In aftermath of floods, Soldiers work on water rescue skills

Photo By Tarah Jackson | Sgt. Mark Tonini with Battery E 139th Field Artillery, Indiana National Guard, practices tossing a throwable personal flotation device, which are often hard to aim in rough water.  

CAMP ATTERBURY, IN, UNITED STATES

07.29.2008

Story by Tarah Jackson 

Camp Atterbury Indiana

By T.D. Jackson
Camp Atterbury Public Affairs

CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind. – As other Soldiers at Camp Atterbury are familiarizing themselves with new training aids, Indiana National Guard Soldiers from Battery E 139th Field Artillery are at the swimming pool.

In their defense they weren't playing Marco Polo. The Soldiers were learning to better equip themselves and others in the event of another swift-water rescue mission, similar to what some Soldiers participated in last month.

In June, when levees in southern Indiana threatened to overflow during the storms and floods, the Indiana National Guard deployed about 1300 Soldiers to support the local communities. Soldiers from the 139th were tasked to help citizens get to dry areas and also to help fill sandbags and use them to reinforce the embankment.

This was risky business, according to Brian Knoy, one of the three instructors teaching the water rescue class to the 139th. Knoy, a conservation officer for the state of Indiana, said since the Soldiers had not participated in that kind of operation before, it was somewhat unsafe.

Knoy said if the Soldiers taking the class learn nothing else, he hopes they understand the necessity of personal flotation devices.

"If they are around swift water, they need to have on a life jacket," he said.

In light of last month's flash flooding, Knoy said the Soldiers' leadership thought it best to properly prepare the troops on the off chance they should be needed in such a role again.

During the personal flotation device instruction, Soldiers learned about five different PFDs, or life preservers, and were educated on how each worked and why they were different from each other.

For example, a "Type I" PFD, is typically jacket-shaped and the design enables it to roll an unconscious person face-up, with his head out of the water. The "Type V" PFDs vary in ability to roll unconscious wearers, and they come in a variety of styles, from full-body suits to work vests.

Soldiers also learned how to toss throwable PFDs, which often are hard to aim in rough water.

Spc. Ben Johnson, a radar operator with the 139th, said he thought the PFD lesson was pretty interesting.

"I didn't know there were different types of life jackets," Johnson said. I didn't know they even had float jackets," he said, referring to a PFD jacket worn in particularly cold conditions.

"This may not help us in Iraq, but if we're needed for water rescue in our state, then this is valuable training," he said.

The 139th Soldiers are scheduled to undergo more intensive swift-water rescue training early next year.

• Date Taken: 07.29.2008
• Date Posted: 07.29.2008 15:10
• Story ID: 21964
• Location: CAMP ATTERBURY, IN, US