EXERCISE RATTLESNAKE: US Army's MOST HATED Unit Gives UK Troops Hell

[Music] it's extremely grueling we always say that we're we stretch you to the point where we can see all your your holes the joint readiness training center rotation is like a cricket uh bat in the face over and over again and i'm joining the welsh cavalry as they spend 12 days in what's known as the box a feared training area that's been used to test troops to their limits for decades meet geronimo i think we are considered the most hated unit in the united states army and i think our soldiers uh really take a lot of pride in being the most despised units out there geronimo so i have a lot of respect for geronimo i'm fighting somebody that has a ton of repetitions fighting here in this terrain that is going to absolutely give us every problem that we will likely encounter in combat they are effectively professional baddies they're based at this training area and know every inch of it like the backs of their hands their mission is to give the visiting soldiers hell at the heart and soul that is act in a way today that will force your adversary or your opponent to really have to deal with a lot of problems simultaneously and when you do that you overwhelm them and they start to create their own problems and i think that is really what's at the heart of um how we act and our mentality as usual no prisoners questions only three let my guys push through one dead g-man down the road and it doesn't take long for geronimo to start causing problems this the aftermath of a surprise attack he got radio check before we switched them so get guns facing that way push these guys across the road and then you can bring those guys in within my battalion there are about 627 soldiers assigned for rotation i also receive about an additional 400 augmentee soldiers who just arrived just for the purpose of helping out for one month and then they leave in comparison typically there are about 5 000 soldiers on average that will come here to train against us and fight us so in terms of like overmatch uh certainly we are the underdog but that also plays into our favor in terms of um why we're so hated is because we like playing as as the guy who's operating against all odds say during the day we do weapons maintenance and kind of rest because we mainly fight at night so during the daytime we'll tend to do probe attacks sometimes like make sure they're how their defenses are their security and then night times normally when we hit them hard if you could sneak up on somebody when they're sleeping and you kill them you just tell them go back to go back to bed it's like one of the thirds like okay roll over all right i'm dead let's go back to sleep the enemy that we're up against this is their full-time job so they do this day in and day out and it's going to be a pretty big hassle for us they also have off-the-shelf drones that they utilize to locate and target and they have nerf droplets that they drop to simulate grenades so it's completely real world and working to create the best way to strike the enemy but using new technology our goal is we must win and the reason we must win as the opposing force is that we believe very firmly that units learn best by losing so you've got a real kit of parts haven't you anything at your disposal to make life healthier yeah and these vehicles are all brand new um so one of the things that will kind of change about these is right now they just look like a plane pickup truck but we we also will mount police lights on them ambulance lights the orange flashing like construction worker or electric company and so we can go out there and pretend to just be fixing a light pole and doing nothing but we're actually utilizing that as an opportunity to maybe infiltrate a wi-fi network or just observe and report on activity that's in that area his job is to train this brigade and train us as hard as he can but he's already got his scouts out against me so why is the enemy here called geronimo their lineage goes back to the 509th parachute infantry battalion and uh by legend uh one of the first members of the 509th was one of also the first members of the test platoon the rest of the members of his unit had you know said that he was going to be scared and so he said i'm not going to be scared when i exit this airplane for the first time one of the first u.s paratroopers and i'm going to prove it to you by yell and geronimo when i jump out of the airplane right and so geronimo being the the very famous uh apache warrior uh from native american culture and so true to his word when he exited the aircraft he yelled geronimo that's what we're going to do so just while we're off for that meanwhile geronimo have now made contact with the welsh cavalry you're gonna get when the antennas up get under zero tell him to stop dropping people in that area right she's obviously the enemy musical eyes on to be calling waters in the beginning of many battles ahead we've got lots of training areas in the uk some of which um initially could look quite similar to this pine trees and ferns but then they're very small this is on a scale that is really great to work in because uh in in the uk you'll come across the same wood block or the same trees again and again and when you've been on that training area a bit you kind of know where the enemy are likely to be hiding and uh there aren't that many surprises but in somewhere the size of this we're constantly being surprised by geronimo discovering new areas and getting pushed and put to the test in a way that we just wouldn't be used to at home [Applause] and what's it like having the welsh cavalry working alongside you so first and foremost a phenomenal unit incredibly professional particularly their junior non-commissioned officers their corporals and lance corporals incredibly capable and professional and skilled at what they do so this time the british are here you know do they do they tend to give you more grief than than the others honestly no because we may talk a lot of smack about each other but when it comes down to when we finally actually train with each other we look forward to it and learn from one another this isn't the super bowl this isn't the end point sorry that would be like the champions league cup um this isn't the the end this is just a point on our way to being ready and ultimately you know we hope we don't have to to compete in that really uh final event comp real combat and so this is meant to push us uh really beyond our limits uh to prepare us for that eventuality what's your message to the welsh cavalry i have no message for the welsh cavalry i'll be there to shoot you soon time come with me as i explore the history behind fort polk in louisiana the state has been home to training u.s soldiers since before world war ii and a big exclusive with the head of forces command force star general garrett talks about the importance of the defense relationship between the united states and the uk sean grezcek forces news fort polk louisiana if you enjoyed this video don't forget to like and subscribe to our channel

Channel: Forces News

Views: 1,840,626

Rating: 4.8769994 out of 5

Keywords: Forces News, Forces TV, British Armed Forces, British, Forces, military, serving, military personnel, Ministry of Defence, British defence, British military, Exercise Rattlesnake, Ex Rattlesnake, Geronimo unit, US Army, Special unit, Rattlesnake, Fort Polk, Fort Polk Louisiana, US military, US Armed Forces, US personnel, Welsh Cavalry, UK military, UK personnel, UK Armed Forces, British Army, Exercises, Exercise

Id: fbCxyJ2VztA

Length: 8min 21sec (501 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 28 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/Wartracker1776]

Pretty cool video because it’s something we don’t see very often. This is why the US and allied militaries are squared away.