Photo By Staff Sgt. Michael Crawford | Pfc. Corban Beery, a mechanic with the 758th Maintenance Company, looks out from a gun...... read more read more
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FORT IRWIN, Calif. – Along a bumpy dirt road, a convoy of 17 vehicles moved over rolling hills, on the lookout for trouble. Four gun trucks were spread out amongst the convoy, scanning the horizon for signs of roadside bombs and insurgents. The mission: gather intelligence and reopen a main supply route.
An ear-piercing explosion blasted the front gun truck, and the five occupants died on impact, never knowing a roadside bomb lay just behind a small mound of rocks, as insurgents attacked the rest of the convoy.
“It’s amazing,” said Sgt. Douglas Bonness, a mechanic with the 758th Maintenance Company. “We rolled right over an [improvised explosive device] and didn’t even realize it.”
It’s a revelation some don’t live to voice, but at the National Training Center, soldiers have an opportunity to learn from their mistakes before it’s too late.
Outside the safe zone of Forward Operating Base Warrior at NTC, soldiers equip themselves with the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System for simulated combat, which works similar to laser tag, allowing soldiers to experience live-fire combat without using live ammunition. It also allows for simulation of explosions, like the roadside bombs frequently encountered in Iraq and Afghanistan.
So why is a company of mechanics running battle drills in the Mojave Desert?
“These missions help improve leadership, teamwork and unit cohesion,” said Capt. Tawanda Short, commander of the 758th at NTC. “It improves lateral drills and the recovery process, and it helps develops junior leaders.”
The 758th, based in Columbus, Ohio, provides recovery and maintenance support to the 319th Combat Support Sustainment Brigade at NTC, said Short, a native of Columbus, Ohio. While the focus of the training may not seem to fit into either category of support, the soldiers of the 758th embrace the training as core competencies.
“We need it,” said Spc. Karl Larew, a chemical and biological decontamination specialist with the 758th. “We go out on recovery missions overseas. If a vehicle crashes, we have to go and get it.” The missions at NTC prepare soldiers for the environment they will be in during a deployment, he said.
It can be easy for Reserve soldiers to focus on their occupational specialties to the exclusion of warrior tasks and drills, but these soldiers know their wrenches alone won’t deter the enemy.
“This is my first and foremost job,” said Pfc. Corban Beery, a mechanic with the 758th who manned one of the four gun-truck turrets in the convoy. “Many of us are just out of [advanced individual training] and this gives us areas to improve upon and a chance to work with our unit as a team.”
A convoy can take a lot of planning and offers an exercise in teamwork before the convoy leaves the FOB, said Staff Sgt. Jonathon Scott, a convoy commander with the 758th. “I’ve done several convoys in Iraq, and I take my experience from overseas to here. Having mentors and battle buddies listening to each other helps train based on reality.”
Mentoring from outside the unit helps training as well. The combat trainers in charge of the training lanes thrive off feedback and positive reinforcement to help soldiers make the most of their training.
“The instructors are well-informed and excited about the training,” said 1st Sgt. Russell Toppin with the 758th.
“We try to get away from evaluating what you do wrong and try to make you better,” said Capt. Devon S. Edwards, a planning officer with the 369th Sustainment Brigade serving as a combat trainer at NTC. “We try to sustain the good and improve on other things without negativity.”
Soldiers learned more than reacting to enemy fire and roadside bombs. They learned to identify locals as not just potential enemies, but potential allies. During a simulated encounter with locals stopped on the side of the road, the all-too-common hurdle of the language barrier was avoided thanks to a friendly translator.
“This exercise was great,” said Bonness, a native of Cleveland. Without a translator, a routine identification and vehicle inspection could have taken hours instead of minutes, he said.
In dealing with locals, soldiers also learned how to make use of new equipment being used in theater. The Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment, more commonly referred to as the HIIDE system, uses retinal and fingerprint scans to access FBI databases and confirm identities.
“This training session is very close to what’s experienced overseas,” Toppin said. The training gives soldiers a jump start so they know what to expect while they are deployed, he said.
Soldiers had a chance to apply that jump start by running the lane a second time. After a dry run and an after-action review, the 758th regrouped for a second round and strived to out-do themselves.
“Security definitely improved when we were getting out of the kill zone,” said Bonness. “It’s beneficial for everyone on the convoy; someone might die and you need to react.”
“Everyone did well,” said Scott. “We still made mistakes, but we improved over all.” The soldiers improved their situational awareness and communications, he said.
“Everyone learned something today.”
| Date Taken: | 08.15.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 08.15.2010 16:57 |
| Story ID: | 54621 |
| Location: | FORT IRWIN, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 239 |
| Downloads: | 5 |
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