Navy Individual Augmentee combat training to expand to nearly 3 weeks

Above: An Individual Augmentee Training Course at the McCrady Training Center in South Carolina. Sometimes known as 'sand sailors', Individual Augmentees (IAs) are basically Navy personnel who either volunteer or are involuntarily transferred to work with the Army in combat duty. There are approximately 13,000 sailors serving in IA billets, split between active duty and reserve components. The majority of IAs serve in Iraq or Afghanistan. In order to accomplish the transition from sailor to soldier, they go through a shortened version of combat basic training and learn Army tactics and doctrines, and train on the various weapons they will use in theater as well as patrol techniques, land navigation, and urban assault.

Sailors bound for individual augmentee deployments will soon get more time to learn ground combat skills before going overseas.

That means the current two-week familiarization course in ground combat and survival will increase to nearly three weeks, to allow for more time on the weapons range and more time to absorb important skills...

Sailors asked for “more time on the weapons. More shooting. More chances to shoot in different scenarios. More times to run a convoy, not just one time but a chance to do it and ‘see what I didn’t do quite right then go back and practice it again,’” Jones said.

Read the rest at Navy Times

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