aka the US military
The UK response was a swift f off and then to start rescuing trapped US citizens as well.
On the bright side, that commander of the 82nd got a good photo op of him running away from the fight like the yellowbellied coward he is.
Did you love all of that as well?
@@Nick-AngelpeodSeaxisc couldn't have said it better
Loved working with the British in Hohenfels Germany! Nothing but respect for those guys!
Lmao the fake sus vehicles. "
Opfor: "Yo, Pie Delivery Service, we're here to deliver pies",
Visiting Forces: "Sweet, free pies"
30 mins later
Opfor: "Those weren't pies, they were Bombs, from a bomb factory".
Visiting Forces: .....
Ran across the Welsh Cavalry in Iraq in 2004. My unit was headed out of county they the Welsh was moving into country headed towards falujah. Great group of guys, heard some got torn up bad, but tough group fought back like true Brits.
Easy there mate... those are Welsh soldiers, they are bigger, stronger and smarter than Brits...just ask one! LOL! Also they don't have an accent. For more there's a channel here on YT called Creaky Blinder, he's a HOOT!
>> Tom's Ukrainian/American wife Pam
@@tomfromoz8527 Welsh soldiers are brits. They are from Great Britain and the British isles.
So no they are not bigger, stronger and smarter than Brits. That is a strange thing to bring up anyway, seeing as there is no scientific evidence to prove it.
'British' encompasses Scotland, England, Wales, NI and geographically Ireland.
@@doogus8728 Ireland, Scotland and Wales are all brits Said the Englishmen.
stripped of your history without even knowing it. yeeyee.
@@peeonu25 There was also no stripping of your history. As far as Scotland's history goes, it is quite well documented. Scotland culturally assimilated into England more than anything.
@@tomfromoz8527 lol if anything the Welsh are the smallest and weakest country in Great Britain
US OPFOR - Dedicated professional unit with their own TTPs and weaponry.
UK OPFOR - Unit biffs in an old desert NBC suit.
Got timestamps? I couldn't see a NBC suit
@@uioplkhj They never showed UK OPFOR in this video so there wouldn't be a time stamp.
Beirut unloading at every opportunity
@@uioplkhj He's just contrasting the US approach to OPFOR to the UK's more ad-hoc approach.
Opfor in Canada: jeans and baseball hat on backwards lol
I did a rotation in the box in 2002 along with the 82nd, they were badass. The training was so good that I remember hitting my rack every night, questioning myself if I was a good enough soldier and if I could handle real combat. A year later when I was in combat, I looked back at how good Ft. Polk prepared me, and my confidence soared. Thanks JRTC for kicking my ass!
While assigned to Eielson AFB AK there were exercises called "Brim Frost". This was an Army exercise but they conducted it on the military reservation where the Air Force has an Electronic Warfare Training Range. I was a Range Rat and worked there EVERDAY and even played there on the weekends sometimes. We knew this range like the back of our hands. Four of the Range Rats were selected to participate with Miles Training gear. There was a whole platoon that was tasked with tracking us down and trying to "kill" us. We had complete communications coverage for the entire range even though it was all mountains. As Air Force with non combatant jobs we had no idea what the hell we were doing. Seriously, we had NO training and NO experience but this was our house and not theirs. Though all four of us got "killed" regularly we wiped out so much or completely wiped out the platoon so many times that they started taking the batteries out of their miles gear so they wouldn't get "killed". It took only three days to completely demoralize them all. One thing that just floored us all, both the Army and our four, was one of the four was a fella that inch (exaggerated) thick glasses and was the classic geeky looking guy. He drove up to where the platoon was waiting for some reason. He stopped the ATV he was driving, waved to the guys and some waved back. Then he picked up the M16 (not an A4, it was that long ago) and wasted about half the platoon before he was "killed". We fell over laughing about it. Had so much fun but were completely clueless about what we were "supposed" to be doing.
The genius part of this training is that Geronimo is simulating an operation against an enemy that knows you’re coming, knows how to use civilian equipment to surveil and mislead the invading army (using store bought drones and their truck mods), and knows how to use their home field advantage to maximum effect.
This is simulating combat against a guerrilla force in their backyard. Very pliable for real world scenario.
We really did learn both as Americans and as NATO from Afghanistan and Iraq, and it’s nice to see the same men who fought in those conflicts take their job so seriously, because the US could wipe a conventional army off the map, but once that starts happening, you start seeing Guerrilla tactics and that’s something that really set the US Military back for years. Happy to see we won’t allow ourselves to lose our own boys because we just didn’t know how at first
Oh god, Ft. Polk... I can feel the humidity and hear the swamp bugs skittering all around
>Shudder
Spent 4 years there. Even on winter nights in the field it might be 25 degrees F out and it didn’t stop the mosquitoes! They would just out on fur coats and look for their meal. 😂
My father was stationed there in 1943. Was XO of one of the units there
@A Stand User Everybody hates Ft. Polk, including Zach.
