REAL Mountain Infantry Needed: U.S. Army National Guard Mountain Warfare School (MWS) Summer 1/2

Its ironic that in a few short years after this video was made, the U.S. Army was the first-to-fight in the high altitude mountains of Afghanistan, yet its 10th Mountain Division located in flat up-state New York was unready and many Soldiers fell ill and/or became injured trudging up the steep terrain. There's no excuse for this because being a member of the 10th Mountain should require attendance at the nearby Mountain Warfare School run by the VTARNG to earn the Mountain tab or a specialty Rams Head skill badge.

There's no problem with a SKILL badge as long as it doesn't become an EGObadge that snobs artificially create an "us vs. them" mentality by restricting access to the school to fellow snobettes; EVERYONE in the Army should be able to go to ANY war skills school if they like, PERIOD. Especially--if they are willing to go on their own dime. That's the strength of the '80s "Be all you can Be" ethos when the Army became excellent far beyond the badgeless USMC that revels in shared mediocrity. Soldiers need goals to shoot for, not have the door slammed-shut-in-their-face.

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[geneseo12]

the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) is not a Mountain Infantry Division, and it only wears the "Mountain" tab for legacy purposes, just like how the 82nd Airborne Division will soon loose its Airborne status in a few years, but keep the tab. The only Mountain Infantry units in the Army today are the 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain) and the Mountain Warfare Training School of the Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island Army National Guards.

[ironicvermont1]

Nice ive been on those climbing lanes Alpha co 172 mtn Infantry

[jesdunk]

@NottheFacePlease I don't know what the music it, but I definitely need to find it to pump up my mountain soldiers.

[NottheFacePlease]

What's the song, if anyone knows?

[redgriffin728]

For the Army it's still at Fort Ethan Allen. The Marines have a Mountain Warfare Training Center on the East Side of the Sierras in California at about 9,000 ft and it goes up to 12,000 ft for training. The Us 10th is a Mountain Division in Name only they are really just ski troops. There are no plans for the Army to move their training center at this time but the should move it to Ft Carson in Colorado near where the WWII Base for the 10th was based at Camp Hale.

[jeepcreep927]

They didn't.  The only Mountain Warfare School is still at Ethan Allen Range. It's the ONLY place to earn a Mountain Tab or a Ram's Head.

"Ascend To Victory"

3/172 MTN.

[Dave04M3]

I did mountain warfare school with the CAARNG in 1992 and we went to Vermont at the Eathan Allen mountain range...when did they move it?

Dave

[m60jack]

They didn't get PWNED. They got relieved. They did their jobs and they came home. However, I agree that the 10th mountain division should return to it's roots and focus on real mountain warfare.

[BlacktailFA]

Unfortunately, the US Army's "mountaineering" is now done at Fort Drun, NY --- a towering, forbidding 20 feet above sea-level --- and without any mountain warfare weapons or equipment.

Congress sent the "Mountain" Division based at Fort Drum to Afghanistan, fully expecting them to ACTUALLY DO MOUNTAIN WARFARE --- they are, after all, called a "Mountain" Division.

They got PWNED by the harsh conditions of Afghan mountains.

How hard is it to base US "Mountain" troops near ACTUAL MOUNTAINS?