Tuesday, December 07, 2010

TBS War Gaming... MOUT City

I was tasked with covering the M.O.U.T. (Military Operation in Urban Terrain) training of Marine 2nd Lieutenants on the TBS side of Quantico a few weeks back.
Out of this experience has come several sketches and an oil painting so far, each featuring the new officers getting their first practice taste of urban warfare...
One image that really struck me was of a Lieutenant who'd been "killed" in the training, and was lying there, as many others were also doing, probably contemplating the brevity of life, his own mortality, and the would-be permanent consequences of quickly-made temporary decisions...!
("I can't believe I died so quickly! Man, life is short ... I wonder what's for lunch?")

3 comments:

christian soldier said...

I linked your site to my roll some time ago-so sorry I 'lost' your site--
scanned several months of your posts-excellent-
do you work 1/2 - 1/8 life size as a general rule ?-
As a sculptor-illustrator-painter myself- I appreciate classical form...
Carol-CS

Eddie Richmond said...

Sgt. Battles, Kristopher

Iam a Marine, no longer in the Corps, attending college for my BFA and I have been interested in the Marine Combat Artist Program for sometime now. I have been doing research and have asked the Marine Corps Recruiter in my area on how to re-enlist to become a Marine Corps Combat Artist, so far no luck. If you could please provide me with any information on how to accomplish this goal I would greatly appreciate it.

Sgt. Richmond, Eddie
Ed-rich@hotmail.com

Kristopher Battles said...

Christian Soldier--

I just began sculpting for bronze casting last year, after being shown the way by my mentor in combat art, Mike Fay (See www.mdfay1.blogspot.com).

I have just begun work on a bas relief for K-9 Soldiers, featuring a Military Working Dog and Handler. Eventually I will do the bas relief in the round-- one a table-top size, and then for a life-size monument.

I'm excited about it, needless to say!