This was my first Milsim West event, which took place at Mount Balkar in Fern Glenn, PA. The event lasted for more than 40 hours, and this is my story.
Day 1 - Friday
We arrived at around 5:00 PM and began setting up our gear while waiting for our squads to arrive. As we were doing so, we met our 5th platoon leader, with whom we talked for a few minutes, and who gave us a rundown of the battle plan. He then sent us down to check in after which we came back up to our car and laid out all our gear to have an official gear check once it was approved. He distributed ammo, and we set up our comm frequencies. After all the business was done, we sat around and got to know each other and our fellow squads while waiting for nightfall.
My squad consisted of Demo (squad leader), Tex (rifleman), Raptor (rifleman), and Dremel (rifleman and squad medic). At this point, I was excited for my first Milsim West to begin. Around 10:00 PM, we started to prepare for our final departure. We left our cars and moved up to the starting position of the NATO force, all equipped with our night vision and thermals.
We received our final briefing and then began to head out as 5th platoon squad 4. We were far in the back. No sooner did we get a hundred yards from our cars than we heard platoon one take immediate contact. We could hear the gunfire (blank fire) in the distance. 5th platoon was called to move up. As we cautiously moved up, we started to see more NATO forces needing medics. I pulled up my thermal and saw a mass of (I can only assume based on their aiming and walking towards us) enemies. I called out to the rest of the squad what I was seeing, but we didn't have to wait long before the firing continued.
We ditched our rucks immediately and began to move to more defensive positions. We engaged and exchanged fire for about 10 minutes before platoons of NATO pushed up the tree lines beside the road. They outmaneuvered Rusfor and Milita to allow us to continue our push up the road. We steadily pushed our way up the road, found our platoon leader, and he told us to recover our rucks and meet him back at our current position.
So, 5-4 got back to our rucks only to take incoming fire from what we thought was NATO. I pulled up my thermal and looked around, only to see five random people in a bush. I opened fire and heard them all give their best fake dying screams. I pointed out their position with my light, and my squad moved in to "search" them (ask them if you can search them or whether or not they have loot goods). After the search, we recovered our rucks and moved up to link up with our platoon leader.
Saturday, 1:00 AM
We moved back up to where our platoon leader told us to be, but he was nowhere to be found. We hailed him on our comms and heard nothing. After searching, we kept moving up the road and came to our first intersection. We had to decide whether to keep going on our current path to our objective or take this random road. We decided to keep on moving straight up the road to the next intersection and then take that road to our objective.
We finally made it to our intersection and ran came in contact with 2nd platoons platoon sergeant. He asked us what platoon we were, we told him 5th platoon.
He said we were the only squad from 5th platoon that he'd seen. He told us the rest of our platoon was missing, and we couldn't contact them. After waiting, the 2nd Platoon Leader told us we were joining them to our objective. We rolled out with them and began the ascent up the mountain road. It was at least 20 minutes of walking. We made it up the hill at last, and at this point it was 2:30. We made it to our objective, which was a 3-way fork in the road. We were told to dig in and pull watches. Attacks were imminent. We all found this useful coal/dirt mound. We set our rucks down there and set up a watch. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't sleep because of the excitement and adrenaline rush. There was a point where we picked out an oncoming attack from uphill. I spotted them with thermal, and we sent a runner to warn 2nd platoon. 2nd platoon set up an ambush, and as soon as the enemy was within range, they engaged. It was quick work from 2nd platoon. The enemy retreated, and it was quiet for the next few hours.
Around 3:45, we were all still scanning. I picked up heat signatures from up the road from where our coal mound was. We couldn't ID them, but we kept watching their movements. They eventually disappeared on the other end of the road out of view. It was quiet, and I decided to get some shut-eye. I handed off my gun with my thermal to get some sleep. I'm not sure how long it was before I was awoken by Demo saying there was a platoon-sized force heading our way. He tossed me my rifle, and sure enough, there was a massive force heading our way. We sent a runner over to alert 2nd platoon squad leader, and we all got into ambush positions. We let the force get in range, and we laid into them. They began scrambling. Me and Raptor flanked right into the woods to prevent a flanking maneuver. We both eventually were taken out. The rest of 5-4 fell back and got to cover. We aren't sure how many we took out before we heard someone say it was friendly fire. (Facepalm) 3rd Platoon moved out to a new location, and we never heard anything on the radio. We all got revived, and 3rd platoon went on their way. 2nd Platoon leader later came over to us and told us how much we kicked ass and made an executive decision to keep fighting. We became Squad 2-5-4. We hunkered down on our coal mound and got some rest. Our very own Tex laid down without a care in the world, he did not care what direction the enemy would come from. He passed out immediately - what a legend. I personally just laid back against the coal mound, kit and all, and promptly passed out. Most of our squad frequently woke up a random guy from 2nd platoon who was snoring like a chainsaw. I've heard quieter chainsaws, so we quickly dubbed him "Chainsaw."
