Soldiers will soldier, and in a video that hit Instagram last week, a duo of grunts had fun with putting out a brush fire in the training area. Two 1st Calvary Division soldiers lay prone at the start of the video, with full kit on. No rifle in hand, but a fire flapper.
“Enemy 12 o’clock. 25 meters!” calls the first soldier.
A part of Battle Drill 1: React to Direct Fire Contact, one of the first things soldiers are trained to do as you return fire is call out direction, distance, and description – otherwise known as the 3Ds. Though the soldiers in the video didn’t really define the enemy, the reacted as they would in gunfight on the battlefield.
The difference between a gunfight and this video is that the enemy isn’t shooting at them, but is a different kind of threat via burning what appears to be dry brush. The video cuts out without showing the whole fire being extinguished, but you see one of the soldiers closing with and extinguishing the enemy.
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Instead of a rifle, these soldiers charged forward with a wildland fire flapper, sometimes referred to as a “swatter.” It resembles a shovel, but instead of steel at the end, it’s a large floppy square built of fire resistant material. According to the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, you use the flapper by smacking the flames or by dragging it along the edge of the fire. These actions blow out the oxygen feeding the fire, knocking down or outright extinguishing the fire.
In true grunt fashion, the soldier yells “Die, die, die” as he swatts the brush fire out. Think bayonet charge, but a five foot long fiberglass pole with a big rubber flap at the end
Brush fires are a near-constant face of life in day-to-day military training, at least around live firing ranges. Most life fire training is done on unimproved ranges and clearings with various levels of natural vegetation, including straw-like grasses and fallen leaves. In dry weather, almost any ordinance can start a fire, from helicopters practicing close air support or to platoon live fire. Range officials assign service members to put out small brush fires as they erupt.
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