Photo By Staff Sgt. Chad Nelson | Soldiers from three different Iowa National Guard companies, the 2168th Transportation...... read more read more
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JOHNSTON, Iowa - Rappelling and tackling an intensive, Confidence Course are all in a day's work for these Iowa National Guard Soldiers conducting annual training at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin.
“Rappel on one!” an Iowa Army National Guard Soldier yells from atop a 55-foot wall. He has nothing to rely on, other than a thick rope and his battle buddy below, to make it to the ground safely.
“Belay on one!” his battle buddy responds, letting him know someone's there to pull the rope tight in case he begins to fall.
With that, Soldiers from the Iowa Army National Guard’s 2168th Transportation Company, part of the 185th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion (CSSB), based at Camp Dodge in Johnston, Iowa, and the 209th Medical Company, part of the 67th Troop Command, from Iowa City, Iowa, were only seconds away from a controlled fall, completing their first challenge of the morning.
Once these Soldiers rappelled down the Air Assault tower, they then tackled the intensive, Confidence Course – a series of more than 30 obstacles meant to be maneuvered by teams of four to six Soldiers.
This was all just part of a day’s work during their 15-day annual training at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin.
“The intent for this is to build the Soldiers' confidence and trust in the equipment we're issued, but most importantly, trusting the Soldiers you're going to possibly be deployed with someday,” said 1st Lt. Brett Blazicek, of Des Moines, Iowa, a platoon leader with the 2168th and officer-in-charge of the rappel tower.
Soldiers praised the training as a fun and effective way to build camaraderie.
“Our company works great together, we're like a big family. I think, just going through it keeps getting more fun as the day goes on,” commented Sgt. Krista Graham, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, a team leader with the 209th Med.
In addition to the transportation and medical units present for training, the 186th Military Police Company provided four Air Assault Soldiers to assist with operation of the team-building course. The 186th Soldiers are also members of the 185th CSSB.
“I think the biggest thing I've seen is the cooperation between multiple units,” Blazicek said, “We're all Soldiers. Regardless of our unit, we've got to take care of each other.”
| Date Taken: | 07.21.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 07.25.2014 14:53 |
| Story ID: | 137326 |
| Location: | JOHNSTON, IA, US |
| Hometown: | CAMP DODGE, IA, US |
| Hometown: | CEDAR FALLS, IA, US |
| Hometown: | DES MOINES, IA, US |
| Hometown: | IOWA CITY, IA, US |
| Hometown: | JOHNSTON, IA, US |
| Web Views: | 296 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Iowa National Guard Soldiers taking care of Soldiers, by SFC Christie Smith, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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