As the company commander of a Headquarters & Headquarters Company (HHC), I was given a tremendous opportunity to conduct a company live fire (LFX) for the first time in the unit’s memorable history. The company had minimal experience in the tactical arena. We struggled with the little things like qualifying on our machine guns and carrying our weapons at the low ready. Leading up to the LFX, we focused on building soldier familiarity with basic skills and the ability to operate tactically in a deployed environment. We knew the experience of conducting a live fire exercise would be beneficial, but we didn’t realize how much we would learn from the process.
The Butcher, the Baker, and the Candlestick Maker – an HHC LFX is rarely “sexy”. It is hard to plan and even more difficult to pack into an already full training schedule focused on preparing lethal squads and platoons. But…it can be done!