Photo By Winifred Brown | Sgt. Christian Stevens, assigned to 3rd Platoon, Company C, 3rd Battalion, 41st...... read more read more
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By Wendy Brown
Fort Bliss Garrison Public Affairs
DOÑA ANA RANGE COMPLEX, N.M. – The air assault mission was just the start for Soldiers assigned to 3rd Platoon, Company C, 3rd Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division here May 11, 2018.
After the helicopters assigned to 3rd Battalion, 501st Aviation Regiment, Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Armored Division, dropped off the platoon’s Soldiers at a point deep into Range 63, the Soldiers started their movement-to-contact mission, where they sought contact with the enemy.
From there, the Soldiers went full-on ground infiltration, ultimately subduing the enemy with three Stryker vehicles equipped with .50-caliber machine guns.
“It’s useful training because it finally gives your guys a chance to understand how we need to move and operate in different types of terrain and how to engage when we’re actually facing the counter enemy,” said 1st Lt. Victor Bailey, third platoon leader, Co. C, 3rd Bn., 41st Inf. Regt., 1st SBCT, 1st AD.
The platoon’s 30 Soldiers planned to go through the exercise two more times Friday, culminating in a night live-fire, Bailey said.
In all, about 500 Soldiers assigned to 3rd Bn., 41st Inf. Regt., 1st SBCT, 1st AD planned to go through the exercise in the next week, said 1st Lt. James Atkins, assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Bn., 41st Inf. Regt., 1st SBCT, 1st AD.
Leaders designed the training to prepare Soldiers for an upcoming rotation at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, Atkins said.
Command Sgt. Maj. John Knight, command sergeant major, 3rd Bn., 41st Inf. Regt., 1st SBCT, 1st AD, participated in the training and said the platoon did well, and any small issues that came up during the first run through they could fix in the subsequent two.
“All those little nuances that they might not be proficient in, we can identify them and then we do the lane again,” Knight said.
Leaders who designed the training did their best to make it as realistic as possible, Knight said.
“We don’t want to hurt anybody, but we do want them to train just like they would in combat, so we keep it as real as we can,” Knight said.
Staff Sgt. Javier Galvan, a fire direction chief assigned to HHC who filled a position on the Co. C team for the training, said repetition is important when it comes to Infantry jobs, but even practicing something just once – such as an air assault – will help during a deployment.
“When I was deployed my company did it only once, but even if it’s just one time, at least you have the feel for it before you actually go out and do it,” Galvan said.
Spc. Joshua Woody, who relays information between the tower and leaders in the field, said the training was useful for everyone in the platoon.
“Every position, you have to keep practicing and practicing, because the thing is about Infantry, if you don’t, a lot of that stuff, a lot of that information, you lose,” Woody said. “You have to keep going with it. It’s imperative that we continue training.”
| Date Taken: | 05.17.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 05.17.2018 17:09 |
| Story ID: | 277420 |
| Location: | NEW MEXICO, US |
| Web Views: | 359 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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