Photo By Ronald A. Reeves | Sgt. 1st Class David Stutz and Staff Sgt. Cynthia Traverse give Future Soldiers at the...... read more read more
WATERVLIET, N.Y. - Future Soldiers bound for Army Basic Training came from four states Saturday, May 16 to the Albany Recruiting Battalion’s Mega Future Soldier Event on Watervliet Arsenal, New York’s parade field.
Recruiting centers from New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont brought young men and women to participate in a physical fitness test, teambuilding exercises and to visit military occupational specialty displays.
The 210 Future Soldiers and potential Future Soldiers also used lensatic compasses to perform land navigation and participated in drill and ceremony exercises to familiarize themselves prior to basic training.
The displays included an M1A1 Abrams Tank, a UH-60 Black Hawk Helicopter, Explosive Ordnance Disposal, military rifles, a field expedient kitchen, military working dogs and examples of transportation, to include 12 vehicles.
The Mega Future Soldier Event began with the landing of the helicopter and Future Soldiers participated in a two-mile esprit-de-corps run and later tug-of-war games. One highlight for the recruits from Albany Recruiting Battalion’s four-state area was experiencing scenarios they will encounter from their drill sergeants.
“It’s rare to get a chance to interact with drill sergeants prior to basic training,” said Sgt. 1st Class David Stutz, a combat veteran and Army Reserve Drill Sergeant who participated in the Mega Future Soldier Event.
One potential female Future Soldier from Bear Mountain Recruiting Company area said that she found the Mega Future Soldier event “a lot of fun” and that the displays of weapons and the EOD display, as well as the landing of the Black hawk was “really cool.” She added that she won’t be so “freaked out” by female drill instructors at basic training now that she and fellow Future Soldiers experienced it firsthand.
A potential male Future Soldier, excited about qualifying for military intelligence, said that the Meals Ready To Eat were “pretty tasty” as he heated his Mexican Chicken Stew with the water activated heater. Some Future Soldiers were surprised to find M&Ms Candy in the bags and already were acting like Soldiers when they began “horse trading” parts of their MREs with others after the tug-of-war contests.
Many Future Soldiers were eager to get tips and pointers on M-16 and M4 rifles, knowing that they will be required to qualify at basic training. Although no actual ammunition was used, soldiers from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum, provided pointers, tips and techniques for Future Soldiers eager to learn more.
A number of Future Soldiers donned the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Suit and found a new appreciation for that MOS, commented on the weight of the suit and the heat inside while simulating the retrieval of a dummy mortar shell.
Always popular at any venue or Army event are military working dogs and Astor and Suzie were no exception. Both were trained at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas and amazed the onlookers with their retrieval and attack skills.
Albany Recruiting Battalion Sgt. Major Darrick Hazley said that he was proud of his NCOs and Soldiers who made the event a success and thanked the Soldiers from Fort Drum as well.
| Date Taken: | 05.16.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.24.2015 15:59 |
| Story ID: | 167984 |
| Location: | WATERVLIET, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 173 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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