‘Blue Babes’ clearing paths less than month after activation

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Tamika Dillard | Pfc. Jade Young, a combat engineer with Company B, 82nd Engineer Battalion, 2nd ABCT, 1st Infantry Division, cuts through three layers of concertina wire during a combined arms breaching training Oct. 20 at a training area on Fort Riley, Kan. Combat engineers have 10 minutes from the time they position themselves at the breach to the time they clear the lane, said Staff Sgt. Seth Luetdke, a Company B platoon sergeant.  

FORT RILEY, KS, UNITED STATES

10.20.2014

Story by Staff Sgt. Tamika Dillard 

2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division Public Affairs

FORT RILEY, Kan. - With their activation less than a month behind them, Soldiers with the 82nd Engineer Battalion, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, have answered the brigade’s call — breaching simulated minefields and clearing wire obstacles.

Whether using an Assault Breacher Vehicle or doing things the old fashioned way –manually – Soldiers with Company B, 82nd Eng. Bn., are getting the job done as they support the brigade’s month-long combined arms live fire exercises Oct. 19 through Nov. 21 at various training areas on Fort Riley, Kansas.

During a training day Oct. 20, Soldiers with Sapper Platoon suffered a simulated casualty that turned into a back-to-the-basics training experience.

“We suffered a fatal casualty this morning with the loss of our M1 Assault Breacher Vehicle,” 2nd Lt. Robert Horay, platoon leader, said. “When it went down, we had to switch personnel around … even using Soldiers from different jobs to fill in and help out. Once we made those adjustments, we readily jumped back into the fight.”

The ABV is an engineer vehicle with the chassis of an M1A2 Abrams Tank, a full-width mine plow that expands 15 feet across the front and has two linear demolition charge systems on the back. Because the ABV has a smaller crew, the challenges of overcoming an obstacle that once fell to many engineers now falls to just one noncommissioned officer.

For Staff Sgt. Seth Luetdke, Company B platoon sergeant, and his team, this meant more combat engineer manpower was needed to execute the mission.

“As sappers, our task is to enable mobility for our supporting units with breaches, and we must be able to execute at a moment’s notice,” Luetdke said. “This unexpected loss of our vehicle will provide junior Soldiers, along with myself and our platoon leader, the opportunity to refine skills we haven’t used in a long time. We physically have to hit the ground running.”

Once the training exercise began, a tank platoon from 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment, 2nd ABCT, moved into the area and Soldiers noticed a wire obstacle blocking its route. After calling in the combat engineers, they immediately set up security, making for a secure passage as they positioned themselves about 100 meters from the breach site.

The “grappler,” a Soldier charged with a lightweight grapnel hook, exited the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and made his way toward the minefield. Once the grappler made it to the obstacle, he threw the hook, latching it to the wire obstacle. He then returned to his vehicle and the breach team moved forward.

“We can do it several difference ways,” Luetdke said. “But for this training scenario, we decided to have the Soldiers use wire cutters to breach the wire obstacle.”

From beginning to end, the training could take no more than 10 minutes to complete. But for these “Blue Babes” battalion Soldiers, the day’s events were about the training and the lessons learned as they prepared for their first decisive action rotation with the 2nd ABCT at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, California, early next year.

“My Soldiers did a great job out here today,” Horay said. “They will only continue to get better and better as we continue to perfect our craft.”

• Date Taken: 10.20.2014
• Date Posted: 11.07.2014 16:48
• Story ID: 147399
• Location: FORT RILEY, KS, US