Photo By Staff Sgt. Zachary Mott | U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Chad Johnston with the 409th Engineer Company, 244th Engineer...... read more read more
LOVELAND, Colo. – The mantra pervading Army training has always been, “train to standard, not to time.” For engineers from the 409th Engineer Company (Vertical), the standards were met and time allowed them a different variety of training.
These engineers were working on projects for the Loveland, Colo., Fire Protection District this warm spring weekend in early April when opportunities to use the facilities they were improving became available.
Once the projects to improve and fortify the burn buildings and smoke houses were complete, Staff Sgt. Chad Johnston, a platoon sergeant with the 409th En. Company (Vertical), along with his fellow noncommissioned officers, developed training blocks to take advantage of the unique facilities afforded to them by this fire fighter training site in Northern Colorado.
“We’re engineers, we have to be able to get to the site and get back,” said Johnston, a Loveland, Colo., native. “Vertical engineers have a lot of equipment and we always have to convoy to the site.”
Because of these requirements, the training included convoy security and operations, improvised explosive device recognition and reaction, cordon and clearing procedures for buildings as well as night vision device familiarization and training.
“I’ve done some of this training before,” said Pfc. John Morehead, a Fort Collins, Colo., native. “But now I feel like I have a better idea of what to do in a live situation if we had to clear a house.”
Other soldiers at the facility were also completing the repairs to the training sites prior to conducting tactical training. One of these Soldiers, Sgt. Donald Roberts, a Mount Vernon, N.Y., native, was replacing the floor of one of the smoke house buildings with other members of his team.
“This type of thing helps soldiers learn how to build, which is something not many of them get to do outside of (Advanced Individual Training),” said Roberts, a team leader with the 409th En. Co. (Vertical).
Soldiers training on tactical skills as well as military occupation specific-skills is part of what helps a unit remain prepared for any mission it may be assigned. From a company commander’s perspective, these impromptu training opportunities are what help to set a unit apart.
For 1st Lt. Jason Stringer, commander of the 409th En. Company (Vertical), this is what makes his unit “better prepared” to respond to the multitude of missions which may be tasked to them.
| Date Taken: | 04.06.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 04.07.2013 17:39 |
| Story ID: | 104760 |
| Location: | LOVELAND, COLORADO, US |
| Hometown: | FORT COLLINS, COLORADO, US |
| Hometown: | LOVELAND, COLORADO, US |
| Hometown: | MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 123 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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