Photo By Sgt. David Nye | Engineers with Company A, 508th Brigade Special Troops Battalion rush to the aid of...... read more read more
FORT IRWIN, Calif. - The Paratroopers arranged in a semi-circle around the briefers as first the commander and then 1st Sgt. briefed them on the upcoming mission before they left Forward Operating Base Denver Wednesday night to conduct route clearance operations, saving their fellow Paratroopers from the ravages of improvised explosive devices.
The IEDs, thankfully, are fake. The engineers of A Company, 508th Special Troops Battalion, are real and are halfway through a 14-day training rotation at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin to train for the real thing.
“The company got a lot of people in the last few months and we’ve been training on our main tasks,” said Spc. Elliot Matthews, a combat engineer and primary aid and litter team member assigned to the Sapper Platoon of A Company.
Many of the engineers in the Sapper platoon are new to the unit, including Matthews who has been in the Army only 10 months.
“I have 13 guys here, counting myself and the platoon sergeant, and probably six or seven of us got here in the last month or so,” said 2nd Lt. Alexander Withenbury, Sapper Platoon Leader.
The training can be intense for new engineers, some of whom have had little exposure to the procedures and tools outside of the classroom.
We’re throwing all this stuff at them at the guys at once,” said Withenbury, “so it can seem like they’re going slow, but they’re actually picking it up really fast.”
Withenbury hopes to train the platoon on some of their more traditional roles as sappers, but is flexible to what the unit’s needs are. The Sapper Platoon is on it’s way to support the Professionals of 2nd Battalion, 321st Airborne Field Artillery Regiment.
“We’re heading to FOB Miami to link up with Pro and a lot of what we train on is dependent on them,” said Withenbury. “They give me their mission set and I bring what I want and we negotiate it. I’d like to be in a Sapper role, act as a breach asset for their maneuver guys.”
Matthews also wanted to train more on traditional roles and wants to practice operations where it’s hardest.
“I’d love to get more training on core engineer tasks, especially in urban operations,” he said. “They’re riskier and carry more weight than rural operations.”
The training for the Fury Brigade in NTC is focused on a combination of realism and overwhelming the units, throwing more at them than they would usually see.
When we got to what we see as our second engagement area, things went really crazy,” said Withenbury.
In the engagement, his vehicle was hit by a large IED and another vehicle was hit an even larger one, he said. This happened as simulated mortars and small arms fire began pelting the vehicles.
The training went well though, with the men continuing to fight as a team.
“My guys did a great job sticking to the plan,” said Withenbury. “The guys kept everyone informed.”
The training also gave good improvement points for the platoon.
“I’d like to improve upon speed, it felt like we were slow,” said Withenbury. “We spent a lot of time stationary,” Withenbury said.
Still, the training successes are giving the men confidence.
“The company has seen a lot of changes, but it has really come together in the last month,” said Matthews. “It’s becoming one of the premiere units in the Army.”
| Date Taken: | 09.14.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 09.17.2011 10:50 |
| Story ID: | 77183 |
| Location: | FORT IRWIN, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 79 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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