@A Stand User Everyone hates Ft Polk. The only ones that like it are the mosquitoes.
Humidity and bugs are a concern from the Rio Grande all the way north to the Arctic Circle when Summer comes around. Ft Polk is not an exception.
Interveiwer: What's you're message for the Welsh cavalry?
Soldier: I have no message for the Welsh cavalry.
Then proceeds to give a message to the Welsh cavalry.
Lmfao it happened
"I have no message for the Welsh Cavalry, I'll shoot you soon" I love this phrase at 7:35, he says he has no message, yet he says he'll shoot them soon as he awkwardly looks at the camera, that awkward look and the contradictary nature of his last phrase having a message despite him saying he wouldn't give a message makes him extremely alienating, good intimidation skills, send the enemy into confusion by your actions
Hilarious hahaha
I love the nerd boy in the glasses whose job it is to be just as awful as possible, because you can just look at him and know he's good at it.
He looks like the grown up version of that know-it-all kid from The Polar Express.
He defines the soldier's perception of the civilian definition of a "troll"
I love the fact that they all have that look to them, so you just know they're gonna be good at what they do
I bet You love all the boys
Dont judge a book by its cover
I was stationed at Fort Polk for 4 years, went to the box every year, took on the 509th every year. It was funny seeing other units and branches complaining that couldn't wait until they left and when I told them I'm stationed here they would all apologize. 😂 It was real. It was fun. Just not real fun.
When you’re good you’re avoided.
46th ECB here bro! Ft. Polk arm pit of the army…lol
@@MrYorick271 Ft Leonard Wood =
A$$hole of America
Did 6 +yrs in Panama in the Infantry Polk did not seem that bad every annual rotation.
Out of all my deployments only Fort Polk gives me PTSD lol
I saw Fort Polk and immediately realized these poor Englishmen were in for a world of hurt.
I've heard Zach's stories on Mikeburnfires channel.
I was fortunate enough to work alongside some Welsh Cavalrymen in Poland in 2019. Good guys and crazy enough to roll around in those unarmored bullet magnets while providing recon. Tip of my Tanker Stetson to you fine Gents, can’t wait to do it again.
LOL "The British are Coming" too funny! As a Yank it's always awesome to see both our militaries training together. Thanks for posting this and God Save the Queen!
Currently training with the brits in Poland and they are funny 😂
@@jzsbYT My cousin is one of those Brits who were in Poland. He’s home now.
god save the royalty america despised and rebelled against🤷♂️
@@seanlocke5862 That was hundreds of years ago. People move on and get over things.
@@seanlocke5862 move on
“I have no message for the Welsh cavalry”..
…proceeds by giving message to Welsh Cavalry.
The regiment is 1st The Queen Dragoon Guards, they're mostly stationed in Wales but not all of them are Welsh.
Can confirm they're great people and exceptional soldiers.
Members of the Queens Guards
@@kxsmarion5978 As someone who lives 5 lives from Ft. Polk and has also visited the UK, I have no doubt that is true.
I liked training at Polk while I was with the 101st. But our time there was cut short because some of the opfor we were up against had some civilian Middle Eastern (Americans) against us and there was a very tense situations where we needed to be cut short. We had a lot of veterans from the invasion of Iraq (myself included) who lost friends in the invasion and we had not been back more than 3 months and some ncos were not In the mood to face anymore “insurgents” at that time. It’s amazing seeing the effects of actual combat blend into the training after you’ve experienced what we experienced and the people who you trusted to bring you home, sadly, would not be joining you on your next deployment. Combat isn’t the same anymore and our whole country from soldiers to even our kids now feel the pressure. The world is changing and I feel it’s not going to get better for a long time. Hope I’m wrong
Your right
Was that the Rakkasans? We ways get kicked out of JRTC lol
Pathfinders 249th Hooah!
Things don’t get better for crumbling societies until the warrior class realizes that IT is the force that drives the nation and that pointless fights and violence far abroad are a distraction from the problems at home …
@@johnkassel318 a country that is destroyed by an enemy can be rebuilt. A country destroyed from within is lost forever.
My initiation into the United States Army in Feb 1972 began at Fort Polk. Tough training, even though it was still in the throes of winter, humid as hell. After basic training never returned, though its impact on my military career was very significant.
