Robin Werling, right, helps Cody Shalagan aboard the troop bay of an M35 "Deuce" cargo truck. Instructors used the truck, along with two jeeps, to deploy staff and students across the forested area of operations, or AO.

Robin Werling walks away from an orange smoke grenade after being "killed" by enemy forces. One Shepherd uses a system of rifles firing blank rounds and lasers to track "kills" for training.

Breland Ridenhour listens as Robin Werling delivers a report after returning from a scouting mission. Ridenhour and his team dug fighting positions and stayed entrenched in them from over nine hours.

Wayne Kauffman cleans the flash hider on his partially disassembled AR-15 rifle. The men maintain their weapons twice a week, using brake cleaner and other tools to keep them in functioning condition.

One Shepherd members joke around during down time between missions. When not working in the field, the men live on a "FOB," or forward operating base, which is composed of around a dozen surplus military structures.

Instructor Jason Snyder taps ash off a cigarette as he operates an inter-squad radio system in the early hours of the morning. While students are in the field learning to fight, instructors facilitate operations using complex radio systems.

Paramilitary trainee Zac Stone gets his equipment primed by Joe Magoffin, left. 

Stephen Heins, center, and Mike Klein, right, prepare their beds before a night on the FOB. The men sleep in surplus waterproof sleeping bags and camouflage blankets they call "woobies."

Cole Sammons, left, and Nathan Lowrance, right, adjust Brendan "California" Baheshti's web gear. The gear Baheshti and others wear holds everything from ammunition to water and tools.

Instructor Nathan Lowrance, top left, reads off orders to his squad before deploying to the field for a mission. Teams inserted into the AO for smaller operations to practice up on the skills needed before spending three straight days in the forest at the end of the week.

Noah Howerton aims his rifle off the side of an M151 "Mutt" jeep as it speeds through the forest. Howerton and three other instructors rode through the woods at high speeds, firing their rifles at the students as they attempted to fight through the brush.

Exhausted, Robin Werling reloads his rifle after fighting off instructors attempting to debunk him from a fighting position he'd spend the previous hours digging. After successfully defending his position, he and his team held the line against instructors for another 13 hours.

One Shepherd members form a 360 security circle as they patrol the woods in full gear at 7:00 a.m. On the way back to the FOB, the teams stopped and built temporary shelters for use in later operations.