3rd CAB leaders learn from the past at Fort Pulaski

Photo By Sgt. William Begley | The command team of Company D, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, Capt. David L. Gerdes and 1st Sgt. Tommy Durrer, give a class in front of the artillery damaged walls of Fort Pulaski National Monument, a leader professional development event for the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade Aug. 28. (Photo by Sgt. William Begley, 3rd CAB Public Affairs)  

COCKSPUR ISLAND, GA, UNITED STATES

09.01.2014

Story by Sgt. William Begley 

3rd Combat Aviation Brigade

COCKSPUR ISLAND, Ga. – Officers and senior noncommissioned officers of the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade attended a historic leader professional development event at Fort Pulaski National Monument Aug. 28.

The officer in charge of the LPD was Capt. Paul Caston, Company D, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment. Caston outlined the training and why the event is deemed "historic."

“We are doing an all-encompassing tour of Fort Pulaski National Monument, and we discussed military tactics during the 1860s,” said Caston. “It’s historic because this is the last masonry fort the United States decided to use in coastal defense. It was the end of an era and it changed the way we fought.”

Caston said our military is going through changes right now, and it’s good to reflect back on periods of change and how we can grow from it.

Located on Cockspur Island between Savannah and Tybee Island, the construction of Fort Pulaski was completed in 1847. At that time, it was the leading edge of fortress construction, and considered to be impenetrable. The 11 foot thick walls, and the fact the surrounding marshes made moving artillery into the area almost impossible, gave the commander of the fort, Col. Charles H. Olmstead, a false sense of security, Caston said.

However, the invention of the rifled cannon made Fort Pulaski obsolete after just 15 years. The fort simply could not withstand the bombardment from the James rifled cannon and the Parrott rifles possessed by the Union troops during the Civil War, Caston continued.

The officers and senior enlisted leaders used the history and layout of Fort Pulaski to conduct briefings on how such an attack would occur today.

One of the instructors, Capt. Jason Traylor, commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, gave a class on fort construction during the 1860s and commented on how awesome it is to have this Civil War fortress so close by, and to be able to use it as a learning tool.

“Fort Pulaski was the pinnacle of forts designed to defend against siege warfare in the late 18th century,” said Traylor. “We are so lucky to have it here in the local Savannah area.”

Maj. Jason Jones, commander, Company C, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, said it was a unique experience following in the footsteps of such a historical figure such as Robert E. Lee.

A young 2nd Lt. Robert E. Lee, fresh from graduating from West Point, had has first assignment with the engineer corps working on construction of the fort. Wooden pilings were sunk up to 70 feet into the mud to support an estimated 25 million bricks. Fort Pulaski was finally completed in 1847 following 18 years of construction and nearly $1 million in construction costs. Lee remarked that "one might as well bombard the Rocky Mountains as Fort Pulaski."

“It really relates home to us now that what we do will have lasting effects on our country,” Jones said. “You never know, that lieutenant standing next to you might someday be leading the entire nation.”

• Date Taken: 09.01.2014
• Date Posted: 09.03.2014 15:17
• Story ID: 141053
• Location: COCKSPUR ISLAND, GA, US