Photo By Sgt. William Begley | Elements with the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade provide security as the quartering party...... read more read more
HUNTER ARMY AIRFIELD, Ga. – The 1st Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment conducted a weeklong Situational Training Exercise, supported by elements from the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, which began with an Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercise alert in the early hours of the morning Mar. 4.
The EDRE included movement to a field site by the quartering party who provided security to the site and established communications. Once established, companies were arriving and providing information to commanders tracking the activities from the Tactical Operations Center on Hunter Army Airfield, Ga.
After a night that included a deluge of rain, the Soldiers set up a perimeter in the mud and wet terrain. A convoy of vehicles moved in then soldiers began the mission of erecting tents and establishing a Forward Arming and Refuel Point.
Years of continuous war have conditioned many soldiers to deploy to an area that already has an established base, airfield, or outpost. One of the commander’s objectives was to have the soldiers get back to fundamentals by establishing a tactical assembly area from scratch.
Army Capt. Michelle Barnett, commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment explained why this exercise was so important.
“In the event we do have to go somewhere for a future operation, and it’s not somewhere that’s already set-up and established like during Operation Enduring Freedom for example, we now have an idea of how to do that,” said Barnett.
According to Sgt. 1st Class Gabriel Bustamante of HHC, 1st Bn., 3rd Aviation Reg., it means everyone getting back to the fundamentals of just being a soldier first.
“This is what we as soldiers do,” said Bustamante. “Every soldier needs to know how to go into an austere environment, set up and establish a functional area of operation, pull security, and perform all the duties of an infantry soldier, as well as their own military occupational specialty. You’re not always going to have support units or infantry units to handle these jobs.”
As an Observer Controller Trainer, Capt. Michael Nguyen, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, is the officer in charge for overseeing the quartering party and assembly area for the STX. He said that this is great training for dusting off skills that haven’t been used by soldiers in a while.
“We need to be able to conduct operations from assembly areas such as this now instead of utilizing infrastructures that have already been in place,” said Nguyen. “We’re getting away from the big Army of occupation and going back to operating on a more linear battlefield.”
For the seasoned soldier, this might sound like the Army is getting back to living in general purpose tents and eating meals, ready to eat (MRE). No more dining facilities, no more showers, no shopette, it is soldiering old school. Nguyen said that’s not a bad thing.
“It gets us back in the mindset of being a unit that has to secure its own perimeter,” said Nguyen. “This training refreshes us on tactical movement across a battlefield. When you are in unfamiliar territory using noise and light discipline. All the basic things a soldier does to secure themselves against an enemy threat.”
Army Capt. Stephanie Hartley, commander, Troop A, 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, had a small group of soldiers who arrived the night before to get ready for the STX. Her soldiers endured a monsoon in her words.
“We started seeing lightning in the sky and that was followed by a monsoon,” said Hartley.
Most would think these were miserable conditions for the field. Not her Viper soldiers.
“The guys ended up having fun with the situation; it turned into a morale builder,” said Hartley. “At least we know our tents don’t leak.”
Hartley neatly summarized the whole experience.
“We’re basically given this field and now we have to figure out how to protect ourselves and how to be independently sustainable,” said Hartley. “We provide our own power generation, our own water supply, we supply our food and housing, all the logistical stuff that we haven’t had to worry about for a long time.”
| Date Taken: | 03.04.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 03.10.2014 10:28 |
| Story ID: | 121771 |
| Location: | HUNTER ARMY AIRFIELD, GA, US |
| Web Views: | 49 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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