50th IBCT Lightning Strike

FORT DRUM, NY, UNITED STATES

08.15.2012

Courtesy Story

44th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs

FORT DRUM, N.Y.—Ten soldiers from the New Jersey Army National Guard’s 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, headquartered in Lawrenceville, N.J., were injured as a result of a lightning strike in their training area Monday night.

All soldiers were treated and released from Carthage and Samaritan hospitals for their injuries as a result of a lightning strike in their training area that occurred at about 8:30 p.m.

Six of the 10 soldiers returned to normal duties the next day. Four soldiers remained under medical evaluation by medics assigned to the Brigade. According to reports, the Soldiers were attending a training meeting inside a tent when the strike occurred on Range 23.

Approximately 2,000 New Jersey Army National Guard personnel of the 50th are conducting Annual Training at New York’s North Country military post that is home to the 10th Mountain Division.

The New Jersey National Guard organization started its 15-day annual training period Aug. 8, and all soldiers are expected to return home by Aug. 24. The soldiers training represent all 21 counties of the Garden State, with some members from New York and Pennsylvania, as well.

Soldiers of the Brigade are conducting combat and combat service support training as part of the U.S. Army’s Force Generation Model, known as ARFORGEN. The Brigade and personnel served in Iraq 2008 to 2009. Under the Army’s training and mobilization doctrine, personnel are in the third year of preparing for deployment in the event of a crisis and federal call up for a contingency operation around the world.

• Date Taken: 08.15.2012
• Date Posted: 08.15.2012 16:52
• Story ID: 93282
• Location: FORT DRUM, NY, US