Text: Jan Helebrant
Pics: Sara Karbanova, Michal Cepelak, Karel Cizek and Marek Flachs
KVH Bw-371 Prague
The 3./Jägerbataillon 371 military airsoft unit was founded in 2002 and is located in the Central Bohemia Region in the Czech Republic. The unit focuses on reenacting of a modern German infantry and holds its former name, the 3./Jägerbataillon 371. As a side note, nowadays, the official name of the real battalion is the “Panzergrenadierbataillon 371“ and this military division is under the command of the 10th Panzerdivision. The 3./Jägerbataillon 371 formerly consisted of four members. During the time, there were quite a lot of newcomers and also the renegades. Up to this day, the unit has 15 members: 7 people in active service, 4 recruits and 4 reservists. The team is divided into three fire teams, i.e. B1, B2 and B3 squads. The B1 squad is the biggest one and its members are the commander of the unit, RTO specialist, two grenadiers, three riflemen and three recruits. The B2 squad is the second fire team and it is the smallest one; its members are the assault specialists: FTL , SAW gunner, a sharpshooter, one reservist and one recruit. Last but not least, the B3 squad is with its four members the support fire team of the B1 and B2 squads.
Why the German army?
At the very beginning, it was a decision made upon the cost of gear and guns, since the German uniforms were very cheap. As time passed, the members of the team searched for more information about the original Bundeswehr gear and the squads expenses started to rise.
Originally, the unit had basic common Bundeswehr issued uniforms, flak vests, Schubert 826 helmets and the basic webbing. Throughout the time, they used Bristol body armour vests and then proceeded to the IDZ programme. The 3./Jägerbataillon 371 members are proud to say that their unit was the first one in the airsoft community to implement the IDZ gear; they have 8 IDZ body armours and 5 IDZ webbing vest. As for guns, they use the AEG replicas of the G36A1, G36A2, G3A3, MP7A1, P8 secondary handguns and for the “bad guys acting” some AKs. From scratch, they have been trying to own the actual gear & airsoft guns. Right now, the unit mainly focuses on the new IDZ ES programme which is slowly being implemented into the active service in Bundeswehr. With the beginning of the ES project, they started to use G28, G27 rifles and the G36 IDZ ES long versions and carbine versions. Almost all of their equipment from the IDZ ES project are custom made replicas, namely armour vests, helmet covers and airsoft gun accessories such as a LLM.
Part of the combat group and operations
Until 2011, in the Czech Republic there were lots of units reenacting the German army. Those military groups tried to unite into bigger groups, but they failed to do so. The turn has come in 2011, when five different units founded a combat group called Division Spezielle Operationen . This airsoft alliance is now celebrating its eight years of existence, and currently joins together seven units, i.e. 373. FJR (EGB) reenactment unit, KSK reenactment unit and Kampfschwimmer reenactment unit, and others. The DSO is the main co-organizer of the major airsoft events in the Czech Republic, e.g. op. Protector, Op. Lizzard, op. Bloody Sunrise and op. Kandahar series by AIRSOFTWARS group. Not only does the 3./Jägerbataillon 371 take part in these operations, but also in others, more challenging actions and operations against other airsoft alliances, such as US SOCOM CZ alliance, DPM alliance, 173rd Prague and BU-ACR alliance.
Our training activities
In the squad, the 3./Jägerbataillon 371 has a two-level training. The first one is the basic training which every new recruit has to go through to become a regular member. The basic training consists of sapper course, shooting range training, movement in formations course, basic medical course, radio course, topography course and hand-signals course. The second level is of a higher rank and it is an advanced combat training which consists of for example CQB & MOUT course, vehicle course, RECCE training, TCCC course, and others.
Esprit de corps
The most important thing to mention is that the 3./Jägerbataillon 371 members are not soldiers, they are military fans who do not want to take a part in a real war. According to their words, they remind it to themselves when they are in an airsoft firefight and see their teammates get hit. “To form a stable unit, it is vital to meet not merely at trainings or in operations, and therefore we also see each other nearly on an everyday bases to maintain the social cohesion in our team,” they conclude.
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BW371/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/371jgbkvh
