5-1 AD share equipment with partners

Photo By Lt. Col. Deanna Bague | Students from Edgar Park Elementary School spend a day at Doña Ana Range, N.M with Soldiers from 1st and 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 5th Brigade, 1st Armored Division.  

FORT BLISS, TX, UNITED STATES

03.01.2010

Story by Maj. Deanna Bague 

Fort Bliss Public Affairs Office

DONA ANA RANGE, N.M. — More than 180 students from Edgar Park Elementary School and a handful of business partners from Sierra Providence Hospital interacted with some of the most current technological equipment used in today's Army during an event organized by 1st and 2nd Combined Arms Battalions, 5th Brigade, 1st Armored Division.

Lt. Col. Brian Cook, the 1st CAB battalion commander, said the purpose of the occasion is to bring together all their community partners and expose them to what Soldiers do when they conduct combat operations.

Students like Savanna Mendiola, a fourth grader at Edgar Park Elementary School, said she learned how versatile Soldiers' jobs are.

"I thought it was really cool to experience this," said Savanna. "We got to go inside a tank and check out the night vision goggles."

Most of the students were drawn to the Small, Unmanned Ground Vehicle, and maneuvered it very effectively, said Capt. Josie Rivera, the partners in education coordinator for 2nd CAB.

"The kids are ecstatic," said Rivera. "The SUG-V is actually operated with a remote control that is similar to the [Playstation 3] remote control, so children are familiar with it. They can control the robot. To them it's a toy."

Savanna said the SUG-V was fun to play with. Cook said the children treat the SUG-V like a pet.

"They treat it just like it's a small dog," said Cook. "We actually had a young lady try to feed it Reese's Pieces. The Small, Unmanned Ground Vehicle is normally used by infantry combat teams in combat. But also, it's a pretty big show-time fan of the kids."

John Harris, the president of Sierra Providence Health Network, brought a number of members from his team. Harris said that as a hospital system his organization has a close relationship with Soldiers and feels his staff should be familiar with servicemembers' missions.

"I think it's important for all of us in civilian life to understand what our men and women do for this country and what they do it with," said Harris. "They are all extremely impressed with the men and women who serve our nation. The technology that they use — the complexity of that technology — it's really amazing what they are able to do with this technology."

• Date Taken: 03.01.2010
• Date Posted: 03.05.2010 13:48
• Story ID: 46202
• Location: FORT BLISS, TX, US