Photo By Sgt. 1st Class David Edge | Sgt. Jeffrey Laursen, an air assault instructor with the Air Assault School at Fort...... read more read more
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FORT POLK, La. - Instructors from the Air Assault School in Fort Drum, N.Y. are at Fort Polk, La., teaching an air assault course to more than 200 soldiers.
It takes a special type of soldier to accomplish the air assault mission, and the soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team are stepping to the plate.
“The soldiers at Fort Polk were sent to this course for a reason. The leaders know how important these air assault slots are, so they are going to send their most motivated, ready to train and eager soldiers to learn air assault operations,” said Staff Sgt. Brandon Woodson, Phase-Two Chief of the Air Assault School at Fort Drum, N.Y.
The course is open to most soldiers, but air assault is not for everyone. It takes a special type of soldier to be awarded the Air Assault Badge.
“The days were very long and you don’t get a lot of rest at night. You are on your feet a lot and with the two ruck marches, there’s not a lot of recovery time,” said Spc. Jeremiah Derosier, an air assault candidate. “Physically, you have to be fit, and you have to be mentally prepared as well.”
Soldiers from the Patriot Brigade that graduate from the air assault course will be better trained to carry out their day to day missions, add to operational readiness, and will have proven that they are ready for increased responsibility and leadership positions.
“I enjoy doing this job. This is what NCOs [noncommissioned officers] are supposed to do right. [We] train soldiers and give them the best chance to succeed by giving the soldiers the skills that we [NCOs] have,” said Woodson.
From day one of the grueling course, the candidates have to prove that they have what it takes to earn the Air Assault Badge.
“This is a ten-day course. On day one, after we in process candidates, we give them a physical fitness test to decide who is physically fit enough to be in the course. Then, we show the candidates power point slides on aircraft orientation and all the safety regulations. There is a test given at the end that all candidates must pass. This is all on day one,” said Staff Sgt Joshua Dozanti, an instructor at the Fort Drum, N.Y., Air Assault School. “The course doesn’t get easier.”
The air assault mission is critical to Army operations, large numbers of soldiers and equipment can be quickly transported to the battlefield adding to the Patriot Brigade’s operational capabilities.
“Aircraft can’t carry everything inside the cargo holds, so most aircraft have external hooks underneath them, we can hook sling loads to the hooks. This allows the aircrafts to carry more weight, allowing the Army to spread out more equipment and supplies to the soldiers in the battlefield,” said Woodson. “The third part of Air assault is repelling. Repelling provides the quickest and largest surprise to the enemy on the battlefield because we are able to rapidly deploy soldiers using air assault [insertion techniques].”
Patriot Brigade soldiers that were given the opportunity to earn their Air Assault Badges did not take this chance for granted.
“There were very few people from across Fort Polk that were given this chance, I was very excited and honored to be selected by my team leader,” said Derosier. “The group of soldiers that I was able to work with over the last couple of weeks, instructors and class leaders alike, are good soldiers and I am glad that I got the opportunity to train with them and learn as much as I did from them.”
The first class started with 94 candidates and graduated with 56 candidates, Feb. 20, 2013. The high attrition rate attests that air assault is not for the weak.
| Date Taken: | 03.01.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 03.05.2013 11:48 |
| Story ID: | 102930 |
| Location: | FORT POLK, FORT DRUM, LA, US |
| Web Views: | 484 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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