Photo By Sgt. 1st Class David Bruce | Sgt. Arron Kemp rushes into a "glasshouse" rehearsal followed by Sgt. Paul Meyer...... read more read more
CAMP ATTEBURY JOINT MANEUVER TRAINING CENTER, Ind. - Sgt. Paul Meyer held his arms back and away from his body in a downward angle towards the ground. Without a word, the seven soldiers in his wake formed into a wedge formation as they moved across an open, overgrown field on a heading that Meyer had determined earlier. Their destination was a watch tower on the opposite side of the field. Their progress was slow and methodical, routinely halting to scan their immediate surroundings. Another group of soldiers were already approaching the watch tower when a small pop and a shower of yellow talcum powder issued from the midst of this other group.
This is just one of the many tasks soldiers at Camp Atterbury performed during annual Army Warrior Training this month to remain proficient with key skills required of today’s Army personnel.
The event has the soldiers traveling in a round robin to train and test for 13 tasks required of today’s soldiers. While the primary mission of soldiers stationed at Camp Atterbury is to train mobilizing soldiers, the trainers themselves need to keep current on the subjects which they teach.
“We’re expecting about 600 soldiers to go through the training this year,” said Staff Sgt. Brian Schnurpel, the tactical operations center non-commissioned officer-in-charge. “In addition to the [Installation Support Unit] soldiers, personnel from the 205th Infantry Brigade are also going through the training.”
With so many soldiers being trained, coordinating their movements to and from the various stations becomes an important factor to ensure everyone receives the training and soldiers do not spend an inordinate amount of time waiting at the stations, said Schnurpel.
“The training stations are laid-out in a circle in the woods. This requires the teams to plot a course using land navigation techniques,” he said. “The teams will then move tactically, using various formations to get to the stations. Along the way, they will make contact with the tactical operations center and make spot reports, situation reports and when they arrive and depart a station.”
The communications allows the TOC to reroute teams to other stations and train on their skills as well.
Despite being conducted in a relatively small area, dense foliage and terrain features increased the difficulty in locating the stations. To compound matters, a number of simulated improvised explosive devices were planted along trails and likely avenues of approach, challenging soldiers to be more aware of their surroundings, or return from training covered in yellow talcum powder.
During the daylong event, the teams had to cross a stream using rope bridges four times, scale a steep hill for the call for indirect fire station, weave their way through the woods to other stations for training on crew served weapons and medical training. At the two-rope bridge they had to get themselves and Bob across.
Bob is a 190-pound dummy strapped into a stretcher. Bob was connected to the top rope of the bridge via ropes and carabineers.
The soldiers tied rope harnesses around their chests and hooked on to the top rope with a carabineer. One team member would advance, pulling Bob along with a length of cord, while another would follow behind.
“They have to make a total of four crossings; three on single-line ropes using Swiss-seats and one crossing on a double-line rope with the chest harness,” said Sgt. 1st Class David Duke, the station non-commissioned officer-in-charge. “Where they get in to trouble here is when Bob causes the rope to oscillate,” said Duke.
When that happens, people can loose their balance and slip from the rope. The chest harness keeps them from falling into the stream. Soldiers recover from falling by swinging their legs back onto the bottom rope one at a time and regaining their balance before proceeding.
“Once they get Bob to the other side, they will call for a medevac,” said Duke. “This is probably the most physically demanding event, crossing the ropes is a lot harder than it looks.”
Another demanding station was urban operations station which required the teams to assault a building and perform room clearing. The soldiers first practiced dry runs in a “glasshouse,” an area marked off with white engineer tape. After a couple dry runs, the teams would stack up to enter the building. The trainers, however, had a few challenges for the soldiers.
Peering around the corner toward the door to the two-story structure, Staff Sgt. Eric Allman reported what he was able to see. “There’s a door halfway down, a window between us and the door and a guy with a camera.”
The team of six rushed around the corner and lined up adjacent to the door, ducking under the window as they advanced.
Allman surveyed the door, looking for traps. Not finding any, he gave the door a solid kick.
However, the door was trapped and a simulated improvised explosive device detonated.
Sgt. Michael Tamba, the second man in the stack, threw a grenade simulator into the room. Once the grenade detonated, the remaining members of the team followed Tamba into the structure in rapid succession, according the procedures rehearsed in the glasshouse. A loud bang from a simulated improvised explosive device signified that another trap had been found the hard way. The team members began shouting their status: six up, five up, as they continued their operation.
“This is a lot better than we thought it was going to be, to tell the truth,” Allman. “We figured that it would a multiple choice, check the box kind of thing,” he said.
Turning to the now six soldiers that followed him, Meyer held his hand to his face, edge parallel to his nose. The soldiers fell into single file as the plunged into the tree line and off to their next station.
| Date Taken: | 10.19.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 10.25.2010 21:22 |
| Story ID: | 58798 |
| Location: | CAMP ATTERBURY, IN, US |
| Web Views: | 88 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Camp Atterbury Soldiers hone skills during Army Warrior Training, by SFC David Bruce, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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