Subscribe
By 1st Lt. Maximilian Pahl
588th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs, 4th Infantry Division
FORT CARSON, Colorado – The 17-day Iron Strike field exercise conducted by 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, provided a chance for some of the brigade combat engineers to practice clearing the way for others in the brigade.
Members of the 588th Brigade Engineer Battalion’s 2nd Platoon, Company Bravo, conducted several route-clearance patrol missions during Iron Strike in preparation for an upcoming National Training Center rotation.
The training missions ranged in duration from five to 10 hours per day, requiring constant attention to detail and quick responses when the operators of the lead vehicles in the route-clearance convoy, driving the Husky Vehicle Mounted Mine Detection System, detected a potential improvised explosive device.
Pfc. Cynthea Medina, combat engineer, B Co., found herself taking the lead on route clearance as one of the Husky drivers. She is one of the first female combat engineers in the Army serving as a Husky operator
“At first, I wasn't that confident about leading the convoy, but my peers encouraged me that I would do a good job, to have confidence, and that they have my back,” Medina said.
Once an IED was positively identified, the Husky operators moved back to allow engineers in a Buffalo Mine-Protected Clearance Vehicle to move forward to interrogate the bomb with its long-reaching mechanical claw.
Spc. Peter Lee, also a combat engineer with B Co., said: "This training has definitely been helpful in working with other units. If we deploy, we're not going to know who we fall in with, so seeing new faces every day and being able to communicate our mission, tactics, techniques and procedures is going to be a crucial part of any operation.”
The route-clearance training also was unique as it combined several nontraditional elements, such as chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) Strykers from 588th BEB’s Headquarters and Headquarters Company and security provided by the 110th Military Police Company, which supported 3rd Brigade during Iron Strike.
Vehicle recovery and medical evacuation and evaluation also were incorporated into the route-clearance training.
| Date Taken: | 07.09.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 07.21.2016 18:12 |
| Story ID: | 204651 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, CO, US |
| Web Views: | 106 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 588th engineers clear the way during 3ABCT Iron Strike field exercise, by CPT Scott Walters, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
LEAVE A COMMENT