Courtesy Photo | Sgt. Douglas Sines, 243rd Engineer Support Platoon, Maryland Army National Guard,...... read more read more
CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind. - The 2-337th Training Support Battalion, Team 2, tackled one of their most exciting missions to date: to facilitate training for the 243rd Engineer Support Platoon with the help of Laibe Corporation.
The 243rd ESP, Maryland Army National Guard, Cumberland, Md., is a 13-Soldier team that arrived at Camp Atterbury mid-December to learn all aspects of well drilling to prepare for their mission in Djibouti, Africa. With the help of Laibe Corporation from Indianapolis, Ind., the 243rd ESP was given crucial classroom and hands-on training that will help with their Horn of Africa Mission.
“The team’s role is to facilitate the 243rd training with Laibe Corporation personnel, said Sgt.1st Class Arthur Warren, 2-337th TSB.”We ensure they have the necessary equipment and logistics and provide them with enough assistance as they need to conduct their training.”
The training consists of five days of classroom time at Laibe Corporation in Indianapolis, followed by two weeks of hands--on training at Camp Atterbury.
“The training here at Camp Atterbury is very crucial to our mission in Africa”, said 1st Lt. Jonathan Martinez, Platoon Leader. He added that the purpose of the training is to “prepare them for their missions in Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya where they will produce functioning wells.”
The 243rd ESP will drill down to 300 feet at Range 26, which will produce a working well for future Soldiers to use on Camp Atterbury. The engineer platoon will also dig holes at two other ranges for training purposes to gain valuable experience on well drilling.
A mock ribbon cutting ceremony at Range 26 will be conducted by the engineer platoon symbolizing the transfer of the well from the engineers to the African villagers.
Brock “Bo” Yordy and Brandon Pickerel of Laibe Corporation were the main instructors who assisted in training the 243rd ESP.
“The idea of the training is to get them as many types of ground or soil conditions to drill,” said Yordy. “The platoon was very receptive to the classroom training and actually got to apply lessons learned from the classroom to the field environment.
“The platoon is doing an exceptional job considering they are not experienced drillers.”
Yordy went to say that, “the platoon will set up and stage in Djibouti, drilling 600 foot holes, and will use PVC [polyvinyl chloride] casing as they will during their training at Camp Atterbury. They will also apply hand pumps or solar powered pumps to the casing so the African people can use the water coming out of the wells.”
Camp Atterbury proves to be the ideal place to conduct well-drilling training.
“The big thing with Atterbury is the glaciers and the many different types of terrain we can drill,” said Yordy. At Range 26, they drilled 200,000 -year--old clay and 16,000 -year--old shale sedimentary rock that came from the last ice age, so they’ve seen some really neat stuff.”
Sgt. Douglas Sines has been with the 243rd ESP for nine years and agrees the training in Indianapolis by Laibe Corporation was excellent. For Sines and the other members of his platoon who have never drilled a well before, the training was invaluable.
“We went through mud testing to figure out weight and thickness, mixing, and went over the actual operations of the rig in a classroom environment,” he said.
Assistant Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Peter Hinz from the Maryland National Guard visited the platoon at Camp Atterbury to observe the well-drilling training and mock ribbon cutting ceremony.
“We’re very excited about the well-drilling team here at Camp Atterbury, said Hinz. “It’s the first time for 243rd Engineer Support Platoon with a new mission and a new opportunity for them to learn new skills.”
“They’re excited about their mission going to Africa and furthering our efforts to promote peace around the world,” he continued. “But the other great thing that is good for Camp Atterbury is the fact that it’s the first iteration of training a well-drilling team so it’s a great partnership and a win-win all the way around.”
The 2-337th Training Support Battalion, a subordinate of the 205th Infantry Brigade, conducts pre-mobilization assistance and post-mobilization training of Reserve Component, National Guard and other service forces. The 205th Infantry Brigade executes readiness oversight, post-mobilization training and validation operations in accordance with Army Forces Generation, to provide trained and ready forces to regional combatant commanders for the full spectrum of operations in multiple theaters of operation.
| Date Taken: | 02.01.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 02.01.2011 21:37 |
| Story ID: | 64625 |
| Location: | CAMP ATTERBURY, INDIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 276 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Well Drillers Train at Atterbury, by CPT Elizabeth Brown, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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