Photo By 1st Lt. Marisa Lindsay | A Soldier with the 207th Engineer Utility Detachment, Alaska Army National Guard,...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – Alaska Army National Guardsmen from the 207th Engineer Utilities Detachment, 49th Theater Gateway and 208th Construction Management conducted joint training on ice bridging at Walden Lake on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Jan. 25-26.
The sub-freezing temperatures and snow provided the AKARNG Soldiers ample opportunity for realistic arctic readiness training scenarios.
“This is the first field exercise we’ve held for our Soldiers and we picked the perfect weekend for it,” said Staff Sgt. John Cupp, construction operations sergeant for the 207th Engineer Utilities Detachment. “The temperature was about 15 degrees and it was snowing, which gave our Soldiers first-hand experience in the importance of utilizing their military-issued cold-weather clothing systems to stay safe and warm while conducting their mission.”
Along with the ice bridging construction mission and snowshoeing exercises, the Soldiers were also given cold-weather survival training, which was instructed by Tech Sgt. Benjamin Westveer, a Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape instructor with the 176th Wing.
“Being able to co-train with other units and uniforms is ideal because in reality that’s how we operate,” Cupp said. “Getting Tech. Sgt. Westveer, who’s with the Air Force, here to help train our guys gives our Soldiers the big-picture about how things work. We are all in it together regardless of uniform.”
The Soldiers began their training weekend with education on the mathematical formulas used to develop the required ice thickness necessary to support heavy-vehicle weight in order to properly construct their ice bridge on Walden Lake. Using an ice auger and the single-digit temperatures, the Soldiers collected the water from the lake itself to thicken the ice.
“We are looking forward in our training for more opportunities for our Soldiers to get outside and working with the elements,” Cupp said. “We need to make sure we are prepared for any situation. With Alaska being such an extreme-weather state, we need to be ready and trained for anything.”
| Date Taken: | 01.30.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 01.30.2015 14:49 |
| Story ID: | 153169 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, ALASKA, US |
| Web Views: | 247 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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