KSUAT rocks Rushville

Fireteam 4 (Delta Squad)

Leader - Brandon (me) Steinert

Sniper - Nick Massman

Communications specialist - Brent Keltner

Special Operations/Point - Tyler Campain

The morning of Feb. 16 started off a little rough, as the temperature was lower than comfortable. A few of the guys were worried about their batteries' lives in the cold, but it didn't seem to be a problem all day.

We didn't know what to expect while we were all standing around the fire warming our hands (and weapons) before the pre-game safety briefing. We might get destroyed, or we might destroy. Luckily for my squad it was the latter.

Our C.O. started us off on a recon mission to the northern part of the Rushville map. We were supposed to engage an enemy and pull back, avoiding any casualties if possible and reporting on enemy movements and positions. So without much waiting around we engaged, which kind of set the theme for the rest of the day.

In the first engagement we, fireteam 4, took out at least 5 enemy contacts, after which we were put on guard duty at the patrol post just west of the low ford.

When we finished our only half-hour of non-combat, our group was sent on a search and destroy mission to seek out the enemy leader and kill him. So we went north to the top of a series of hills and crept around the enemy's rear.

We got orders from our commanding officer to "stir trouble". When these orders reached us, in an ominous tone Brent replied, "stirring."

We came upon a road and snuck accross it. While on the east side of the road I saw an enemy squad of 4 personell coming down the road from the south. I ordered my squad to take cover and they got down quickly...and we waited. The four enemies passed by us only 20 feet away and turned to their left. I ordered my squad up...they got up quickly and silently. We moved in on them and opened fire. They all went down in a few seconds. Our squad suffered 0 casualties during this engagement.

I ordered my squad downhill to the east to distract enemies hanging around out in the open, hoping it would give some of our comrades a chance to flank them, but then we got word that another fireteam was positioned at a very convenient third angle. We organized quickly and mounted a successful assault on a majority of the opposing team.

When the firefight was over and I received medical attention (somethin' jumped up and bit me), I got disoriented from the lack of a compass and was temporarily lost. After I got my bearings and the frustration wore off, we headed back to CP. We heard it was under attack and so double-timed it.

As we approached CP from the northeast, we came under fire. I went down for the second time and respawned as my fireteam joined forces with another and eliminated the threat.

When I returned to combat our team had been bruised but not beaten, and we moved out to finish the day...Civil War style.

Shoulder to shoulder we marched north on the main road, sending volleys from 30ish people at the enemy. As Greg and I walked ahead of the rest of the group by 15-20 feet, we went down together while lobbing plastic death at our foes.

I used my AUG throughout the day, and it performed amazingly.