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    Cavalry trooper relishes desert training

    Cavalry trooper relishes desert training

    Photo By Staff Sgt. Patrick Caldwell | Spc. Casey Hayes, assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment, Oregon Army...... read more read more

    JOSEPH, OR, UNITED STATES

    06.12.2015

    Story by Staff Sgt. Patrick Caldwell 

    116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team

    ORCHARD COMBAT TRAINING CENTER, Idaho – At first glance there may not seem to be much charm in a 60-ton armored battle tank.

    Inside a M1A2 System Enhanced Program (SEP) Abrams tank on the high desert it is hot and cramped. The hours are long too; waiting to fire the big main gun of the M1A2 can be a lengthy process.

    Yet for Joseph, Oregon’s Spc. Casey Hayes, an 11-day stint on an M1A2 SEP Abrams main battle tank is not only a good experience but something a looks forward to.

    “I love every minute of it,” Hayes said.

    Hayes is assigned as a driver in a M1A2 SEP. The job is one he said he enjoys, mainly because it keeps him busy.

    “Unlike the rest of the crew, even when we are not on ranges I still get to do my job,” he said.

    Hayes is a member of the La Grande Oregon Army National Guard unit, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment. For the first few weeks in June the 3rd Battalion – which consists of guard units from across Oregon – conducted gunnery trials and other training in preparation for an August rotation through the U.S. Army’s National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin, California.

    Hayes and the rest of his crew secured a key task during the June maneuvers: his tank was the battalion commander’s vehicle. Driving the battalion boss – Lt. Col. Brian Dean, a Salem, Oregon, resident – around the vast and desolate high desert training center and down gunnery ranges was a new experience but Hayes said he liked it.

    “It is really a cool experience. I get to see the command aspect of how the battalion works,” he said. “And I like meeting new people and I have the opportunity to meet leaders and I enjoy that.”

    The 11-day training stint in June also broke new ground for Hayes in other ways. For one, the amount of time for training was condensed.

    “Last Annual Training [in 2014] we had three weeks and it was spread out. And I thought that was fast,” he said.

    Hayes said even though the battalion was compelled to cram three weeks of training into 11 days, the unit prospered.

    “In the guard, when we get a task, we get it done faster than you expect. It is high speed,” he said.

    Hayes conceded the conditions on the high desert can be difficult but affirmed he enjoys the austere environment. For Hayes and the rest of the 3rd Battalion, the next big challenge hovers on the horizon with the August NTC rotation. Hayes said he is looking forward to the rotation, even though he admitted the three-week stint will be an intense one.

    Hayes said his journey to the 3rd Battalion was fairly straightforward. He initially intended to go to college after high school but that plan fell through. His choice to join the battalion fit in well with his values he said.

    “I wanted to serve my country. My family raised me to be a patriot, to think of others before myself,” he said.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 06.12.2015
    Date Posted: 07.19.2015 23:10
    Story ID: 170496
    Location: JOSEPH, OR, US
    Hometown: SALEM, OR, US

    Web Views: 171
    Downloads: 0

    PUBLIC DOMAIN