Courtesy Photo | Sgt. Anthony Goodman (left), a truck driver with the 298th Transportation Company...... read more read more
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By Spc. Michael Crawford
354th MPAD
FORT IRWIN, Calif. – The Army Reserve gives citizens an opportunity to serve their country as soldiers, typically one weekend a month, two weeks a year and a deployment or two along the way.
Except one weekend a month and two weeks a year is hardly enough time to prepare for a deployment. Not for the 298th Transportation Company, anyway.
“We want our drivers to drive,” said Sgt. 1st Class Kedon Lamphere, a truck master for the 298th. “We need to get them behind the wheel and moving.”
Between briefings and basic soldier skills training, it can be difficult to focus on a soldier’s occupational specialty, said 1st Lt. David Zuzak, acting commander of the 298th at the National Training Center. At NTC, however, the focus can shift to the job skills soldiers need.
The 298th, based in Franklin, Pa., transports petroleum in bulk, providing fuel to forward-operating bases Miami and Dallas in NTC’s infamous “Box,” a field environment for training exercises. Moving between the FOBs requires a variety of vehicles. This gives soldiers just as many opportunities to train.
“We don’t know what vehicles we’ll have in theater,” said Lamphere, who has 28 years of Army Reserve service. “[During] one deployment, we were in freight liners and another we were using highway semis.”
These deliveries directly impact the active duty components at NTC, allowing them to complete missions of their own. Soldiers use this fuel to power vehicles, generators, light sets and more.
“We were close to low before they got here,” said Staff Sgt. Jonathan Collier, a fuel handler with the 1st Infantry Division at NTC. “We maybe had thirty percent of our capacity left. We expect a lot more of these shipments coming in.”
“Everyone loves to see transportation,” Lamphere said.
In addition to getting soldiers much-needed time behind the wheel, convoys to the Box provide training most Reserve soldiers seldom experience. During these live exercises, soldiers use the MILES system for simulated combat, which works similar to laser tag, allowing soldiers to create live-fire combat without using live ammunition.
“It’s different [from] most Reserve training,” said Lamphere, a native of Cadillac, Mich. “Some soldiers have never even heard of MILES gear, and none of us have used it on vehicles before.”
While the MILES equipment provides more realistic combat training, the environment itself creates realism for every facet of the 298th's experience.
“This is a good opportunity for our soldiers,” Lamphere said. “The terrain here is like it is in Kuwait or southern Iraq. You face the same things – sand, dryness, heat – that you just can’t find out in Pennsylvania.
“It’s a good living experience,” he said. “Changing the environment is a good thing to get people out of their comfort zone.”
For all the things that the desert provides, the one thing it doesn’t include may be the most helpful for this training. A lack of man-made roadways exposes soldiers to off-road driving, said Zuzak, a native of Charleroi, Pa.
“This is the perfect environment for off-road driving training,” he said. “The terrain is very similar to Afghanistan. Off-road training is something you can’t get in Pittsburgh,” he said.
Regardless of where soldiers go, why they go or what they go in, they always go by convoy when transporting fuel. Usually, the transportation commander is in charge of the convoy, and all other attached units, such as military police, would fall under the commander’s authority, Lamphere said. To mix things up, the 298th planned to let the military police take charge on a convoy.
“It’s a good chance to try something different and have more of a logistical mission,” Lamphere said. “Change is a good thing, and it’s hard to get that on a weekend drill,”
Units training here mix things up so to be better prepared for unexpected change of plans overseas. To help prepare for those rainy day scenarios, soldiers learn a bit about the fuel they’re carrying and how to offload it. Under supervision, soldiers will transport small amounts of fuel and transfer it directly to another vehicle, Lamphere said.
“The more training you have, the [better off] you are to yourself and to your unit,” Lamphere said. “If there’s an emergency, they can refuel a stranded vehicle or cover down on a buddy.”
Covering down on a buddy goes beyond emergency situations, of course. Always looking for more vehicles to train with, soldiers with the 298th trade training with other units at NTC, providing each other vehicles and associated training, Lamphere said. Once soldiers in the 298th have been trained to operate a vehicle, they can train other soldiers within their unit.
Even when Soldiers aren’t driving convoys, they still have plenty of training options available. Between missions, soldiers attend classes for escalation of force, entry points and dealing with IEDs.
“We have new soldiers just out of [advanced individual training] and soldiers who just haven’t deployed yet,” Lamphere said. “These are good opportunities for our soldiers to broaden their horizons, get tips and learn how things really work during a deployment.”
| Date Taken: | 08.07.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 08.12.2010 11:58 |
| Story ID: | 54410 |
| Location: | FORT IRWIN, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 130 |
| Downloads: | 4 |
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