I trained with British troops back in the day. (1985-1986)
Toughest men I have ever met.
Just crazy.
Much respect!!!
Thank you brother 🇬🇧🇺🇸🙏🏻
I was in geronimo for 3 years playing OPFOR down at fort polk. Some of the best and worst 3 years of my life. Made so many good friends and had such a blast harassing the units that came to us for training haha.
If you don't mind me asking what kinda numbers were you guys looking at in terms of simulated casualties towards the end? It'd be interesting to know just how hard you guys handed it to these poor dudes and were there any units that stood out as being totally on their game and a real hassle to fight?
@@SCTyler. Would love to hear this also.
I was there from 01 to 04, on average it was a 10 to 1 kill ratio. We would intentionally ambush an element with superior numbers so we could z the radio and then go ham doing whatever we wanted without and orders or supervision.
@@SCTyler. Ranger bat's and SF groups were always a PITA. 82nd when supported by other NATO (German) paratroopers was a nasty slugfest. 101st... Was underwhelming. We would wait for them to come in on chinooks, have the ADA teams and the Hind hit there 64s and 57s while we drove past them in their own stolen FLAs doing drive bys on the poor bastards humping the m2.
Conventionally, the mechanized units, the ACRs, 2nd ACR when we finally had our show down with them, was probably the most even matched fight we had, simply because they always augmented us and knew how we fought and our favorite swamp locations we would bed down in.
Please share bro!
Yep. We used to call Ft. Polk “Little Vietnam” Good training for the time!
I was in the Army Infantry Reserves for 10 years and often we were asked to play OpFor for different regular units. I've been in combat against our Royal Marines, Paras and Special Forces. It was absolutely great to do as we hardly had any ROE and we learned a lot from it.
Not in any way an “Off the Shelf Drone” especially since they are about $60k. They definitely got it correct saying that this is the toughest place to go through training! I grew up an hour away and then returned for training back in the late 80’s and it was miserable!
True. Peer threat forces would definitely likely have something similar they use so it’s probably pretty good at simulating that! Can’t imagine the hell of facing these guys
I live here it’s going to be fun seeing the brits deal with the heat
They may cost the government 80k but off the shelf is not exactly wrong. You can get the same tech if not the same exact drones for a few hundred bucks online..
This helps simulate real threats we have seen overseas, where adversaries like ISIS and Taliban have used drones for ISR and even weaponized attacks (dropping mortars/grenades or used as an ied vehicle).
"off the shelf" in this context mean that they werent developped by them for them but bought "from a shelf" in a contract with a company
I used to fish on Lake Bundick during off duty hours.. Nice fishing and hunting area.
3 rotations to JRTC. It’s tough, and back when the OPFOR used Hind’s, just wield beyond belief to see those huge things coming directly at you, coming in below tree top level sometimes.
Lol, I will never forget,
Corporal- “what’s that Sergeant?”
Sergeant- “I thinks it’s a Hind”
observer-controller-trainer, “this whole area is leveled, report to the hospital and get out you casualty cards”
1st Sergeant “We just got here!” (Censured since I heard the 1st Sergeant use colorful words)
@@jsandra860 that sounds oh too familiar.......
@Matt Hooper I was Commo, and was lit up more often than my neighborhood Christmas tree. My nickname was changed to “short circuit” for the first rotation.
@Matt Hooper I'm pretty sure and I hope you mean that he simulated shot up the Hind, would be pretty sad if he accidentally or deliberately destroyed such a valuable training asset.
@@Neaptide184 xD
I have been to JRTC 3 times and it was hell each time. Your in the box for 30 days, and it's extremely stressful, challenging, and educational. Great job guys. Just a note NTC is also no joke.
I was a nurse at JRTC in a CASH unit in the mid 90s we not only had real world mission to take care of the 82nd Airborne who rotated through there but we were also in the mix. Got alot of great training in mass casualties exercises that seemed to never end.
The best way for a unit to learn is to lose. That commander is right.
Story time: I broke JRTC once. While an E4 in an artillery unit, my section chief thought it would be a go idea to let me do some advanced training and had me swap into his seat. As a 21 year old specialist I was now in charge of a 155mm howitzer crew. He ran me through what I would have to do, keeping in mind we were dry firing and had no actual ammo. THE VERY FIRST FIRE MISSION I press the "check fire" button (which I was told NOT to press). Well, this button causes a safety lockup of all computers on the network. Well, as the word "Joint" in the name suggest, I locked up a lot of computers.
I did not get to sit in that particular chair for quite some time.
