Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Mary Junell | Soldiers from the North Carolina National Guard’s 105th Engineer Battalion learn how...... read more read more
Subscribe
Soldiers with the North Carolina National Guard’s 105th Engineer Battalion spent part of their annual training learning how to perform swift water rescue at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, North Carolina June 12-13 and 14-15, 2016.
The two day-long course prepared the guardsmen for situations they might face should they be called up to support hurricane or flood relief efforts.
“With North Carolina being one of several southeastern states that are susceptible to hurricanes and other dangerous storms, we must maintain a high state of readiness in order to service our communities in the event of high water level situation,” said Lt. Col. Rodney Newton, commander of the 105th En. Bn.
The 105th has been designated a Multi-Functional Force Package and are equipped to support domestic operations with a multitude of engineer capabilities including swift water rescue.
The Soldiers spent time in and out of the water learning how to safely rescue a victim while minimizing the risk to themselves.
“Most deaths you see from hurricanes are actually from inland flooding,” said Aaron Peeler, the outdoor school director at the U.S. National Whitewater Center, who runs the center’s swift water rescue programs. “So they [the Soldiers] are learning all different types of variations of rescue techniques for the river that they could potentially come across in an urban flood rescue or in a river in the middle of the wilderness.”
This is the first time NC Guardsmen have been offered the opportunity to learn this skill, and the Soldiers participating saw the benefit that this training will bring to the communities they serve.
As Soldiers of the Guard of North Carolina, I think it’s very important for us to be able to have a team like this,” said Sgt. 1st Class Bobby Silvers, with the 105th En. Bn. “With all the Hurricanes the state is impacted by, having people qualified to do swift water rescue will benefit not only the Guard, but also the citizens of North Carolina.”
| Date Taken: | 06.13.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 06.16.2016 10:34 |
| Story ID: | 201360 |
| Location: | CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 110 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NC Guardsmen learn swift water rescue techniques, by SFC Mary Junell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
