49th Public Affairs Detachment (Airborne)

Story by Spc. Gregory Argentieri

Story and photos by Spc. Gregory Argentieri
49th Public Affairs Detachment (Airborne)

The 1st Squadron, 38th Cavalry Regiment, 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade finished a two-month intensive training cycle with platoon-level situational training exercises, which ran Nov. 9 – 13, at Fort Bragg's Freedom City training range.

The squadron is preparing to deploy to its massive readiness exercise at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., in January, and subsequently will deploy to Afghanistan this summer in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

"One purpose of this exercise is to get our troops used to being able to train and incorporate foreign security forces into their missions," said Maj. Jeff P. Mersiowsky, 36, operations officer with 1-38 Cav.

To begin, 1-38 Cav. platoons linked up with foreign security forces, role players acting as the Afghanistan national army. Then, they proceeded to the Ali Market, a nearby mock village, to conduct a key leader engagement with the local tribal leader, who was dressed in Afghan garb.

During this mission, he added, "we also have a long range surveillance unit out here conducting surveillance on the Town of Dahaneh watching a local national who is a high-value target."

At the key leader engagement, the platoon leader talked with the tribal leader, while the platoons maintained cordon security. Simultaneously, and with permission from the tribal leader, the other troops searched the surrounding structures looking for weapons, munitions, explosives, and drugs.

"The key for this training is getting the junior Soldiers to keep their eyes open and their minds open as well," said Staff Sgt. Timothy M. Greval, senior scout, 1st Platoon, A Troop, 1-38 Cav.

As the platoon moved in a mounted patrol from one objective to another, the troops were on constant alert for enemy fighters and improvised explosive devices.

"We've got to constantly relay to them that everything we do here is about what the next step is, and for us now, the next step is NTC," Greval said. "After that is the show," referring to their upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.

"It's a big responsibility, it really is," said Spc. William F. MacMillan, 23, a M2 .50 caliber machine gun gunner with 1st Plt., A Trp., 1-38 Cav. "I've been a gunner since I've been in the Army, but it's my first time being on the lead vehicle."

The lead gunner has the same responsibilities as other gunners because all are looking for the same things — improvised explosive devices, choke points, anything of that nature, explained MacMillan. The difference is the lead gunner is usually the first person to come in contact with the enemy.

"This is what I joined the Army for," explained MacMillan, a native of Everett, Mass.

From the beginning, the Soldiers appeared very motivated and some even left a lasting impression on their leadership.

"Spc. Alex Segee, one of my medics, built up a lot of confidence with his troops out there," said Sgt. Bryan A. Richie, a combat medic and non-commissioned officer-in-charge of the forward aid station.

Segee had eight minutes and a patient suffering from a femoral leg bleed and two bilateral leg fractures. All he had was his aid bag with the patient laid across him in the back of a moving high mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicle.

"In eight minutes Segee put a tourniquet on a femoral leg bleed and put these super good splints on this Soldier's legs," said Richie, with Headquarters and Headquarters Troop. "Doing it for practice is one thing, doing it in a training environment is another thing, but doing it in the back of a HMMWV when you've got two inches of room to move around, I mean it's awesome."

The training emphasizes numerous scenarios that could be encountered in Afghanistan or Iraq.

"The training overall was real world," said 1st Lt. Thomas M. Flood, 37, from Jacksonville, Ark., a platoon leader, with A Trp., 1st Plt. "I am kind of new coming to the platoon, but the NCOs knew exactly what they were doing and that's really what made the mission a success."

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