Absolutely love that there’s a unit named after the very man who played the same tactics on the US Army to the point it seemed like he had supernatural abilities. The Apache back in their prime were built different 😮💨
Comanche owned them
Apaches needed the Spanish to protect them 🤦🏼♂️
I’ve been OPFOR at NTC and JRTC. The biggest problem is incoming units is they are overconfident whereas we knew all the hidey holes, all the ambush sites and the mistakes they’ll perpetually make the same mistakes but they leave with a better understanding of their weaknesses. Also, it helps to identify weak leaders which is the biggest gain.
If there's anything I've learned from Zach, it's that you never want to go to Fort Polk.
Also its that 509th coins are nice if you fix their guns
I was wondering how long it would take me to find a Mikeburnfire viewer.
That coin is the only positive thing he got out of Fort Polk
The moment I saw Fort Polk, I was like, 'Of course.' Then it got even more familiar with the 509th.
i heard fort polk and had flashbacks to campfire stories lol
Sometimes it's fun to aid and abet the enemy.
Having been stationed at Polk and been in 'the box' more times than I can count. OPFOR at JRTC is set up to win in almost every way that they can. The incoming units are intentionally put in situations which they are not designed to succeed at, mostly to stress the chain of command to see where the problems are. We had plenty of instances where situations were 'gamed' to create a problem for a commander and had nothing to do with realism. (IED buried 200 yards off the road and it 'kills' an MRAP so the vehicle recovery TTP can be tested, when in reality it wouldn't have even scratched the paint)
Always better to be trained for the worst possible scenario so you are overqualified when a similar but a far easier scenario pops up.
Yeah! Get real and place the IEDs where then people can also learn to stay on program after a few buddies are really dead!
That actually makes a lot of sense. There are already plenty of places to train for expected or even unexpected combat scenarios. But having a place that demands training under absurd scenarios shows the leaders who can adapt to ridiculous situations, and helps train the ones who have a harder time getting out of the shell of doctrine. The enemy doesn't care about your doctrine, so you can't be confined by it.
Well yeah, they’re trying train you for the unexpected
I was born and raised Louisiana and stationed at Ft. Polk. I loved it! Endless locations to fish, nightclubs within reasonable distance and home several hours away.
The biggest mistake you could ever make in your military career is under estimating the enemy.
Ahhhh, it’s Folk Polk. Even the US Army hates that place.
Ft Hood also comes to mind.
I was at JRTC for 3 month rotation in 99. We trained with the German Soldiers and Taiwanese Soldiers. We came all the way from Hawai'i 25th ID.
To the Brits, my apologies for the bird-sized mosquitos, carnivorous flies, ticks, alligators, snakes, sweltering heat and humidity and also all the things you will experience when you step outside in Louisiana. I do apologize but honestly, nobody grows hair on their balls sitting in the shade.
No problem. Our Fathers, Grandfathers, great great grandfathers and those before faced similar and far worries terrain and conditions, while conquering most of the known World ...we even let those who were British born but had left our shores to settle in American, have a bit of it too :-)
@@jimmyjazz1570 yes. You did all that just to let the Muslims turn your country unto The Islamic Republic of Britain. Good job. 👍
@@daviddorger6916 The Muslim population of the UK is less 10% , their influence into the actual reality of living in the UK is minimal. Here's some advice, don't believe all you hear , read and in your case, think. GFY.
@@jimmyjazz1570 who's the mayor of London? Oh yeah he won with 10%. Don't grasp for the reality you wish was there, deal with the reality that is there. GFY right back. 😀
@@daviddorger6916
"who's the mayor of London? Oh yeah he won with 10%."
In a democracy, you vote for the best candidate, not the person most like you..............
You really think that only Muslins, vote for a Muslim?
What happened was, Londoners voted for a Mayor..............................
OMG the US is ignorant and racist
I remember learning in LA history that fort Polk was used for a lot of training during the Vietnam era, due to its similar climate and terrain.
Ft. Polk’s training was some of the best I’ve had during my military career. Coming from the Air Force, where “training” was a complete joke, I can honestly say I appreciated getting the chops I needed to deploy under an Army billet. Night and day difference.
Example: 2003 Deployment to Iraq -> The Air Force sent us with no weapons, no ammo, and a Vietnam era flak jacket for body armor.
Bruh, I'm deploying next month and the Air Force is still sending us W/Vietnam kits hahaha
@@kylesimard1577 Where the hell did my 750 billion dollars go?
Typical U.S Chair Force, work with the most advanced aircraft in the world and complain about a lil ole flak vest. I bet all those air conditioners they sent for your tents worked like a champ though. Hahaha. Much respect for you, members and former members of ALL branches of military service, from a crusty old soldier.
