Photo By Staff Sgt. Grady Jones | Soldiers from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry...... read more read more
Subscribe
FORT CARSON, Colo. – Teamwork is an integral part of the soldier's abilities to accomplish a mission and, much like the soldier's individual skills, teamwork must be trained, practiced, and improved upon to ensure success.
Teams of 5-7 soldiers from 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, had to complete a three-mile obstacle course July 11, centered on the soldiers' abilities to work as team to accomplish each task.
Twelve tasks broken down into five stations, spread out over the Fort Carson garrison area, ranged from weapons assembly, a sandbag carry and wall climb, a team run relay with pushups, administering first aid, and a general knowledge quiz.
There are tasks in the army that require more than an individual effort, said 1st Lt. Gregory Rich, platoon leader, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment
“The driving purpose was to show the soldiers that, as a team, there’s nothing they cannot accomplish,” said Rich.
The teams began at the company headquarters and were given a box containing various parts of weapon systems to reassemble and perform a successful functions check on each weapon.
Cadet William Hess, a student at West Point temporarily assigned to 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry as part of an intern program said there were weapons that he had never trained on.
“I’ve dealt with the M4 carbine and M240 B, but I didn’t know anything about the Beretta M9 pistol or M2 50-caliber machine gun,” said Hess. “Reassembly of the weapons was a team effort.”
After weapons were assembled, teams ran to the track located near McKibben Fitness Center to complete a 2,000-meter relay and 500 pushups.
“The relay was difficult for me because I hadn’t run in a long time,” said Spc. Irving Franco, cavalry scout, Headquarter and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment. “There were guys who stepped up and ran two laps for their teams.”
After completing the relay and pushups, teams moved to Training Area Bravo to conduct first aid, request a nine-line medical evacuation, and perform casualty evacuation procedures.
After completing the first four stations, each team returned to the battalion area and completed a general knowledge quiz in categories such as U.S. government and pop culture.
“There were trick questions like ‘How many senators are there in the House of Representatives?’” said Hess.
Pfc. Thomas Barrios, cavalry scout, Headquarters and Headquarters Company 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment said the training event bolstered the esprit de corps in the unit.
“It helped to build our team cohesion, camaraderie and commitment to the warrior ethos,” said Barrios.
The unit plans to hold more team-building events in the future.
| Date Taken: | 07.11.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 09.11.2013 13:46 |
| Story ID: | 113447 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, CO, US |
| Web Views: | 46 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 'Fighting Eagles' focus on team building, by SSG Grady Jones, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT