Inside a 200-square-meter compound
built to resemble a European village,
future Army infantry soldiers spend up to 60 hours
in training known as MOUT.
Recruit: To the left, to the left, to the left!
Narrator: Or military operations in urban terrain.
Dewayne Waugh: Infantrymen are expected to fight
in different types of terrain and survive
and win the fight,
and right now they are getting their first taste
of what that's like in an urban environment.
Narrator: These environments have added complications,
like multiple floors and sharp turns.
Drill sergeant: You can't just say, "Hey, move."
'Cause you're telling him to move.
You gotta tell the whole team to move.
Narrator: And one of the key components of MOUT
is learning a mobile combat formation
known as the "rolling T."
Waugh: The purpose of a rolling T is to
secure a hallway so that the fire team and the squad
can maneuver from room to room inside of a building.
Recruit: Rolling T. Get back.
Keep them low.
Narrator: Soldiers use the rolling T formation
when there's a possibility of a hostile threat
that could come from multiple directions,
keeping the squad safe when navigating
narrow hallways and around corners.
Waugh: It allows them to have 360-degree security
so that they can deal with any threats
inside of that building.
Drill sergeant: Better.
Narrator: The formation requires a four-person team
working as a unit to safely navigate
through narrow corridors and around turns.
Drill sergeant: And you keep rolling down the hallway.
Narrator: The T shape is clearly visible
in this overhead illustration,
and each solider plays a specific role.
Waugh: The No. 1 man is a rifleman.
The No. 2 man, team leader.
The No. 3 man would be the grenadier.
And the No. 4 man is the SAW gunner.
Narrator: SAW stands for squad automatic weapon.
Drill sergeant: This step here is a big one.
Narrator: Here's how the rolling T breaks down
when navigating around a corner.
First, two soldiers designated as the high man
and the low man swing around the corner
to assess the presence of a possible threat
on the other side.
Waugh: The purpose for having a high man and low man
when we maneuver around a corner
is so that we have maximum firepower
to secure the unknown threat on that side.
And they coordinate so that they both
simultaneously appear from that corner
so that they can secure the threat
as quickly as possible.
Narrator: Once the team leader deems
that the hallway is secure,
another solider swings out
to the far-left position,
and the rolling T begins to take shape.
The low man moves forward along the right wall,
and the high man moves forward
in the center of the three-person line.
Finally, the SAW gunner walks backward,
keeping his head on a swivel
in order to provide rear security.
The solider providing rear security for the squad
ensures there are no blind spots
for the forward-facing soldiers.
Drill sergeant: Be looking over your shoulder, all right?
You're checking your shoulder.
You're not walking backwards.
You're gonna be walking this way, just checking.
Make sure you're still with the guys, check.
All right?
Do it again.
Narrator: Along with navigating L-shaped corners,
the rolling T formation can adapt to clear other spaces,
such as a T-shaped intersection
and a four-way intersection
where two soldiers adjust their positions
to cover the hallways to the left and right of the squad.
When the rolling T approaches a new corner
to navigate around,
the squad forms what's known as a "stack"
against the wall ahead of the corner,
and the team leader assesses the next move.
Waugh: In operations across Afghanistan, Iraq,
we are conducting clearance operations,
and it's applicable wherever we go.
Narrator: As seen in this footage of US Army soldiers
during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan,
troops are often tasked with searching
and securing villages,
but the rolling T is only used
in situations when there is a possibility
of a hostile threat.
For safety, the soldiers' rifles
are plugged during training.
Drill sergeant: Cover them as they get up on there.
You don't want some guy to just
dip around the corner with a knife.
That'd be bad.
All right, now back on you, team leader.
Narrator: The soldiers practice the formation
over and over again.
Drill sergeant: No, no.
Wait for him to say it. 3, 2, 1, go.
Ready, go. Wait for the squeeze.
Don't just go on your own.
Boom!
Narrator: After they perfect it,
role players pretending to be civilians
are used to ensure the mission objectives
are accomplished without harming bystanders.
According to one former Army soldier
who spoke to Business Insider,
avoiding civilian casualties is one of
the biggest takeaways during MOUT training.
Recording: This is a restricted area.
Stop the vehicle now!
Brian Long: It's not so much about killing the bad guys,
but it's more about protecting the civilian.
Narrator: This video provided by Fort Benning
shows a different exercise
where future soldiers train with less lethal weapons
in order to avoid civilian causalities,
so they're ready to protect their fellow soldiers
and innocent civilians they may encounter in combat.
Waugh: It's important for the future soldiers'
muscle memory, because they are working as a team.
A lot of times this is the first time
that they've been working in an urban environment as a team.
Drill sergeant: Check over your shoulder.
Give a nice long look,
quick look to make sure you're with your team.
Waugh: And they have to understand how that coordination
works together with minimal communication
using a concerted effort in order to
have that security to the front.