Spartan sapper unit parachutes in to conduct demolition mission

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Smith | Paratroopers assigned to Alpha Company, 425th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, use C-4 explosives to create an abatis (trees interlaced over a roadway) to impede enemy vehicle movement during a training exercise March 21, 2013 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Smith)  

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, AK, UNITED STATES

03.29.2013

Story by Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Smith 

2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 11th Airborne Division Public Affairs

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska - Alpha Company set up 16 shots (rounds of charges), to blow over a total of 57 trees. As a follow-up mission, their heavy equipment operators are scheduled to come in to clear it all away.

On a clear, cold Alaskan day, combat engineers with Alpha Company, 425th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, jumped out of a C-23 Sherpa aircraft and conducted a follow-on mission which utilized C-4 explosives to create an abatis (trees interlaced over a roadway to impede enemy vehicle advancement), March 21, 2013, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.

The 45-member team conducted the timber cutting demolition training at Forward Operating Base Sparta, which is a training area on JBER designed much like a FOB in an actual combat zone. The demolition training was coordinated with JBER’s Range Control as part of an ongoing project to enlarge the FOB and clear lines of sight.

Alpha Company has also been involved in clearing trees with heavy earth-moving equipment which has helped the unit maintain Soldier proficiency in its horizontal engineering mission, according to Capt. Douglas Droesch, the company’s commander.
Droesch, a ranger, sapper, and airborne qualified officer, who hails from West Boylston, Mass., said there are several types of uses for timber demolition, including abatis construction, clearing helicopter landing zones, and clearing fields of fire for a unit in a defensive position.

Droesch said his unit’s sapper platoons provide support for maneuver forces with mobility support, counter-mobility support, and survivability support.

The training day weather was clear, but cold, with a temperature which started out at around one degree Fahrenheit. Droesch was not discouraged by the cold.

“I think the weather is beautiful! It’s the second day of spring and it’s about six degrees out here, so it’s pretty phenomenal. I love Alaska.”

There are, however, some challenges associated with the cold weather, said Droesch. The C-4 gets hard and brittle in the cold which makes it difficult to seat priming knots into the explosive material. More tape is needed than usual in order to adhere the explosives to trees because it doesn’t stick as well in the cold. The troops, however, were ready for the training.

Paratroopers in Alpha Company have trained in Alaskan temperatures all winter, so they were able to conduct the mission with no cold-weather injury issues, said Droesch.

“Staying out here in the cold is nothing new for these guys. They have the entire sustainment packing list of cold weather gear with them. It could drop down to 40 below, and we have enough gear and knowledge to be able to survive and conduct this mission in those temperatures too.”

Spc. Juan Reaves, from Atlanta, and one of the unit’s paratroopers who parachuted in for the day’s training, said he likes being a paratrooper and a combat engineer in the Army.

During his recent deployment to Afghanistan, Reaves said his primary mission was route clearance and looking for Improvised Explosive Devices. He said his Military Occupational Specialty has many skill-sets to train for, which include timber cutting demolition and breaching demolition.

Reaves said the airborne operation phase of the training was neat because he had not jumped from a Sherpa before.

“The snow was soft, kind of cushy, and deep. I thought the landing was going to hurt, because I was thinking ice, ice, ice! So, I got into a good PLF (parachute landing fall) posture, knees bent, fists to my face, elbows to my side, and my chin down. As soon as my feet touched ground, I tried a PLF, and I just sunk into the snow!”

Pvt. Zachary Price, also with Alpha Company and from Houston, Texas, said he loves being a paratrooper in Alaska.

“The view is pretty awesome for a little while. You’re not up there long, but it is definitely something! Up here (in Alaska), it is very scenic, so you definitely get to see things from a different perspective … It kind of makes you realize how small you are. You look at the mountains and you are eye level with them, and it is something you won’t experience anywhere else,” Price said.

Price, who just recently hit his first anniversary in the Army, said the training was good for his unit because it gave them training in explosives handling, and it provided hands-on experience.

“Hands-on with demo definitely gives us a lot more confidence…It helps to really ‘cement-in’ the tactics and procedures we use,” said Price.

Alpha Company set up 16 shots (rounds of charges), to blow over a total of 57 trees. As a follow-up mission, their heavy equipment operators are scheduled to come in to clear it all away.

• Date Taken: 03.29.2013
• Date Posted: 04.01.2013 14:16
• Story ID: 104418
• Location: JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, AK, US
• Hometown: ANCHORAGE, AK, US
• Hometown: FAIRFIELD, CA, US
• Hometown: HOUSTON, TX, US
• Hometown: SAN JUAN BAUTISTA, CA, US
• Hometown: WARSAW, NY, US
• Hometown: WEST BOYLSTON, MA, US