Training to save lives; an officer's wish for his troops

Courtesy Photo | Col. Lorenzo J. Valenzuela, Joint Task Force commander of Pacific Warrior Exercise 2008.  

UNITED STATES

06.16.2008

Story by Staff Sgt. Caroline Maribei 

300th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

By Staff Sgt. Caroline K. Maribei
300th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, Calif. — For Col. Lorenzo J. Valenzuela, the Joint Task Force commander of Pacific Warrior 2008, teaching Soldiers how to succeed on the battlefield is the point of the exercise.

Valenzuela, who is also the commander of the 647th Regional Support Command from El Paso, Texas, knows firsthand the perils of combat. He was deployed to Iraq in the beginning of 2006.

While serving as the deputy commander for Gulf Region South, the Army's reconstruction unit for the southern half of Iraq, Valenzuela and his Soldiers took small arms fire, faced rockets and mortar fire and were hit by many improvised explosive devices.

"The first time we were in trouble, I realized what shortcomings we had ... that could very well have become disasters had we not had a little bit better luck," he said. "We began to train diligently."

When Valenzuela returned he focused on training his Soldiers.

"I never captured an appreciation for basic Soldier skills, warrior tasks," he said. "Those are the things that make the difference in difficult circumstances."

Valenzuela believes that being able to talk on the radio and possessing combat lifesaver skills will keep you alive on the battlefield.

"I didn't really have an appreciation for the environment and so I probably didn't train on the right thing," he said, noting that proper training would have helped.

He believes that every Soldier – from colonel down to private – needs to know those skills.

During one of the attacks in Iraq, Valenzuela was seriously injured. He sustained a head injury, a bruised brain, shrapnel in his foot and shoulder, a separated shoulder, damage to his right eye and eardrums.

It was because of these injuries that he had to leave Iraq a month short of his 12-month deployment to receive medical treatment. He received two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star.

After recovering from his injuries, Valenzuela returned to duty with the 104th Division Institutional Training Unit out of Vancouver, Wash. He then took command of the 647th RSG in September 2007.

"I love Soldiers," said Valenzuela. "I just like the Army's mission ... Where there is an institution that publishes something like the Army Values and the Soldier's Creed, (and then) that becomes the foundation for that organization. You can't find anything better than that. So I like being part of that organization and I like having that in common with other Soldiers."

Valenzuela plans to stay in the military as long as it will keep him. "I love the Army," he said.

During this year's Pacific Warrior Exercise, he said his highest priority is that commanders achieve their training objectives and Soldiers take pride in training with other soldiers.

"I think what we are doing here in this exercise is important to be able to prepare Soldiers to survive and succeed in the battlefield," said Valenzuela.

• Date Taken: 06.16.2008
• Date Posted: 06.18.2008 18:43
• Story ID: 20620
• Location: US