Photo By Kimberly Hackbarth | Staff Sgt. Jacob Moore (left), a wheeled vehicle mechanic, checks Spc. Jason McCarty,...... read more read more
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FORT HOOD, Texas – Soldiers of Company E “Outlaws,” 1st Battalion, 62nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 69th ADA Brigade participated in a live-fire exercise March 26, here.
The company prepared for the live-fire for months by training at the Engagement Skills Trainer 2000, which uses technology to simulate real weapons systems and combat situations.
Capt. Melissa Miller, the commander of E Company, 1st Bn., 62nd ADA Regt., 69th ADA Bde., said she wants her Soldiers to understand the basic fundamentals of being a Soldier.
“We are multifunctional logisticians regardless of where we go,” Miller, a Wassaic, N.Y., native, said, emphasizing that even though her Soldiers are in an ADA brigade now, their next assignment could be with a brigade combat team. “They need to understand this to increase their ability to be multifunctional as well as their ability to perform their (military occupational specialty).”
Pvt. Isai Guzman, a wheeled vehicle mechanic with E Company, 1st Bn., 62nd ADA Regt., 69th ADA Bde., agrees with Miller and said that it is very important that the Soldiers in the company become proficient at basic Soldier skills as well as their job specialties.
“Even though I’m in the ADA now, and I might not see as much action as I would if I was in (an infantry unit), it’s so important to know this … when it comes time for me to move on to a different unit,” the Miami, Fla., native said.
Guzman said he is grateful that his company leadership put together the live-fire exercise.
“It’s so good to know that while I’m here, I’m going to get that training,” Guzman said. “So when I move on in my career in the Army, I’m prepared.
Noncommissioned officers, including Sgt. Tesia Davis, an automated logistical specialist from Austin, Texas, used their deployment experiences to mentor Soldiers during training for the live-fire exercise.
While her job is to order and receive parts for various machinery in the unit, Davis said sometimes while deployed, Soldiers in her MOS are attached to security teams for transportation trucks, like she was during her 2010-2011 deployment to Afghanistan.
Davis said it is important for Soldiers to prepare for similar situations as the one she saw on her deployment.
“Whenever you’re at the range and you’re shooting at a still target, it’s different than being in a moving vehicle shooting at targets that are popping up at you,” Davis explained.
Orchestrating a live-fire exercise requires a large focus on safety and risk mitigation, said Miller.
A seasoned noncommissioned officer acted as a safety in each of the three vehicles used in the live-fire exercise and ensured Soldiers were doing the right thing.
In addition to safeties, the Soldiers went through multiple iterations of the tasks before using live ammunition.
“We didn’t show up today and just decide to do a live-fire,” Miller explained. “We built a crawl-walk-run phase and, at every step of the way, catered our training into this function, so that iterative process really helps us create that muscle memory.”
Guzman said he appreciated how the unit handled safety during the exercise.
“We’re here to learn not to get hurt,” Guzman said. “I love how the company and unit always (emphasizes safety).”
Though the training focused on Soldier tasks, those skills were not the only thing strengthened.
Davis and other Soldiers said they saw increased morale in the unit.
“I feel like it boosts the morale because we’re all out here doing the same thing, (and have) the same mission,” Davis said. “It’s all about a team out here.”
Guzman said he arrived at the unit only a few months ago, but he already feels the growing camaraderie in the unit.
“You get that bond that you had in basic training,” Guzman said.
Miller said bonding as a unit, especially one that deploys so frequently, is paramount for the future.
“They need to have that foundation for a bond because today it’s a live-fire exercise, but tomorrow that bond will get them through whatever their next mission is,” she said.
The live-fire exercise, and the training leading up to it, helped build the confidence of the “Outlaw” Soldiers, said Miller.
“They’re going to walk away from here with a new level of confidence in their weapons systems and in themselves,” Miller said. “They’re going to walk away from here as stronger Soldiers and I think there will be that air of excitement to get on to the next mission.”
| Date Taken: | 03.26.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.27.2015 19:09 |
| Story ID: | 158421 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TX, US |
| Hometown: | AUSTIN, TX, US |
| Hometown: | MIAMI, FL, US |
| Hometown: | WASSAIC, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 82 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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