Snake River Regiment Soldiers focus on key training goals

Photo By Staff Sgt. Patrick Caldwell | An M2A3 Bradly fighting vehicle assigned to Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment, Oregon Army National Guard, races down a gunnery range at the Orchard Combat Training Center. Alpha Company joined its sister units from the 3rd Battalion for an 11-day gunnery exercise in June at the Idaho training center to prepare for an August deployment to the National Training Center (NTC).  

BOARDMAN, OR, UNITED STATES

07.09.2015

Courtesy Story

116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team

BOARDMAN, Ore. - “Driver mojo” may appear to be a nebulous philosophical concept, but for someone like Boardman, Oregon’s Spc. Jordan Snyder, it is a serious hypothesis when he is negotiating his M2A3 Bradley fighting vehicle down a gunnery range.

“As a driver I want to get out there and make my crew look good,” Snyder said.

Snyder and his other crew mates – track commander Staff Sgt. Mark Kretschmer, Clackamas, Oregon, and gunner, Sgt. Michael Hanson, Heppner, Oregon – spent most of June training and qualifying on gunnery ranges at this secluded high desert site as part of the Oregon Army National Guard’s 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment’s Alpha Company.

Alpha Company’s home armory is in The Dalles, Oregon, but the unit consists of Soldiers from across the state.

The 11-day training exercise was designed to prepare the battalion for an August deployment through the U.S. Army’s National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin, California.

The Orchard Combat Training Center is a desolate stretch of high desert about 25 miles south of Boise, Idaho – but Snyder and the rest of his crew all pointed out the advantages of the training.

“I love it,” Kretschmer said. “I am not behind a desk. My eyes hurt because I am tired, not because I’ve been staring at computer screen.”

For Snyder, the training is all about becoming a better Soldier, which, in turn, means evolving into a first-rate driver. Success isn’t just about maneuvering the Bradley fighting vehicle from one point to another, he said. There is a bit more to the process.

“You know I need to always be cognizant of what is in front of me, what is around me,” he said.

The tension can also ratchet up, Snyder said, when his Bradley is occupied by infantry.

“You have 10 lives in your hands,” he said. “But you have to keep the right mindset and stay calm.”

Snyder said if there are two key themes during training.

“Safety comes first,” he said.

Another piece of the training Snyder said is critical is the amount of experienced Soldiers around him, including a number of combat veterans.

“As a 21-year-old, I have people who have been in 12 years or more,” he said.

All three Bradley crew members said they are looking forward to the upcoming NTC deployment, even though all admitted the training cycle in the Mohave Desert will be a challenge.

“It will be hot and miserable but it will be good training,” Hanson said.

Kretschmer said he, too, is eager to train at the NTC.

“I’m looking forward to it. It will be the closest thing to war we will see,” he said.

• Date Taken: 07.09.2015
• Date Posted: 07.10.2015 14:30
• Story ID: 169676
• Location: BOARDMAN, OR, US
• Hometown: BOARDMAN, OR, US
• Hometown: CLACKAMAS, OR, US
• Hometown: HEPPNER, OR, US