Fort Sill unit on track with rail training

Photo By Christopher Wilson | 2nd Lt. David Sontag, unit movement officer for 2nd Battalion, 20th Field Artillery, right, and 2nd Lt. Shannon Kennedy, a platoon leader, guide a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck onto the scales at the Fort Sill Railhead Operations Center, July 27, 2022, to weigh the vehicle before putting it on a railcar.  

FORT SILL, OK, UNITED STATES

07.28.2022

Story by Christopher Wilson 

Fort Sill Public Affairs

FORT SILL, Okla. (July 28, 2022) — When it comes to warfighting, battles can’t be fought and won without the right equipment. Getting that equipment to its final destination takes teamwork and plenty of training.

Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 20th Field Artillery trained on rail loading operations at the Fort Sill Railhead Operations Center. The Soldiers received a weeklong classroom block of instructions before moving to the hands-on portion at the rail yard July 27, 2022.

For hands-on training, the Soldiers received briefings from Transportation Assistant Mike Chavers before moving on to receiving, staging and final railroad preparations on both wheeled and tracked vehicles.

Part of the training involved weighing, visually and physically inspecting vehicles and loading the vehicles onto the rail cars, something Spc. Mario Sanchez, a rail load trainer with 2-20 said he was looking forward to.

“We performed pre-combat checks inspections making sure the equipment was ready to be rail loaded,” Mario said. “This is good training for everyone to know in case we have to do it to prepare for deployment.”

Chavers and his team instructed the Soldiers on which deficiencies to look for that would make loading the equipment impossible or pose a safety risk. He said he was impressed with the results.

“These Soldiers were great,” said Chavers. “Outside of combat, this is probably one of the most dangerous things they can do. There are so many moving parts and looking away for even a second can get someone seriously injured or cause major damage to equipment. So, to see what they had learned in the class effectively put into action was great.”

While units excel at combat training, the task of getting the equipment to the area of operations, either for training or real-world situations, is an often-overlooked task, said Chavers. For his team to be able to conduct the training with the units is critical to ensure they have teams trained in compliance within FORSCOM standards.


“This is not something that a unit can expect to just show up and do without following the certification guidelines,” Chavers said. “Because rail operations can be very dangerous, the risk management process begins in the planning phase and continues until the operation is complete.”

Incidents such as electrical shock, falling off the rail car, becoming pinched between vehicles, vehicles dropping off the rail car or ramp, head or body injury and weather-related injuries can happen if Soldiers are not taught the right way, said Chavers.

For the 2nd Lt. David Sontag, unit movement officer for 2nd Battalion, 20th Field Artillery, the training is integral to his battalion’s readiness. By the end of the day, more than 30 soldiers had safely loaded and unloaded thousands of tons of equipment.

“This is a key part of our Level 2 Deployment Readiness Exercise,” said Sontag. “When we are ready to deploy, we now have teams trained who can get the batteries loaded safely.”

• Date Taken: 07.28.2022
• Date Posted: 07.28.2022 14:11
• Story ID: 426030
• Location: FORT SILL, OK, US