NY Army National Guard Vets Say: Get Ready, Get Set for JRTC [Image 7 of 7]

NY, UNITED STATES

08.01.2001

Courtesy Photo

New York National Guard

Soldiers of the New York Army National Guard’s 27th Brigade refill their canteens and camelbaks at the Army’s Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Polk Louisiana during the brigade’s war-fighting exercises there in August, 2001. The unit, now designated the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT), is heading there again for war-fighting exercises in July. Louisiana’s heat and humidity are worse than anything they experienced when they deployed to Kuwait and Iraq, according to New York Army National Guard combat veterans who trained with the brigade at JRTC in 2001. The first week of the rotation is the hardest, because personnel will be acclimatizing to the new environment, said Sgt. Robert Edmonds, of Scotia, N.Y. He advised troops to plan for rest breaks and to use battle buddies. “Watch each other,” he said. “Overseas is a dry heat. This is a wet heat. It goes right through you. You get exhausted quickly. It’s hot over there, but it’s not humid. Humidity can kill you. You feel like you can’t breathe.” But the veterans also praised JRTC, saying it prepared them for deployments during America’s war on terror, which began shortly after the brigade’s return from JRTC. (U.S. Army National Guard file photo/released)

• Date Taken: 08.01.2001
• Date Posted: 06.09.2016 11:05
• Photo ID: 2645885
• VIRIN: 010801-Z-ZZ999-007
• Resolution: 1197x1776
• Size: 879.94 KB
• Location: NY, US
• Hometown: SYRACUSE, NY, US