Written by Master-Corporal Robert La Rosa, the commander of # 3 Section in # 2 Platoon, “A” Company of The Royal Montreal Regiment
Westmount, QC – 17 October 2014: Sixteen members of the Royal Montreal Regiment (RMR), which included the Platoon Commander (Pl Comd), were designated to be part of the Enemy Force Platoon (ENFOR) on Exercise RABID DOG held in Valcartier, QC on 26 – 28 September 2014.
The purpose of ENFOR was to represent the enemy for training purposes in 1 Platoon’s (1 Pl) scenario. Upon arrival in Valcartier, the RMR’s ENFOR immediately broke off from the rest of the RMR and joined members from the Black Watch and Canadian Grenadier Guards who made up the rest of the ENFOR Platoon. While the rest of the RMR’s 1 Pl set themselves up for a night on Forward Operating Base (FOB) Charlie, ENFOR made it’s way to a small tactical hide in the woods just outside the FOB. The next morning at the break of dawn, the hide was collapsed and the ENFOR made it’s way to another hide which would be their home until the end of the GPE.
For the remainder of the exercise, the ENFOR provided a realistic training experience for members of 1 Pl while also honing their own skills. ENFOR were tasked with defending the FIBUA house from recce patrols, and successfully disrupted one such patrol, as well as locating and harassing 1 PL’s hide which, much to the dismay of 1 PL members, was done repeatedly with speed and efficiency for over four hours.
ENFOR was also used during 1 Pl’s section attacks and platoon attacks. Overall, the GPE 1 experience of ENFOR was an excellent opportunity for members to refresh their recce, section attack, and patrolling skills all the while providing invaluable training experience for their 1 Pl counterparts.