@@hansgruber9685 haha. We are in the same quarters as the Army.
i believe that a E-4 Specialist, Small Arms Repair named Zach has a different story to tell than this documentary does about Fort Polk...
I bet he did lots of police call 😂
If I'm remembering right he liked the Geronimo guys, they treated him better than his regular unit. He also got a challenge coin from them
🤣🤣
Anger management aka: "Fort Polk incompetence support group."
Yep
I trained in The Box so many times in the 90s, and it is a fabulous training facility. The ranges there are perfect for training American troops...once you've witnessed it, you'll never forget it.
Absolutely the best place for training, I was stationed there in 1966, and I still miss the good people from Louisiana.
for years ive heard "dont go to fort polk". and the british are going to fort polk. also i love that opfor is getting talked about lmfao
3rd episode in and I'm still not comfortable with the stretching holes analogy! 😆
Yeah, not well thought-out by an officer 🙄
hahahaha
Then you haven't been stretched enough. XD
That's the point. It's not meant to make you comfortable.
° - O 🤣
My squad leader and I cheated, and made sure we had "KIA" casualty cards. Being at the casualty collection point was way better than being out in the box.
I went through basic in Ft Polk LA in the old WWII barracks in 1963. For our only weekend off, a buddie and I went to Lake Charles instead of town, Diseaseville. Not much to do there, too young to go to any of the bars, so we walk about town, took in a move, but we mainly slept. I'll never forget Lake Charles, when we stepped up a small cafés cash register to pay for breakfast, the waitress said, Army recruits don't pay for food here.
I'd imagine this unit is pretty good testing ground for new tactics.
Nice to see our forces learning from each other and the respect they have for one another. All of them absolute heroes
7:06 Hahaha! This had me cracking up 😂👍🏻
These are the reasons the uk and the us along with other allies like canada, and Ukraine even, are so good at what they do.
Practice practice practice practice practice......
Till you can perform those same duties when you’re injured, hungry, exhausted, and practically brain-dead.
God bless them.
Glad to see us working with our Welsh brothers in arms. They’re great allies.
My first rotation at Ft. Chaffee was awesome. I had 30 kills against the 82nd airborne. By the time we transferred to Fort Polk I was up to avg 45 kills and surviving the rotations. I blew my knee out on a jump and never went back to the box. However I think at one point the commander had said we has a 70-1 kill ratio. True or not I don't know. What I do know is I never had to go to war and experience real bullets or real death. I have nothing but respect and admiration for our troops and vets no matter the service or unit they served in. We also fought foreign troops and alot of them or well trained and very tough. A huge reason for the success is the opfor has very limited EXROE. We do leave men behind. Knowing the terrain I have heard is a reality that an occupation force has to deal with. I'm very proud to have served with the men I did serve with. Great full my service was in a time of peace, and ashamed I blew up like a pregnant pinata after I hurt my knee and got discharge Honorable for being a pog
Went to Polk as the first Marine unit to ever go through JROTC. I think OPFOR took it personal. This was roughly 07-08 timeframe. I remember it being really cold actually and snow flurries. One of my buddies from Lake Charles said he’s never seen snow till we got there lol
I remember my platoon commander getting captured which is another funny story in itself. He wasn’t too happy about it. You are meant to lose down there.
I've known several soldiers who retired earlier than they planned when they found out their units were slotted for another rotation through jrtc. Not the most enjoyable field experience, which means it's doing its job.
"They are, essentially, professional baddies." Lolololol
My Grandpa deployed to Europe after training at Camp Polk. Tech Sgt Bill Romer was part of the 8th Armored Division, the Thundering Herd.
It's great to see this video. I lived and breathed this stuff when I was there in the D. Co. 1/509th from 2004-2007 (during one of the only times 1/509th companies actually deployed) Still have the back injury from a bad night jump but many great memories.
Forget the unit...
"Fort Polk: Literal Hell on Earth"
I dunno... basic training at Ft. Knox Kentucky from july to September was hot enough to qualify for hell, back in 1980.
OPFOR (1/509 A Co) was my unit. It’s a bitter sweet experience. We trained all the time. it’s also a Airborne Infantry unit. If we weren’t training with other military units, we conducted our own Airborne Operations. What I loved about it, you meet different military unit with different MOS’ and even trained with Special Ops units as well. That is what I miss! Geronimo!
I loved being OP4. So many roles to play, you can be security for the local's mayor, be a reaction force, be support for something else, or be a smuggler.
Love this vid. Taught me a lot about the US military.
Love how they never praise the private soldiers