Photo By Spc. Jazz Burney | Soldiers of C Battery, 1st Battalion, 84th Field Artillery Regiment, 170th Infantry...... read more read more
BAUMHOLDER, Germany - With the whirring sound of a powerful CH-53G helicopter’s blades disturbing the still landscape, both Polish and American soldiers tactically dashed to board the craft to complete their mission. Capture a high-value individual.
Soldiers of C Battery, 1st Battalion, 84th Field Artillery Regiment, 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team alongside Polish soldiers conducted their first joint air assault mission during the brigade’s pre-deployment training at the Hoehenfels Training Area Oct. 23.
During a dreary afternoon on the Camp Griffin training grounds, soldiers of C Battery received vital intelligence pinpointing the location of a HVI in their area of operations. But the method of travel to capture the individual brought a new exciting twist to the battalion’s operating style: an air assault mission on the objective.
After the information was disseminated, the platoon leader and his platoon sergeant rallied their soldiers to secure and set up a 360-degree circular landing zone in preparation to board the CH-53G helicopter, said 2nd Lt. Alexander Rhoads, a Washington native, now a platoon leader with C Battery, 1-84 Field Artillery.
Upon arrival of the “bird”, the soldiers hopped up from their prone firing positions and, in a single file formation, sprinted to board the craft.
As the pilots landed on the site, soldiers exiting walked immediately into a complex attack staged by opposing force role players. The attack consisted of small arms fire and rocket powered grenades, said Rhoads.
“We eliminated enemy threats while moving back into the wood-line to return safely on the bird,” said Rhoads.
After successfully capturing the HVI and returning to their home-base, the U.S. soldiers and their Polish counterparts went back to conduct an after action debrief about their mission.
“This was a good experience because in this scenario, we were able to show the U.S. soldiers what we can do and they taught us some of their techniques that will help us perform better as a military force,” said a Polish soldier who participated in the mission.
“This was a great training operation for our battalion, seeing that we are field artillery by trade and don’t conduct many air assault missions. It was great training in the areas of air and search for this dismounted force, and plus it was cool,” said Capt. James Collado, a Providence, N.J. native, now the C Battery commander.
Sfc. Dennis Norrod, a Cheyenne, Wyo. native, now a platoon sergeant with C Battery, added that the soldiers completed the mission with zero injuries. For many of the artillerymen this was their first air assault but he said they completed the task to standard and did it without anyone getting hurt.
“The Polish soldiers were really motivated and they were just as excited as we were. We fed off of each others enthusiasm and it made the mission and atmosphere great for completing our objective,” said Norrod.
The 170th IBCT is slated to deploy to Afghanistan in the coming months, and will continue to prepare for joint combat operations.
| Date Taken: | 10.23.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 11.08.2010 06:05 |
| Story ID: | 59635 |
| Location: | BAUMHOLDER, RHEINLAND-PFALZ, DE |
| Web Views: | 483 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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