Photo By Staff Sgt. Candace Mundt | Soldiers of A Company, 83rd Civil Affairs Battalion pull security around a UH-60 Black...... read more read more
Subscribe
FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Soldiers from Alpha Company, 83rd Civil Affairs Battalion conducted casualty and team evacuation training February 27 to 28, at Fort Bragg, NC.
The training was conducted during the day and night in preparation for the unit’s upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.
Even though the company will be deploying with most of its battalion, the soldiers of Alpha Company, must learn to survive in small, four-man teams.
“Since we operate in small numbers it’s one of the things we always have to be prepared to execute in the event we find ourselves in a remote location having to do this kind of thing,” said Maj. Carlos Moya, Alpha Company company commander, about the training the unit was conducting those two days.
“Setting up a landing zone, with or without casualties, calling in a helicopter, it goes beyond just our combat deployment, it’s something we can do anywhere around the world,” Moya continued.
The first day focused strongly on combat casualty care and evacuation. It was mainly a test for each of the team medics.
“We had to treat the casualty, call in a medical evacuation and immediately transport the casualty out of there,” said Pfc. William Walker, a team medic.
Walker expressed the importance of the life-like training.
“You’re not only treating a patient, but you’re having a realistic experience with the hand off, so when you’re down range you know what they expect,” Walker said about interacting with the flight crew during casualty evacuation.
According to Walker, being a medic will also help his team interact with many of the locals wherever they are sent. He said, civil affairs medics are trained to give animal immunizations, conduct water treatment and more.
The second day was more about moving as a team to and from the helicopter without a casualty.
“One team is doing all the calling in, marking the helicopter landing zone and then the two other teams will take their turns posturing into the helicopter,” Moya said. “They’ll get to fly around, come back down and then they’ll just keep rotating teams.”
Each team tried different methods of loading and unloading, working with and without extra gear to simulate different scenarios.
After much trial and error, the teams began to flow smoothly on and off the bird, building confidence and cohesion with one another.
For many Alpha Company soldiers, this will be their first trip into the war zone as civil affairs support.
“I was field artillery before I became civil affairs,” said Sgt. 1st Class Ronnie Mason, a team noncommissioned officer in Alpha Company and qualified pathfinder, who helped lead the training for both days.
Mason is excited about the new career and the opportunities that go along with it.
“I’m a people-person, and you get to interact with people on a regular basis,” Mason said. “It seemed like I could make a big difference in civil affairs helping out the local populace.”
“I love the people I work with, the freedom we have, and the different types of missions,” he continued. “It’s not the same thing every day.”
| Date Taken: | 02.28.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 03.28.2013 14:44 |
| Story ID: | 104249 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 216 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Civil Affairs unit conducts evacuation training, by SFC Taresha Hill and SSG Candace Mundt, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
