Photo By Brian Godette | Soldiers with the 246th Quartermaster Mortuary Affairs Company, salute the the remains...... read more read more
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FORT PICKETT, Va. - In Laurence Binyon's poem about remembrance, “For the Fallen” he writes, “They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.”
Within the U.S. Army, there are a small group of dedicated men and women who ensure that America's fallen sons and daughters are never forgotten and that they are treated with the utmost dignity, reverence, and respect.
These men and women are Mortuary Affairs Specialists.
For the first time in the history of Army Mortuary Affairs, five Army Reserve units and one active component unit, conducted a full-scale Mortuary Affairs Exercise, here, May 23-June 6, 2015.
The 246th Quartermaster Mortuary Affairs Company and the 311th Quartermaster Mortuary Affairs Company, both from Puerto Rico; the 387th Quartermaster Mortuary Affairs Company from Los Angeles; 673rd Quartermaster Mortuary Affairs Company from Dover, Delaware, and the 1019th Quartermaster Mortuary Affairs Company from Staten Island, N.Y., joined the 54th Quartermaster Mortuary Affairs Company from nearby Fort Lee, Virginia, in the exercise.
“This is a mortuary affairs exercise focused on mortuary affairs training for mortuary affairs specialists,” said Capt. Armando Pantajo, 246th commander and MAX theatre operations commander.
“It's very exciting for the Soldiers because they are sharing their knowledge with other units and they are conducting all their duties in one specific exercise,” Pantajo said.
Simulating the real-world
The mortuary affairs Soldiers experienced several simulated real-world scenarios which included search and recovery operations, setting up and running Mortuary Affairs Collection Points, and manning Theater Mortuary Evacuation Points. Every unit rotated through each of the scenarios to give everyone an opportunity to learn and grow.
“The goal was to make this more realistic to what the Soldiers would see in theater, as well as have them go through the tasks we are supposed to train in as mortuary affairs,” said 1st Lt. Alexander Ruiz, with the 246th and MAX planner.
Soldiers from the 387th received coordinates to help them find simulated remains in a search and recovery operation.
After mapping the coordinates, they set out on their search. Once they arrived, the platoon-sized element conducted the search, diligently combing the area for any signs of remains. Eventually, on top of a broken down tanker truck, they found the simulated, charred, skeletal remains of a fallen Soldier.
“It's basically the same as real-life deployment situations, with the exception of us using mannequins,” said Pantajo.
The 387th Soldiers reacted quickly, handling the remains with the utmost care, as observer/controllers from the 54th watched and evaluated.
“Training is very vital to this MOS (military occupational specialty) because you have to have it down pat,” said Sgt. Brita Peterman, 54th observer/controller.
While many of the younger Soldiers said they had not deployed, the exercise provided them and their more experienced counterparts, the opportunity to ask questions and get feedback on ways to improve their skills.
Peterman, who has deployed twice, said that being an active duty Soldier and sharing her knowledge with the Army Reserve Soldiers gave her a sense of pride.
“They [Army Reserve Soldiers] just run with it,” Peterman said.
Soldiers from the 54th arrived at a collection point after working with Soldiers from the 311th to recover a fallen Soldier from a downed helicopter.
“Interfacing with the reserve units is paramount,” aid Staff Sgt. Ryan Deymonaz, a mortuary affairs specialist with the 54th. “Back to back deployments are extremely tough on families, extremely tough on individuals, so being able to share the combat load is amazing.”
Once at the collection point the Soldiers from the 54th transferred the remains to Soldiers from the 246th, who manned the Mobile Integrated Remains Collection System – a mobile, containerized processing unit which can process up to 20 remains per day.
“At the collection point we receive the remains, and when they get here we honor them with a small ceremony before they go into the administrative/amnesty area,” said Sgt. Jose Soto, a mortuary affairs specialist with the 246th. “They check all the paper work which needs to be turned in and once that is confirmed, we move the remains into the processing area. In the processing area we take care of all the personal effects of the Soldier and prepare the body for movement.”
Once the remains leave the MACP, final preparations are made at the theatre mortuary evacuation point where the remains are placed into a steel transfer case draped with an American flag. From there, the transfer case is carried out to waiting transportation in a formal manner, as mortuary affairs Soldiers render crisp military salutes.
Team effort
The MAX event wasn't all about mortuary affairs training. Quite the contrary. Without communication, transportation, logistics, administrative support, engineers, and even food service, the mortuary affairs specialists would have a difficult time doing their jobs.
Mortuary affairs teams coordinated, via radio, with other teams at collection points, engineers handled emergencies when equipment failed, transportation and logistics planned and executed theater evacuation of remains, and the food service personnel kept everyone fed.
Just like any other large-scale military exercise, the MAX highlighted and tested the capabilities across a broad spectrum of military occupational specialties.
“If we are not here, the mission can not be completed,” said Spc. Joshua Cintron, an engineer with the 246th. “It's not only about getting our fallen Soldiers home, but how they get them home. We support them.”
“When we train, it's never this in depth, we don't normally have the supplies to train like this at home,” said Spc. Devan Mistry, a mortuary affairs specialist with the 1019th. “Coming out here to this exercise really prepared me and put all of us on our 'A' game.”
Emotional toll
While the training exercise was just that, training, the gravity of the job the Soldiers conduct in real life was always evident during each scenario.
“Dealing with the remains of fallen Soldiers, who wear the same uniform as me, is difficult, because sometime I feel like that can be me,” Soto said.
“It's hard. Emotions run high sometimes,” Mistry added.
Many of the Soldiers expressed the importance of relying on their battle buddies for support.
“The most challenging aspect of being a mortuary affairs specialist is teaching Soldiers how to deal with the emotions that come along with processing the remains, disassociating themselves with the struggles that come with the job,” Deymonaz said.
“Master and resiliency training, which we integrate every quarter, is key in coping with the stresses of the MOS, and in addition to that we receive support from the Chaplain and Combat Stress Support Team,” Pantajo said.
“We are providing service to those fallen heroes who gave the final sacrifice,” said Ruiz. “The goal is to make sure the Soldiers have good training so they can go back with the knowledge and expertise to implement that in the battlefield or any where in the world with dignity, reverence and respect.”
And like Binyon's poem, these men and women, who have a difficult job, do so with a full understanding of what it means to the families of the fallen.
“I try to focus on the idea that I am doing the best for a fallen hero that died fighting for our freedom,” Soto said. “Not everybody can do this type of job and someone has to do this. I love what I do, and it's an honor for me to care of a fallen hero.”
| Date Taken: | 06.01.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.03.2015 09:29 |
| Story ID: | 165270 |
| Location: | FORT PICKETT, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 1,219 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Dignity, Reverence, Respect: Army Reserve Mortuary Affairs Exercise 2015, by Brian Godette, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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