Photo By Spc. Sharla Lewis | Pfc. Erin Grady, a medic, grimaces as she lifts a casualty into an armored Hummer....... read more read more
Subscribe
By Pvt. Sharla Perrin
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division
FORT IRWIN, Ca. – A convoy of vehicles, easily identfied as military by armor and heavy weapons, slowly makes its way along a well traveled road that leads to a small town bustling with activity. A small marketplace showcases the area's finest goods on tables and in baskets, each shop loudly vocalizing their sales.
The convoy settled uneventfully on the street along the market. Each truck's gun is pointed in alternating directions, providing full spectrum security for the area.
Suddenly, an earsplitting boom reverberates through the village, sending large pieces of pavement hurdling in the air. An improvised explosive device sends a wave of terror through the townsfolk who scatter like calves away from the iron.
Almost instantaneously, coalition forces pour from the convoy, assuming roles according to command and acting as though by instinct. Casualties are hauled to protected areas for further evaluation and care, suspected individuals are detained or engaged according to hostility, and soldiers of the Iraqi army are trained by default in the art of their nation's security.
Each vehicle is loaded with the wounded and directed to a casualty collection point where two medical evacuation helicopters land and transport them to the nearest troop medical clinic.
After all is said and done, the exhausted convoy makes its way to the rear of the town where a small building boasts two large plasma TVs, tiered benches and sound proof wall fixtures.
The group of Soldiers from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, received an evaluation of their performance in this training scenario to be better prepared to face similar situations in real life. 3HBCT conducted a two week field exercise at Fort Hood this summer, but nothing prepares a Soldier for real life like NTC.
"The training was good, excellent in fact," said Pfc. Erin Grady, one of three medics in the platoon from Las Vegas, Nev. "It's the best training I've had thus far. The people in character had injuries that I'll see in combat, like amputations and severe bleeding. They weren't just given a card with an injury written on it."
"You can look at a card and think that you have it under control, but when you see the realism of it, you take a step back and think things through. It's that realism that's better preparing me," Grady said.
"The people in character with actual amputations kind of had me going. The blood that was used wasn't like the spray on stuff that we used for Greywolf Challenge," she said, "it was like actual blood. It gave me an adrenaline rush and motivated me to do what I had to do."
"The first thing that I think of is getting out of the vehicle and helping as many people as I could," Grady said. "I have to get the casualties to a place where they won't be out in the open, fix them and move out - even if it takes me risking my life to save them."
Staff Sgt. Matthew Sanders, a platoon sergeant from Copperas Cove, Texas has seen first hand the devastation IED's can do during his last deployment to Iraq. He knows the benefit of training for the unexpected.
"I've never run into a situation like the one today, where you roll into a town, and then get hit by an IED as soon as you get there," Sanders said. "But honestly, I think that's why the training was so good because it's a scenario that isn't supposed to happen, but could."
Sanders said that the easiest way to cope with the loss of a comrade is to keep your mind off of it.
"I lost my driver when we were there last, and the only way we got over it was to go out the next day. My gunner and I were begging our platoon sergeant to let us go," Sanders said. "It made it easier to get over the fact that [he] was gone, because you're not worrying about all of that stuff. "You're not worrying about home, you're not worrying about your bills, you're concentrated on the job at hand and the Soldiers around you," he said. "That's it; nothing else crosses your mind when you're out there."
Provided some of the most realistic training the Army has to offer, these Soldiers are prepared, mentally and physically, for the toughest fight of their lives.
| Date Taken: | 09.23.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 09.23.2008 11:31 |
| Story ID: | 24042 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 186 |
| Downloads: | 160 |
This work, Greywolf brings the pack together – NTC style, by SPC Sharla Lewis, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT