Photo By Kimberly Hackbarth | Soldiers with Company C “Chaos,” 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment drag a...... read more read more
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YAKIMA TRAINING CENTER, Wash. – Nearly seven months after their redeployment from a 15-month tour to Iraq, the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division was notified they would deploy ahead of schedule in 2009, and time suddenly became a luxury.
In the remaining months left at home station, the brigade scrambled to squeeze out as much training time for its units as possible.
Now, in 2011, with another deployment behind them, the brigade knows that time is just as valuable as fuel or ammunition.
Soldiers of the brigade have almost the entire month of October on the ranges here to meet requirements in preparation for next year’s projected training cycle.
“(Prior to the 2009 YTC rotation) we had gotten accelerated before we were even supposed to be in the collective phase of training, so when we got told, ‘Hey, here is when your latest arrival date is in the theater and here’s where your (Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La.) rotation date is going to start.’ We were basically … getting land whenever we could,” said Sgt. Maj. Brian Hollis, the brigade operations sergeant major.
In the short amount of time the brigade then had available, it was sending a battalion over to YTC from Fort Lewis a week at time, and sometimes companies for a couple days where they focused on gunnery and ensured the crews’ proficiency, said Hollis.
Similar to their last rotation, each battalion again has its own training plan with guidance from the brigade commander.
While the core competencies and qualifications remain the same, aspects such as training venues have changed.
In addition, the focus of the fight has changed, with the brigade transitioning from counter-insurgency operations to full spectrum operations.
“It’s just a different type of battle drill, (and a) different obstacle we have to overcome really,” said Spc. Joshua Ewing an infantryman assigned to Company C “Chaos,” 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, and native of Lubbock, Texas. “Instead of moving through a house, we’re moving through a trench.”
During C Company’s training, soldiers conducted a platoon live-fire, Oct. 11, at a range here.
Alongside members of 38th Engineer Company, Chaos soldiers breached a triple-strand, concertina wire fence using Bangalore torpedoes. Once past the obstacle, they traversed the terrain using bounding movements and suppressive fire to assault a trench where notional enemies were operating.
Soldiers leapt down into the trench and threw training grenades to eliminate the enemy. In the process, one soldier was “injured” by enemy fire and immediately medically evacuated from the battlefield.
Once the trenches were cleared, everyone headed back to their Strykers to return to their base for an after-action review.
Soldiers from the brigade said they appreciate the amount of training they are receiving.
“The training this time is way better, because last time we just had one position for gunnery and shot at pop-up targets,” said Spc. Adam McHenry, an infantryman from Zanesville, Ohio. “This time we did a whole bunch of stuff. We …shot pop-up targets as we were moving, we did a gas drill, we had to put on our masks and shoot.”
With several weeks left in the training rotation, a second rotation to YTC in a few months and a trip to the National Training Center next summer, soldiers of the brigade will be afforded the opportunity of time to prepare and be ready for whatever mission comes next.
| Date Taken: | 10.11.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 10.17.2011 13:32 |
| Story ID: | 78623 |
| Location: | YAKIMA TRAINING CENTER, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 381 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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