Around 6:00, we woke up and started to move around again due to how cold we were. We got some food in us, but at the same time we see friendly forces walking down the road. It was 5th Platoon! We caught up, and apparently, the rest of 5th platoon went straight to Balkar summit without us. They said they had a hell of a night. After we told him what happened, we told him how 2nd Pl
We were informed by the 2nd Platoon Leader that it was going to be a slow morning and we could rest since we were rear security. Our squad found another area in the trees and quickly passed. I am unsure what time we awoke, but we were invigorated as the sun rose on us. We thoroughly enjoyed our breakfast, especially Tex. When we briefly lost sight of him and called out, he poked up from behind a bush with a massive grin on his face, making his breakfast. Most of the day consisted of naps, friendly fire, and one quick skirmish with the militia, but nothing too eventful. Saturday night is when things picked up.
At 2000, 2nd Platoon moved up the road from the intersection and began to make camp in the clump of trees beside it. Our squad didn't realize we were the tip of position and right at the road where you could go further up the mountain. We were all well-rested, and morale was high, so we had some dinner and got ready to set up watches for the night. It was decided that we would do 2-hour shifts. It would be me and Dremel, then Tex and Raptor. We tried to let Demo sleep since he was up the most.
The first few watches went smoothly with no alarm.
Sunday 0000, Dremel and I were on watch. It wasn't as hard to stay awake as I thought it would be. I was quite entertained by the droves of flying squirrels zipping from tree to tree. As I scanned for targets, I would just watch them from time to time. I checked in with Dremel from time to time. After I went back to my position, which was near the edge of the tree line where the open gorge was, I scanned towards the road. I saw three heat signatures descending the mountain, and I thought it was weird. I told Dremel on the radio what I was seeing. The three unknown figures crossed the road into our tree line, stopping at another squad's three sleeping bags. Their body language was suspicious as I continued to watch, so I slowly moved up. No sooner had I started moving that they yelled something, and executed the soldiers in their sleeping bags (They were empty). The lead enemy then sprinted towards my sleeping squad. I closed the distance trying to get a clear shot. Alas, he made it to my squad mates before that. He shot Raptor, who woke up unhappy. As I opened fire on him, I presumably missed. He was spooked enough to run off before causing more damage. However, he left his two buddies behind. I searched them and maneuvered myself to get a clear shot. I told Dremel on the radio they were right behind him, but he couldn't see anything with NVGs due to the darkness. I ran over and got a clear shot and double tapped both right before they moved up on Dremel. We went over and revived Raptor, then looted the two guys. Raptor was ready for payback, understandably. We notified our platoon leader, and our squad reconvened at our spot. We were talking in a circle when Dremel heard a twig snap behind him towards the gorge. He yelled my name and ducked. I pulled up my rifle and saw the third tango. I put four into him, and he was down. We moved to him and looted him. He moved out, and we just geeked out a little about the whole ordeal. Soon we wrapped up, and then Tex and Raptor went on watch.
At 0130, I was trying to sleep and finally did until I heard something rustling i
I suddenly wake up to the sound of something running towards my head. I sit up just in time to hear Raptor yell, "Look at the size of that raccoon! It's huge!" The raccoon zips up the tree next to me in a panic. I'm sitting there laughing hard, and then I begin to hear the sound of water running over leaves. With the realization, I yell, "Ugh, the raccoon is peeing on me!" Indeed it was, all over me and Raptor's sleeping bag. Hilarity ensued, and everyone was cramping with laughter. We all composed ourselves and went back to sleep. Tex and Raptor went back on watch, and we continued the rotations into the morning.
I don't know how much time passed, but we shot awake once we heard gunfire on the far end of the forest. We scrambled to get into defensive positions. Through my thermal, I saw a platoon-sized element wiping out my sleeping platoon. We all moved up and dug in, waiting. Once they got in range, we opened up on them. Our 5-man squad held out for some time, but with no backup and limited ammo, it was grim. I heard my squad mates go down around me, and I soon ran out of ammo before I was hit. The enemy moved out, and we were eventually revived. After the fact, it seemed we were the only ones on watch on the opposite side of everyone else. We were quite disgruntled, so we all got our sleep packs out and slept.
By 1000, the sun had risen, and we were eating breakfast and reloading while going over what had happened prior. As the morning went on, we heard an engagement break out beyond our tree line and up the mountain road. We wrapped up and got prepared. We saw the entire enemy force of Rusfor and Militia pushing us on the end of our tree line and moving down the mountain road. Our squad leapt into action and met them head-on. We led the charge for 2nd Platoon and attempted some flanking maneuvers but were all hit in the process. After our bleed out, we ran back for medic waters. After we chugged the water, we went back at it. Tex and I crossed the road and started running up the mountain. I lost Tex along the way but kept running. I wanted to go far enough up the mountain that there was no way I could be noticed. I was successful in my flanking and was 200 ft uphill from their outermost flank, close to the rear where the COs were. I started stalking them and closed the gap.
By 1100, I pulled up my rifle to engage as I moved into a comfortable position. I went to pull the trigger right as I heard "endex!" yelled from all the admin and echoed by the players. It was the worst moment of my life. The game ended right there! I walked down, and all the guys below me said they would have been easy prey considering they had little to no ammo.
We all went back for debriefing, packed up, and moved out. The experience was a 10/10, and I'm looking forward to the next one!
Here is a picture of our squad