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CAMP ROBERTS, Calif. -- To say it’s been an intense annual training for Soldiers of the 1-184th Infantry would be something of an understatement. Starting with a full-scale, break-of-dawn assault, their training came to a thrilling conclusion June 16 at the recently completed combined arms collective training facility (CACTF).
“In the 14 years I’ve been in the National Guard, I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Company B commander, Capt. Colin Stark, of the $11 million CACTF. “This facility does a really good job of recreating the different complexities we might face in a real-world environment.”
In taking the twon, Soldiers of the 1-184th teamed up with aviation assets from the 40th Combat Aviation Brigade as well as engineers from the 578th Engineer Battalion.
“Working with the engineers to breach the wire obstacles was probably the most challenging task we faced on this mission,” the San Jose, California, resident explained. “It’s just not something we typically train for and coordinating our efforts with the engineers was a real learning experience.”
Once the town was secured, training moved to squad-level tactics where squad leaders like Staff Sgt. Michael Kuhn of Sacramento, California, put his Joes through the paces: stacking a wall, breeching doors, clearing buildings.
“This whole annual training has been very enlightening for our junior troops,” Kuhn said.
Kuhn explained that while spending time out in the field, inexperienced Soldiers got to see firsthand all the phases of an operation, from the issuing of operations orders to rock drills, and, finally, execution.
“These guys are really loving it,” Kuhn said. “They've been motivated throughout this entire annual training.”
Spc. Kingly Kong, of San Jose, deployed to Afghanistan in 2010. A combat-tested veteran, he proudly wears the patch of the Army’s 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment on his right shoulder. He’s the type of Soldier on which squad leaders rely to train the younger troops, to show them the details and nuances so critical to staying alive and winning wars.
“This training has been on point,” Kong said.
With so many new troops, Kong said the biggest benefit was the unit cohesion developed as troops honed their field-craft shoulder to shoulder, sleeping under the stars, sweating it out and getting their hands dirty.
“All of this is just getting us ready for whatever the next deployment will be,” said Kong. “Everybody is adapting pretty well, but practice makes perfect.”
| Date Taken: | 06.16.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 06.23.2014 11:11 |
| Story ID: | 134031 |
| Location: | PASO ROBLES, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 408 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Camp Roberts CACTF adds dose of realism to annual training, by SFC Benjamin Cossel, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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