Learning to throw hand grenades is not a new task for the UTM ROTC. But, as Cadet Major Robert Ridley explains, getting 50 plus cadets through an improved range with obstacle courses and six grenade stations in less than two hours is adding new expertise to age-old training.

The grenade-training conducted earlier this month allowed senior trainer for the event, Sergeant First Class John Taylor to demonstrate the skills he has learned with over 15 years of infantry experience. Taylor taught the cadets how to properly and safely use the weapons. The student in charge of the range was Cadet Captain Ethan Shircel.

Ridley says that the grenade training range included six different stations designed to provide the cadets with real life grenade throwing situations.

The course itself included obstacles and challenges such as climbing over a wall while maintaining a low profile, maneuvering a low crawl under barbed wire that requires the face and all parts of the body to be in the dirt, throwing grenades from a prone and kneeling position, and knocking out a bunker that requires the cadets to assess the bunker and then throw a grenade inside and quickly get out of blasting range.

At each station the cadets were given the opportunity to throw two grenades with one of them being required to come within five meters (lethal range) of the target.

According to Ridley, this course was very well done and effectively emulated the scenarios that the cadets will face during the Leadership Development and Assessment Course that cadets are required to pass prior to receiving their commission.

“Sergeant Taylor put a lot of work into this course and built most things from scratch with his own hands,” Ridley says.