Photo By Lauren Harrah | The 23rd Chemical Battalion, 2nd Inf. Div. deploys an unmanned ground vehicle into an...... read more read more
CAMP STANLEY, South Korea – Soldiers from the 23rd Chemical Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division and 3rd Battalion, 8th U.S. Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division conducted a training exercise to clear sites containing weapons of mass destruction Jan. 27, at Rodriguez Live Fire Range and Camp Stanley, South Korea.
The exercise assures troops are prepared and ready to take on complex and multidimensional missions, embracing readiness and the “Fight Tonight” mission.
“We are doing sequential clearing of suspected WMD sites,” said Maj. Matthew Lee, executive officer of 3-8th Cav.
The initial assault began at Rodriguez Live Fire Range, where troops dressed in full nuclear, biological, chemical protection suits moved in and secured a number of buildings.
Soldiers gathered valuable information, sensitive items, and collaborated with a team of chemical experts to remove any potential threats from the area.
“Two infantry companies executed in essence a raid to secure the site, and then we bring in our chemical experts to make sure they do their job in exploiting and eliminating the threat so it doesn’t harm anyone in the immediate area,” said Lee.
During the raid, Soldiers gathered valuable information and sensitive items in order to descend upon the final objective, an underground facility at Camp Stanley.
“We received intel that there was another site up here and moved our second company by air, via Chinooks, to here,” said Lee.
Troops air assaulted into Camp Stanley, where they foot marched toward the subterranean facility. After securing their position around the entrance of the facility, a team of Soldiers used cutting torches to breach the entrance.
An unmanned ground vehicle was then deployed into the facility to provide visuals to the troops posted around the exterior, ready to disable any weapons of mass destruction housed inside.
“It’s keeping us on our toes and ready to go at anytime,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jerod Chiods, 1st Sgt. of Company A, 3-8th Cav.
Still relatively new to the landscape, with the main body having arrived on the Peninsula Oct. 15, 2014, 3-8th Cav. is learning to adapt to difficult terrain.
“It’s just the weather, atmosphere, and a lot of elevation,” said Chiods. “In Fort Hood, (Texas) we have elevation and downslopes but its more flat terrain. Everywhere you go here it’s either uphill or downhill. There’s no flat terrain and my Soldiers are getting used to that.”
Soldiers began preparing for this exercise in 2014 while completing a similar mission at Fort Hood. In order to complete this mission in South Korea, troops have learned to make necessary adjustments.
“The one thing that I can take back is that our Soldiers are extremely resilient,” said Lt. Col. Elliott Rogers, commander of 3-8th Cav. “They are able to transition from 110 degree weather, where we did the same exercise back at Fort Hood in July 2014, to today where they did it in 20 degree weather. The Soldiers are able to adapt from the desert terrain to the woodland, mountainous terrain here. They didn’t miss a beat.”
To execute this mission troops worked from the ground up.
“We did situational training lanes, where the Soldiers were able to start at the team level,” said Rogers. “They were able to do the battle drills at the team level to get confident and competent in their drills and then be able to progress to the squad level. And then today we brought it together at the company level.”
Leaders said troops attacked their mission with proficiency.
“They’ve stepped up to the challenge,” said Chiods. “Every time myself and my company commander throw something new at them, they adapt and overcome. I couldn’t ask for anything more from my Soldiers.”
Moving forward into this quarter, Chiods hopes his troops can put all of their preparation into practice and execute the training ahead.
“The Soldiers here, after 90 days on the Peninsula, are doing a great job of taking advantage of every training opportunity,” said Rogers. “We really appreciate all the support that 2nd Inf. Div. has shown us.”
| Date Taken: | 01.27.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 01.30.2015 02:38 |
| Story ID: | 153111 |
| Location: | CAMP STANLEY, KR |
| Hometown: | FORT CAVAZOS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 383 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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