Photo By Staff Sgt. Derek M. Smith | Stacy Wegner, a special effects team member for Allied Container Systems, Inc. (ACS),...... read more read more
GARRISON WAINWRIGHT, Alberta – The horrors of the battlefield can be jarring and test even the strongest military personnel’s mettle. During the Canadian military’s largest exercise of the year, Exercise Maple Resolve 2014 (EX MR14) here May 5-June 1, one group endeavors to present troops with the reality of war in an effort to better equip them to face such horrors.
“Somebody who hasn’t had a chance to witness the real graphic nature of someone who got a bad wound may turn white and walk away,” explained Stacy Wegner, a special effects team member for Allied Container Systems, Inc. (ACS), a contracted firm which assists militaries with troop training. “I witnessed that in the training exercise - someone who turned tail and ran away. That’s the moment of truth.”
Utilizing a force of actors and translators augmented with a full wardrobe and constructed training sites which simulate real-world environments, ACS has developed its services through the last eight years to better train military forces to the challenges and often horrific face of war. Wegner’s unique talent of film special effects makeup enables him to present trainees with graphic and truly realistic injuries and casualties through a variety of makeup, appliances and moldings. Training simulations include burn victim, severed limbs, blast damage and various body traumas.
Such images can have a profound effect on troops in the field and affect their ability to conduct the mission. In a situation where every second counts, service members who are unprepared for such shocks may freeze or lose their ability to function appropriately.
“It’s better to have it here now, than expose it in theatre,” remarked Gary Lorimer, ACS managing field director. “This program really brings out that you have it or you don’t. You can either handle the situation or you can’t and this really pushes it to the extreme.”
The contractor’s ability to embed in every aspect of training exercise like EX MR14 are crucial to preparing troops for every contingency, said Lorimer. By involvement in each step from planning through review, trainers can better equip military forces with proper response to the handling of military, civilian or enemy casualty response. Contractor partnerships like this carry great importance to the modern war fighter training doctrines in step with Private Public Partnerships, such as the U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) Command’s latest P3i initiative program. Currently, seven USAR units support EX MR14.
“I can go anywhere I need to go with a backstage pass,” said Lorimer. “So any exercises we are being part of, I can best accommodate (appropriate training methods).”
ACS has trained troops in Canada, Great Britain and the United States for more than eight years, through more than 30 exercises, said Lorimer. During EX MR14, approximately 5,500 Canadian, British and American troops are participating in the cumulating collective training event that validates the Canadian Army’s High Readiness force for operations assigned through the Canadian government through the Chief of Defense Staff.
| Date Taken: | 05.15.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 05.15.2014 14:43 |
| Story ID: | 129950 |
| Location: | GARRISON WAINWRIGHT, ALBERTA, CA |
| Web Views: | 844 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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