AMEDD BOLC WEEK 4-6 [FTX]

Week 4-6 [FTX]

FTX progresses in a crawl-walk-run phase. Regrettably I cannot remember everything they taught us in Week 4 and 5.

Week 4 [Crawl]: Basic Soldier Skills.  Primary Marksmanship Instruction (PMI), Basic Rifle Marksmanship (BRM), Tactical Combat Casualty Care, etc. We still had PRT during Week 4.

Week 5 [Walk]: Explanation of Role I, II, and III Medical care in a combat environment. Role I (Battalion Aid Station). Role II (Brigade or Area Support Medical Company). Role III (Combat Support Hospital). We also did our Land Navigation Testing during Week 5. Land Navigation was conducted in buddy teams for us. Generally an experienced student teams up with a student who has never been on a Land Nav course before. We also tested on Army Warrior Tasks which were GO / NOGO events . You will receive instruction on all these tasks beforehand and have study hall sessions to practice.  Disassemble and Reassemble M16 and perform a functions check. Disassemble and reassemble an M9 and perform a functions check. Setup a SINCGARS Radio and perform a radio check. Request a 9 Line MEDEVAC. A single error on any test will result in a NOGO for the event. A NOGO did not appear to hurt you but would disqualify you from being a candidate for the Lynch Leadership Award at the end of the course.

Week 6 [Run]: Students independently run Role I, II, and III Medical facilities.  Definitely the most fun week. I was lucky enough to be a Role I Platoon Sergeant. In this week you really get to know your Platoon and see everyone’s leadership style. During Week 5 and 6, you will learn Modern Army Combatives Program (MACP) Level 1 instead of doing PRT. The final day on Week 6 was when we fought. Also a lot of fun.

FTX Housing: We are lucky at AMEDD BOLC and get to sleep in Alaska Shelters. These tents have doors, lights, A/C, and Cots.

Free time: Once released around 1700, it is your time. Many students use it to do individual PT and run outside of the Forward Operating Base (FOB) or go to the small gym. Unless you are in leadership and need to go to the Battle Update Briefings (BUB), you have the rest of the night to yourself. I found that I was able to get more sleep in the field than during the classroom setting as I had no distractions like wifi. Wakeup was usually around 0445. In the evening once released, you can change into your PT uniform if you like.

Hygiene: Easy to maintain good hygiene at FTX. Sink stations allow you to brush your teeth and shave daily (for males). There are also mobile showers established. They actually have warm water which was surprising. The line can get fairly long so either going early or late is your best bet. They lock up at 2200. Porta-potties are what you have for latrines.

Chow: Breakfast and Dinner are hot meals. Lunch is a Meal Ready to Eat (MRE).