Courtesy Photo | National Guard engineer support platoons use drills that employ a mixture of water and...... read more read more
By Staff Sgt. Matt Scotten
Camp Atterbury Public Affairs
CAMP ATTERBURY JOINT MANEUVER TRAINING CENTER – National Guard soldiers from the 243rd Engineer Support Platoon of Cumberland, Md., received training on how to drill potable water wells here Jan. 11.
The 243rd are here training on drilling wells for their upcoming deployment to the Horn of Africa later this year. Supporting the African well mission is new for Camp Atterbury, which in the past has focused much of its assets and facilities on training service members for deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Along with supporting this new mission, the training was also conducted in a new fashion. In the past, units training to drill wells were given only one and a half hours of time actually operating the equipment. The equipment soldiers were trained on was sometimes outdated and failed to adequately prepare soldiers to operate the equipment they were expected to use once they were deployed, said Camp Atterbury Post Commander Col. Todd D. Townsend. The 243rd ESP, however, had 25 hours of time on the equipment, which is exactly the same equipment they expect to use in Africa.
Aside from their training here, four of the soldiers from the 243rd were sent to a six-week school in China Lake, Calif., to receive more in-depth training on the science behind well-drilling before even coming to Camp Atterbury.
“We’ve learned a lot about how to drill through various geological features such as clay, shale, rock, sand, gravel and mud,” said Frostburg, Md., native Sgt. 1st Class James E. Pennington, Well-Drilling Team noncommissioned officer in charge. “I feel like my soldiers and I are extremely well-prepared for our deployment.”
Pennington and the other soldiers of the 243rd are excited about the unique mission to Africa.
“Without water, life cannot exist. It’s great having a mission where you can actually see the physical rewards to the people we are being sent other there to help,” said Pennington.
Spc. Bill R. Ramey, a Petersburg, W.Va., native and driller for the 243rd, has been in the unit for 23 years and feels very comfortable deploying with them. “This is a really tight group. We’ve had some really good training here and we know really well how to work together,” he said.
Townsend said the well drilling training benefited all involved from start to finish.
“This whole project has been great for the base,” he said. “Not only were we able to offer some great training to these soldiers before they deploy, but we have gained an asset in this well that would have been very expensive to have built by other means.”
| Date Taken: | 01.11.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 01.14.2011 15:53 |
| Story ID: | 63578 |
| Location: | CAMP ATTERBURY JOINT MANEUVER TRAINING CENTER, INDIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 42 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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