Where the dirt road narrowed is where the gunfire on the left began.

Quickly recovering from the surprise attack on their three-vehicle convoy, soldiers spilled out of the trucks and returned fire.

The woods echoed with the sounds of M4s and an M240B.

As the firefight escalated, two soldiers sustained wounds. While one soldier began to apply first aid, the convoy commander - with a telephone in one ear and a radio in the other - coordinated his soldiers while calling for a quick reaction force for aid.

Within seconds the attack ended.

The woods were silent.

A moment later, Sgt. 1st Class Fernando Perez called together the soldiers assigned to the Distribution Platoon, Forward Support Company, 14th Engineer Battalion for an immediate assessment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord yesterday.

He reminded the dozen soldiers in front of him to remember to use the Field Standard Operating Procedures they had learned.

>>> Sgt. Ricky Schneider, Distribution Platoon, Forward Support Company, 14th Engineers, takes cover during an ambush while calling for support. Photo credit: J.M. Simspon

"Your convoy commander gave a very good brief," Perez said. "What made it particularly good was the fact that he made you guys repeat it back to him."

After touching on a few minor discrepancies, Perez told his soldiers to mount up and head for the next objective.

"You're doing good; keep it up," he said.

As the Army downsizes its force and trains to fight in a more conventional manner, its training has to keep pace while remaining combat ready.

A forward support company is a mobile and multi-functional unit that includes a field feeding section, distribution platoon and a maintenance platoon organized to provide support to a combat or combat support battalion.

"We have to be able to get up and move, sometimes without the use of convoy escorts during day and night movements," Perez explained.

"This training sharpens that ability."

>>> Soldiers assigned to the 14th Engineer's Distribution Platoon run for cover during an ambush on their convoy. Photo credit: J.M. Simpson

The 14th Engineer Battalion will travel to the National Training Center later this year in order to sharpen its convoy skills.

"We may not always have the electronic warfare capability; we are relying on our eyes and ears as we shift back to a more conventional way of fighting," Perez said.

"We have to be able to deal with ambushes, IED attacks and indirect fire, and this is valuable training for us to get."