Geronimo has been at this a lot and knows the terrain very, very well. Some units have had to stay in MOPP 4 for over 12 hours during rotations. Be prepared for CS gas to be thrown at you during your time in the box, so make sure your promask fits properly and has all the bits, including the drinking attachments for your camelbak/canteens. Try to not die, whatever people say the MACP/PEHA/BRC are uncomfortable places to live, especially with no access to latrines (again, make sure your unit gets WAG bags time now). Water will be a precious commodity, because it will be VERY hot and humid while you're here and the terrain actively fights you. During the fighting portions, you'll be going pretty much non-stop with whatever missions they'll have you on. During the freeze, leadership conducts planning and AARs and Joe typically gets to sleep and relax a bit. Each phase is about 3 days with a pause of 4-18 hours between transitions. You'll have three phases to the fight against Geronimo: offense, defense, and counter-attack. Bring bug spray and probably some cortizone for when you inevitably run into the poison ivy/oak/sumac that grows EVERYWHERE around here. There's a lot of people who show up surprised that there's no access at all to latrines once you get into the box for force on force. Also, tell your supply to order WAG bags now if they haven't already, and make sure to bring your own wipes/TP. Recommend you pack your clean clothes in ziplock bags or something else to keep them dry. Bring more socks than you think you could ever use, seen a lot of people get trench foot and as an 11B you'll want to change at least twice a day most likely. Cannot stress that enough, it rains here a lot and most of the box is a swamp or a mud hole. Not to sound too insulting on this point, but it's easy to underestimate the terrain and climate here.
There's also AARs and briefings for people of various levels of seniority on the back side. At the end of the rotation you will turn all that equipment in after cleaning and inventorying it, which takes a few days. Prior to going into the box you will conduct RSOI tasks that include personal MILES (the Army's version of laser tag for training) draw/issue, vehicle MILES install, PREPO draw (the equipment at JRTC for rotational use), and briefings about how the rotation will play out, ROE, general Fort Polk rules, etc.
They can and will hold the threat of CS gas over you until the very end to keep you focused. What does this mean for you? 10-11 days of Geronimo-fighting fun followed by 3-4 days of rehearsals and Ops Group trying to make sure you keep taking things seriously and don't check out early. The force on force portion is typically about 10-11 days, with the last 3-4 being the brigade's live fire exercise.
#PREPO YARD HOURS FORT POLK CRACK#
So, as someone currently stationed at scenic Fort Polk, let me take a crack at this.
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