After action; a review of life, death situations

Photo By Spc. Elayseah Woodard-Hinton | Cpl. Daniel A. Woolwine of Toledo, Ohio, with C Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment at Fort Wainwright, provides security in a doorway during a Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain training simulation held on March 26. (U.S. Army photo/Spc. Elayseah Woodard-Hinton)  

FORT WAINWRIGHT, UNITED STATES

03.26.2008

Story by Spc. Elayseah Woodard-Hinton 

20th Public Affairs Detachment

By Spc. Elayseah Woodard-Hinton
20th Public Affairs Detachment

FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska -- Soldiers from C Company, 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, at Fort Wainwright concluded Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain training exercise at the Combined Arms Collective Training Facility, March 26.

Soldiers with C Company frequently train to prepare for situations they may encounter during deployment. MOUT training allows the Soldiers to practice in a lifelike environment. The site is set up like a Middle-Eastern village where Soldiers play the roles of citizens, vendors and insurgents.

"The purpose of this training is to (give) the company, as a whole, the most realistic training before future deployment to Iraq," said Staff Sgt. Steven M. Bise, a native of Wichita, Kan., who is with C/1-24th.

"We do training as much as we can," said Bise.

My platoon uses downtime to train. We use building 3419 to kick down doors and the CACTF to train when it's available.

The training at the CACTF included a mock raid in the morning and a cordon search in the afternoon. Both morning and afternoon trainings taught the Soldiers how to quickly and efficiently perform their mission in a hostile environment.

The raid was a good team and confidence building exercise for the squad, while the search allowed the squad to better understand how a cordon search should be executed, said Staff Sgt. Eric A. Hammer, a Malibu, Calif., native also with C/1-24th.

Bise was also satisfied with the way his platoon conducted and completed the morning training within 40 minutes.

Once the day's training was complete, Soldiers in C Company conducted an after action review. The active array radar recaps things the unit has done well and the things they need to improve on; an important part of the training because Soldiers are dealing with life and death situations involving themselves and others.

"We do an AAR constantly to work on (improvements) and redefine," said Bise. "This is their life, they live and die by it."

• Date Taken: 03.26.2008
• Date Posted: 05.15.2008 17:31
• Story ID: 19454
• Location: FORT WAINWRIGHT, US