Yesterday we ended a week long field training exercise with the Austrian army at a base in Allensteig, which is in Niederösterreich. I was a little anxious about this training because all I had heard about Allensteig was that it was the coldest place in Austria and that the training was going to be incredibly difficult. So I was happily surprised to find Allensteig to be warm and nice, not at all what I had imagined (also known as Planet Hoth from Star Wars). The weather was great, in the 60’s and 70’s during the day and crisply cold during the night.
The training was… boring. I do not in any way mean that as a dig on the Austrian army, it was mostly because the training was for a battalion and we were the reserve company. Out of my entire company only my squad and a couple others received any enemy contact and I was the only one out the four American cadets to shoot my rifle. It was not that easy for the rest of the companies, especially the main effort company, who lost two out of three platoons. For us the normal day consisted of waking up around 0630, eating breakfast and taking our time getting ready, waiting around until about 0900, driving somewhere, pulling security there for an hour or so, getting back into the Pinzgauer, waiting for a while longer, driving somewhere, waiting around and snacking for about an hour, taking a nap in the sun for an hour, driving somewhere else and pulling security for an hour or so, waiting around, driving somewhere else, setting up our sleeping bags, eating dinner, going to sleep around 2100, waking up around 0100 or so and pulling guard duty, and then going back to sleep. Only on the last day did we even encounter the enemy. Even though the training was a tad boring, I had a lot of fun getting to know my squad and platoon, and working on my German.
Attached are some pictures of the training: The first is of Kopfy as we were waiting in the Pinzgauer and talking the first morning. Next is Andy, doing what we did best during the training. Then there is me pulling good security on absolutely nothing. Me after giving my “Let’s put some steel on target” speech. The last picture is of me in the Pinzgauer on the last day. As you can see, it got a little messy over four days.
The training was… boring. I do not in any way mean that as a dig on the Austrian army, it was mostly because the training was for a battalion and we were the reserve company. Out of my entire company only my squad and a couple others received any enemy contact and I was the only one out the four American cadets to shoot my rifle. It was not that easy for the rest of the companies, especially the main effort company, who lost two out of three platoons. For us the normal day consisted of waking up around 0630, eating breakfast and taking our time getting ready, waiting around until about 0900, driving somewhere, pulling security there for an hour or so, getting back into the Pinzgauer, waiting for a while longer, driving somewhere, waiting around and snacking for about an hour, taking a nap in the sun for an hour, driving somewhere else and pulling security for an hour or so, waiting around, driving somewhere else, setting up our sleeping bags, eating dinner, going to sleep around 2100, waking up around 0100 or so and pulling guard duty, and then going back to sleep. Only on the last day did we even encounter the enemy. Even though the training was a tad boring, I had a lot of fun getting to know my squad and platoon, and working on my German.
Attached are some pictures of the training: The first is of Kopfy as we were waiting in the Pinzgauer and talking the first morning. Next is Andy, doing what we did best during the training. Then there is me pulling good security on absolutely nothing. Me after giving my “Let’s put some steel on target” speech. The last picture is of me in the Pinzgauer on the last day. As you can see, it got a little messy over four days.
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