Four infantrymen approach a doorway as the lead soldier edges around the threshold, rifle pointed towards the opening, his mate covering long.
Deep in the room beyond, he sees a target.
A flurry of gunfire ensues.
"With me," he says to the soldier to his left.
"With you," comes the reply.
Both soldiers enter the room and two more targets fall following a burst of shots. The room falls silent with all threats neutralised.
"Clear, no more options," the point man confirms. The two soldiers join their teammates back in the corridor to continue the fight.
The 8/9th Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment (8/9RAR), soldiers were put through their paces on the urban operations user course, run by the Urban Operations Training Team in Brisbane.
The four-week course aims to prepare dismounted troops to fight, survive and win in urban environments.
It covers individual skills such as shooting, breaching and Army combative training, then crescendos to a two-week block of close quarters battle.
They start at four-man teams and work up to section level using dry training, opposed and non-opposed scenarios with non-lethal training ammunition.
The close quarters training block ended with live-fire scenarios at the deployable austere shoot house in Greenbank Training Area.
In the final week of the course, trainees conducted platoon-level offensive and defensive actions at Shoalwater Bay's urban operations training facility.
'Over the course we see an increase in their weapon handling, situational awareness and their ability to problem solve. The great thing is these skills can be applied to any environment.'
Senior instructor Warrant Officer Class Two Phillip Brown said the course was not about combined arms, but simulating a dismounted infantry platoon to prepare for combined arms integration.
"At first, trainees don't realise how physically and cognitively challenging urban operations are, especially the movement, the weight of extra equipment required, like breaching tools, and charges and extra ammunition," he said.
"Over the course we see an increase in their weapon handling, situational awareness and their ability to problem solve. The great thing is these skills can be applied to any environment."
Bravo Coy section commander Corporal Daniel Jordon said despite the long days, he learned a lot.
"Throughout my time in Army I've done urban training, but nothing like this," he said.
"Learning how to command in urban as well as the individual skills for this amount of time leading up to live fire has been really good."
The urban operations user course was developed during a review of urban warfare doctrine.
This is the sixth iteration of the course the team has run for 8/9 and 6RAR.
Corporal Jordon said the training was relevant beyond urban environments.
"My shooting has improved, my kit setup has improved, my ability to command in an urban environment has improved, which I can take into any setting," he said.
"The fundamentals of urban can be taken into any situation, whether it's in the green, or trenches, you can take them into any environment and succeed."
