Austin Whidby

My first leadership position after graduating Ranger school was being a tabbed specialist. I oversaw new members that came into my squad in our unit. I was responsible for teaching them RFR/medical training, basics of day/night CQB, familiarization with nods, marksmanship, mobility, SUT and physical fitness. As a specialist within my squad, my main responsibility was operating the SAW.

After a couple of months as a specialist, I was promoted to Corporal. I was put in a Gun Team Leader position in a weapons squad where we operated 240 L&B's. I became proficient in operating the 240's, Carl Gustav, LAW, 50 Cal MG, Mk. 48 and Mk. 47. I was responsible for giving direction to the 240 gunners (i.e. keep cadence with the other gun team leaders to know when it was my gunner's turn to shoot, assess the rate of firing, link rounds, identify target reference points, know where our FLOT was and when/where our air asset was going to make a gun run on the target compound). Training was performed during the day and at night under nods with live rounds during Platoon Live Fires.

In 2021 I was promoted to Sergeant and held a position as a Team Leader. My role was to train members in CQB, build demolition and utilize different charges for external and internal breaching during day/night iterations. I trained with M4 and Glock 19 for CQB. During this time I went to an advanced CQB course and RSALC where I learned more advanced CQM and long range shooting techniques up to 1000 meters. As a Team Leader, I successfully helped lead my team during Shoot House CQB, Team Live Fire, air field seizures, raids and Platoon Live Fire training.

I am currently in the process of getting out of the Army. My ETS date is September 2025. I plan to attend an ARFR course in December 2024 to become more proficient in advanced medical training.