4BSB makes time for leaders, Soldiers

Photo By Staff Sgt. Chris Perkey | Soldiers from Company A, 4th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, practice treating and securing a casualty under the watchful eye of Company C Soldiers during a squad leader certification course. (Photo Credit: Photo by 1st Lt. Yesenia Colon)  

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, UNITED STATES

10.16.2017

Story by 2nd Lt. Kent Williams 

1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division

The sound of once dead engines roaring to life, cranes lifting critical supplies and medical evacuation vehicles moving to distant corners of training areas can always be heard coming from buildings 9072 and 9079 on Marauder Way on Fort Carson.
The activity is constant here because the Soldiers of the 4th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, always have a vehicle to recover, a patient to see, ammo to deliver and a meal to cook.
Despite the high operations tempo, companies A, B and C of the 4th BSB wrapped up the end of summer by holding squad leader certification and development courses, with the final course finishing Sept. 29, 2017.
These courses varied in content and complexity but at their core stressed basic Soldier and unit skills needed for both the leaders and individuals of each of the company's many squads.
"We had an opportunity for a unique training event that could provide a real benefit to Soldiers and the mission. The training event developed leaders and individuals in core competencies required to be safe and successful when deployed," said Capt. Matthew Wellwood, Company A commander.
Company A leader certification was based around the company's distribution mission and focused on providing Soldiers a means to deal with issues that can come up in various tactical, logistical and garrison mission convoys to ensure success on the road. Those issues can include communications failures, weapons malfunctions, loss of convoy assets and enemy attacks.
Courses provided Soldiers with knowledge of how to deal with issues as they happened so they didn't impede the mission. These courses covered radio trouble?shooting, weapons malfunctions, land navigation, and convoy procedures in various combat scenarios.
Company B's training event was based out of Training Area Bravo, a small hilly training area that offers a physical challenge for small units. The circuit of events was based on the basic Soldier tasks of shoot, move and communicate. Sections covered combat status and updating reports, map reading, preventative maintenance checks on vehicles, field stripping and assembly of all major weapon systems the company's Soldiers use in security operations, communications and radio operation and first aid.
The concept of operations published by Company B stated the goal of each station was to force Soldiers to understand how to deal with physical and mental stress while still accomplishing the tasks presented to them.
"We had to make time for this kind of training. We're getting a lot of new Soldiers and, given the complexity and demand we face, we have to ensure our leaders and Soldiers are ready -- it's something we have to make time for no matter what our workload is," said Sgt. 1st Class David Bush, Company B first sergeant.
The Brigade Support Medical Company (Company C), squad certification lasted two days and involved both day and night certification. Each event was similar and covered point of injury care, en route care, patient hand-off, triage, trauma assessment and 9-Line medical evacuation requests.
During each iteration, evacuation platoon medics were tasked with retrieving multiple causalities from the point of injury, assessing injuries, applying treatment to injuries and loading patients into a Stryker medical evacuation vehicle or field litter ambulance. The medics then continued care of their patients en route until reaching a higher level of care, known as a Role II medical facility.
"I didn't realize how hard it was to treat a patient in the back of a moving vehicle on such uneven terrain," said Pfc. Austin Coyle with Evacuation Platoon.
At the Role II facility, the Evacuation Platoon medic provided a patient hand-off with the Treatment Platoon triage NCO in charge.
"As we prepare to attend another National Training Center (Fort Irwin, California) rotation and follow-on deployment, our command team and NCOs strive to create realistic training for us," said Sgt. Jaquan Eggelston, Company C squad leader. "Each medic experienced various planned complications that medics would encounter in a real wartime environment. We were also required to conduct nighttime training where we learned firsthand the challenges of treating injured patients using a headlamp and with limited visibility."

• Date Taken: 10.16.2017
• Date Posted: 03.14.2018 12:41
• Story ID: 269361
• Location: COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, US