NG and AF service members train to save lives

Courtesy Photo | Sgt. 1st Class Natasha Bailey, left, a medical instructor with 3rd Battalion, 360th Combat Support/Combat Service Support, Task Force Rough Rider, 5th Armored Brigade, evaluates Staff Sgt. Joseph Weidman, Airman with Class 00020, as he tends to Senior Airman Kyle P. Lewis, Airman with Class 00020, 4th Detachment, 602nd Training Group, simulated wounds during a Combat Live Saving Course at McGregor Range, N.M., Jan. 12. (Photo by Maj. Amabilia Payen, 5th Armored Brigade, Division West Public Affairs)  

MCGREGOR RANGE, NM, UNITED STATES

02.18.2014

Courtesy Story

Division West PAO

By Maj. Amabilia Payen
5th Armored Brigade, Division West Public Affairs

MCGREGOR RANGE, N.M. – Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 360th Combat Support/Combat Service Support Regiment, Task Force Rough Rider, 5th Armored Brigade and the Logistics Company trained soldiers from the 269th Military Police Company.

Tennessee’s Army National Guardsmen and airmen from Class 00020, 4th Detachment, 602nd Training Group, U.S. Air Force train together on combat life saving skills during a four-day course here, Jan. 10-13.

“Everybody that goes overseas gets this training because it is essential,” said Senior Medical Instructor Javier Resendez with The Logistics Company. “They will receive class instruction first and then they get hands on experience. On day four, they go out on the field and we make it more realistic for them. It’s very strenuous on the field.”

In the 269th MP Company, skilled and seasoned veterans are amongst the ranks with multiple deployment experience. This includes Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, the first female recipient of the Silver Star since World War II.

“It’s my birthday today,” said Hester during the dry-run portion of the combat lanes on Day Three of the CLS course.

She humbly smiled and fell back into her ranks to train with her peers.
U.S. Air Force class 00020 will deploy at the same time with the 269th MP Company. However, their mission is to join an expeditionary force in Afghanistan, primarily consisting of U.S. Air Force Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force, which is a rapidly deployable, specialized civil engineer unit.

“This training makes me excited and a lot more confident. In the event that we would have to use it, I feel well prepared,” said Senior Airmen Spencer Hicks, a Montello, Wis. native.

When the training is completed, all participants receive an official Combat Lifesaver Course Certification card that they will carry with them at all times. The card gives them full authority to perform combat lifesaving techniques in a deployed environment.

“We have a meeting in which we constantly coordinate any changes to our training, in order to provide the most up-to-date training,” said Resendez. “We have personnel out there who see the most medical injuries that happen, so they bring that back here so that we can train everybody that comes through here on what those constant injuries are.”

The 269th MP Company and Class 00020 will deploy within a matter of weeks after they complete more training. The CLS course is an integral part of the training that the 5th Armored Brigade provides for all service members on their way to a combat zone.

• Date Taken: 02.18.2014
• Date Posted: 02.18.2014 17:45
• Story ID: 120782
• Location: MCGREGOR RANGE, NM, US
• Hometown: MONTELLO, WI, US