BAGHDAD - Two Humvees filled with soldiers roll down a deserted street in Iraq. The lead vehicle runs over a pressure plate that triggers an improvised explosive device.
Instead of an explosion, an earpiercing alarm sounds. A truck drives up next to the Humvees and two trainers instruct the soldiers to get out of the vehicle. The training is over.
The soldiers involved in the exercise are part of the Counter-IED training conducted by Task Force Troy on Camp Victory and Camp Slayer, Iraq.
“We are here to teach soldiers counter-IED awareness and to let them know what type of IEDs are being used by insurgents currently in Iraq,” said Chief Petty Officer Xavier Gamez from Victorville, Calif., and a C-IED course instructor with Task Force Troy on Victory Base Complex.
Throughout the course, the students are taught how the enemy constructs, places and detonates IEDs. Gamez said they set up different types of IEDs encountered by U.S. and Iraqi security forces, like pressure plate or command-wire detonated IEDs out
in the training lanes to test the soldiers’ ability to recognize the threats or the signs that an IED may be there.
“We are taking what happens in the real world and implementing them in this class,” he said.
Along with the classroom and hands-on training, this course also helps the soldiers remain focused on the dangers that are still out there, said Mike Droubay, a civilian instructor for the C-IED course.
“It’s important to keep people from getting complacent,” he said. “Just because a service member has deployed before doesn’t mean it’s the same, months or years later. The enemy changes their tactics, techniques and procedures all the time.”
Staff Sgt. Brent Benes, a squad leader with the 1167th Brigade Support Company, 67th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, and native of Raymond, Neb., said that soldiers need to remain adaptive to the changes in enemy tactics.
“Once we can get a better idea of how IEDs are used against us, we can form new TTPs to defeat them,” said Benes, who recently completed the C-IED course.
During the three-day course, the soldiers get both classroom and hands-on training. The first day is classroom instruction. The second and third days consist of different field exercises that give soldiers a chance to sharpen their IED detection skills, which isn’t always easy to do.
“It’s always a challenge while in a vehicle … trying to locate the indicators of an IED,” said Benes. “The class exercises helped make it easier to identify the indicators and warning signs of an IED.”
After completing the course, the soldiers are then certified and take the knowledge back to their units to train their battle buddies.
“When they go back to their units they are able to provide realistic IED training to their Soldiers that have not had any experience with IEDs,” said Gamez.
“I will be taking what I learned back to my unit and will be applying it in the field,” said Benes. “It’s good to have this knowledge if we go outside the wire.”
After the IED alarm was shut off and the soldiers dismounted the Humvees, the instructors talked to them and asked them what they just learned.
“To be more vigilant when looking for IEDs,” said a soldier standing in one of the turrets.
With that, the soldiers got back in their Humvee to run through the training lane again. This time, they got it right.
| Date Taken: |
12.20.2010 |
| Date Posted: |
01.03.2011 08:56 |
| Story ID: |
62934 |
| Location: |
BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: |
50 |
| Downloads: |
0 |
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