Photo By Staff Sgt. Erik Warren | Sgt. Von Bolante, a Soldier with Apache Troop, 2nd Squadron, “Sabre,” 3rd Cavalry...... read more read more
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FORT HOOD, Texas – Upon receipt of a deployment mission, many units undergo training to ensure all personnel are proficient, and they are trained on their equipment. But, what happens when a unit only has two months to prepare for a mission? It’s business as usual—training.
Over 500 Troopers of 2nd Squadron “Sabre,” 3d Cavalry Regiment train in preparation for deployment to Afghanistan later this month. The training consisted of: mounted live-fire iterations, a staff exercise, Security Forces Assistance Academy, and observe, orient, decide and act training commonly referred to as OODA loop. All of this training was completed in three weeks.
“We are on a bit of a time crunch, but it did allow us to get some excellent training in before deploying,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Joseph Wilson, the senior enlisted advisor for Sabre squadron. “With our compressed timeline, it allowed us to bring the trainers here and allow the Soldiers to spend more time with their families before deployment. They were able to train in a familiar environment and go home to their families every night, but still obtained the required training needed before deployment.”
The myriad of training was twofold: it helped validate their systems and validate the personnel using the systems, said Wilson.
“This ensured everyone was trained on some of the battle drills or events that we may encounter [in Afghanistan], also making sure that they understand reporting procedures, how to use the equipment, how to work together as a team,” said Wilson. “And, the fact that we did this training in a condensed period of time is truly impressive.”
Although the Soldiers conducted several training exercises in a short period of time, their morale didn’t falter.
“We are lucky because we have amazing leadership, and we can tell they care because they always go the extra mile to ensure everyone is comfortable with their mission and their job,” said Spc. Colter Krohn, a combat engineer with 2nd platoon, 43rd Combat Engineer Company
“Sapper,” Regimental Engineer Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment. “It’s easy to stay motivated when you have great leadership.”
“Not just assigning a Soldier a job but making sure they understand the importance of the job that they are doing. And then, rewarding the Soldiers for a job well done also helps keep motivation high,” said Wilson.
Krohn’s platoon is slated to deploy with Sabre squadron although his unit falls under another squadron within the regiment.
“When I got to the unit a month ago, they were asking for volunteers to deploy. So, I decided to go,” said Krohn, who has deployed to Afghanistan twice. “I’m really excited to join teams with Sabre.”
“We brought on a platoon-sized element from Sapper because we identified an opportunity to do some [counter Improvised Explosive Device] training in country with the Afghan military,” said Wilson. “It would add additional training that our Afghan counterparts find valuable and adding the combat engineers not only widens their abilities to conduct operations on their own, it also increases our capabilities on the battlefield.”
After three weeks of intense training, Wilson expressed how proud he was of all the training the Soldiers accomplished.
“I’m extremely proud. We had a very short notice that we were deploying. And, we really pulled in and brought the team together with the help of the Regiment and 1st Cavalry Division,” said Wilson. “It’s not only remarkable efforts on the help we received, but the maximum motivation the Soldiers displayed.”
| Date Taken: | 08.23.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 09.09.2016 16:05 |
| Story ID: | 209190 |
| Location: | FORT HOOD, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 89 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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