Members of the 94th Military Police Battalion Special Reaction Team member would use this simulated ammunition — basically paintballs — while training Monday in a Close Quarter Battle Course (T.D. Flack / S&S)
Members of the 94th Military Police Battalion Special Reaction Team member would use this simulated ammunition — basically paintballs — while training Monday in a Close Quarter Battle Course (T.D. Flack / S&S)
Staff Sgt. Lindsey Crudup instructs members of his 94th Military Police Battalion Special Reaction Team on the proper technique for clearing rooms. (T.D. Flack / S&S)
A 94th Military Police Battalion Special Reaction Team member clears a room while 1st Lt. Jeremy Prince observes and instructs. (T.D. Flack / S&S)
Members of the 94th Military Police Battalion Special Reaction Team train in a Close Quarter Battle Course on Camp Casey, South Korea, on Monday. (T.D. Flack / S&S)
Two members of the 94th Military Police Battalion Special Reaction Team peer into the next room during training in a Close Quarter Battle Course as Staff. Sgt. Lindsey Crudup, far right, observes and instructs. (T.D. Flack / S&S)
CAMP CASEY, South Korea — The 94th Military Police Battalion’s Special Reaction Team soldiers spent Monday negotiating the tight confines of a close-quarters training “shoot house.”
Eleven team members, dressed in their distinctive black uniforms, made their way through the open-air building early Monday, clearing rooms and taking out the “bad guys.”
With many new members, the team is in the first phase of a “crawl, walk and run” training cycle, officials said.
They were on the range to “build confidence while engaging targets in an enclosed area,” said 1st Lt. Jeremy Prince, officer-in-charge of the team.
Prince explained that the soldiers conducted dry-fire runs with the M-9 pistol and M-4 rifle to get used to handling the weapons in the facility. From there, they moved to paintball rounds — called “simunition” — and finally live rounds.
Safety was paramount, Prince said, and a safety inspector was right behind the soldiers on each run.
Team noncommissioned-officer-in-charge Staff Sgt. Lindsay Crudup acted as a safety officer, instructing the troops on correct procedures during practice runs.
“Walk through the target,” he told the soldiers, demonstrating by moving quickly through a door straight to a dummy target.
They should “eliminate the space between them and the target,” he said. “You don’t want to lose your tactical edge.”
Team member Sgt. Brett Smith said the best part was “putting rounds down range” during the realistic training.
If the team had to perform this task in a real situation, they “don’t have to worry,” he said. “We’re covering each other’s backs.”
