Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Carmen Fleischmann | Private 1st Class Aaron Campany, a 91B Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic with F Company, the...... read more read more
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STARKE, Fla. (July 15, 2016) – The name of Special Forces has become synonymous with elite. Their missions are generally kept quiet, and their visibility is almost non-existent, unless when gracing a high-energy recruitment poster, clinging to a rope ladder underneath a UH-60 Blackhawk.
The high-paced training events completed by 83rd Troop Command’s, 3rd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group draws significant attention to the Florida National Guard. It also holds a vital purpose - to prepare its soldiers for its state and federal missions.
In order to successfully complete deployments overseas and also respond to domestic needs, Special Forces units rely on their own team of elite players who partner with them. One such partnership the 3-20th depends on is that of the Florida’s Emergency Response Force Package or CERF-P.
“We have a long history of working closely with SF because we share the maritime response mission in the state emergency’s ESF 9, search and rescue,” said Sgt. 1st Class Alden Morrow, the Search and Extraction Non-commissioned Officer-in-Charge of the Florida CERF-P. “They run the Zodiacs and we have the Rescue 1 boats that are used for shallow areas. We work well together.”
Throughout the first portion of annual training, which lasted from July 11-15, CERF-P used their boats to ferry the jumpers in the airborne operations back to the shoreline, and also assist the dive team during the deliberate water airborne operation task at Mayport.
Taking the lead on the airborne operation, was the 83rd Troop Command’s B Company, 1-185th Assault Helicopter Battalion. The pilots and crew flew UH-60 Blackhawks for each air operation, allowing the SF soldiers to perform their jumps, helocasts and bundle drops.
Performing the operations were not merely the seasoned professionals, but soldiers from F Company, the Forward Support Company, formed a few years ago. Prior to their formation, the operators only had a small pool of soldiers to pull from to assist in their downrange missions. Company F soldiers include mechanics, cooks and other skillsets who can perform their specialties while also offering the ability to fill in as gunners or deliver supplies. .
The ranks of the FSC is filled with soldiers ranging from the initial support element dating back to 1988 when the unit was formed, to personnel with less than one year of military service.
Private 1st Class Aaron Campany, a 91B, Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic, is one of the recent members who joined the unit in March of this year. Despite facing the unknown at his first annual training, he enjoyed the variety of the exercises.
“I had to do a Blackhawk land jump, with the parachutes, because I had never jumped out of a Blackhawk before. That was in preparation for the water jump that we were doing the following day,” said Campany, “It was extremely fun! I enjoyed it so much.”
Capt. Daniel Morris, Forward Support Company Commander, scheduled the various training events over the two-week period to gauge his unit’s effectiveness.
“Since the company is so new, I want to put these guys under a little bit of pressure and get them outside their comfort zone and then see how they perform,” said Morris. “We also need to get them some of the basic level skills, shooting pistols, but also doing the stuff that matters most when they’ll go out to a team which is the slingload, dropping bundles, convoy live fire.”
Having completed airborne operations and weapon qualifications, the 3-20th shifts gears next week, and moves into convoy live fire operations and a variety of other land missions in their continued pursuit of combat readiness.
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| Date Taken: | 07.15.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 07.18.2016 17:58 |
| Story ID: | 204289 |
| Location: | STARKE, FL, US |
| Hometown: | ST. AUGUSTINE, FL, US |
| Hometown: | STARKE, FL, US |
| Hometown: | TALLAHASSEE, FL, US |
| Web Views: | 576 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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