Photo By Staff Sgt. Sarah Myrick | Soldiers of the 251st Engineer Company (Sappers) rehearse clearing a building for a...... read more read more
FORT DRUM, N.Y. - National Guard Soldiers from Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Maine worked together during a Multi-echelon Integrated Brigade Training exercise at Fort Drum, New York, June 21-23, 2015.
The MIBT was created and evaluated by Observer Control Trainers who provide feedback to the brigade about their successes and failures during the exercise. The evaluation team also made recommendations in areas where they can improve.
Units from the 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, including the 251st Engineer Company (Sappers) and B Company, 3rd Battalion, 172nd Infantry Regiment (Mountain) worked together for the exercise.
The MIBT began with a 13 mile tactical foot march that led to a pre-determined location downrange from their forward operating base. Soldiers marched through the night enduring thunderstorms and heavy rain, as well as difficult terrain in order to secure fighting positions and reach their objective.
The 13-mile march had additional obstacles, such as security halts, enemy contacts and casualty evacuations. During the engagements Soldiers used blank rounds and Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System gear which provided them with a realistic tactical engagement for their exercise. MILES gear adds to the success of the exercise by alerting OCTs of casualties, adding stress and providing more precise results for improvement of skills.
“Infantry and combat engineers need to work together as a force multiplier,” said Sgt. Thomas Hayden, a combat engineer with the 251st. “Our guys are learning what it’s like to be attached to an infantry unit.”
The combat engineers provide the infantry units with mobility and countermobility assets, which they don’t conventionally have, including demolishing wire obstacles and preparing explosive breaches.
“It’s a big asset to have a whole platoon or company of Sappers that can facilitate our mission,” said 1st Lt. Bill Scull, the executive officer of Company B, 3rd Battalion 172nd Infantry Regiment (Mountain). “They make things a lot easier.”
After a long rainy night, the combat engineers assisted the infantry’s invasion of a village by clearing buildings, blasting breaches and ultimately securing the objective.
Hayden said the infantry is a blunt object and the combat engineers are the sharp edge of the tool. They have specialized training on tasks that the infantry does not.
“We’re able to put the infantry where they couldn’t get before,” said Hayden. “Without Sappers, the infantry’s movement time is doubled if they are able to move at all.”
Soldiers trained for months leading up to this event. Multi-echelon exercises like this only happen about once a year so the two don’t often get to experience training together.
“It’s a mutually beneficial relationship between the infantry and the combat engineers,” said Hayden. “It opens up new options for the infantry and a whole new world of operations for us including training that our guys haven’t seen before in previous operational environments.”
The 251st spent two weeks in the field leading up the exercise honing their combat engineering skills. They trained on individual tasks and then combined all their specific training for the MIBT. Together the infantry and combat engineers rehearsed for the exercise the day before.
“We both need each other,” said Sgt. Dylan Braley, a combat engineer with the 251st. “By training with other units we get to see how all the pieces of a mission fit together.”
Likewise, the infantry had the exercise on their training calendar all year and their drill weekends leading up to annual training had been geared toward the tasks that they needed to conduct at the MIBT.
“We are well trained, ready, and prepared. We’ve worked long and hard and are ready to show our capabilities,” said Scull.
The MIBT helps new Soldiers become familiar with their roles as combat engineers and exposes them to the experience of working in a multi-echelon environment as opposed to the normal training done where it’s just one unit with their specialty.
“We actually have guys that just came in two months ago in the exercise,” said Braley. “They’re going to be able to build off of this, see the big picture and understand how important our job is.”
Braley said when he first started with the 251st they worked on tasks separately and never combined, so it’s great for new soldiers to start out with a training event like this.
“We’re learning how to do our job better than we have in the past,” said Spc. Jeffery Shock, a combat engineer with the 251st. “I think it’s great that we do training like this … we aren’t going to be a stand-alone unit, ever.”
Incorporating Soldiers from out of state and different specialties, the MIBT demonstrated to them that their work is not just done at the local level.
“Everything we do, everything we train for is for a greater purpose,” said Hayden.
| Date Taken: | 06.25.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.25.2015 15:47 |
| Story ID: | 168177 |
| Location: | FORT DRUM, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 984 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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