Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Anita Stratton | Soldiers are hooked up and ready to rappel from a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter during...... read more read more
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Warrenton, Ore.—“Air Assault, Air Assault, Air Assault” are the words repeated by every Soldier when their feet hit the ground as they run. The phrase puts the Soldiers rapidly into a training mindset during the first days of Air Assault School, held at Camp Rilea, Warrenton, Oregon, in June 2018.
“It’s to ingrain in them the attention to detail,” said Staff Sgt. Ryan McClung, Phase 3 Chief, Warrior Training Center (WTC) Mobile Training Team (MTT), Army National Guard. “Most of them are Guardsmen who don’t do this type of work everyday, and we need to get their mind set right. We are cramming a lot of information in 11 days. They must get all the information, organize it and be tested on it in a matter of days.”
During the Air Assault Course, students train and are evaluated on combat assault, sling loads, rappelling, physical fitness and various other critical skills. The course prepares Soldiers for air mobile operations focusing on physical fitness, attention to detail and safety.
Before the course actually begins, known as “Day 0,” all potential students are required to complete intense physical challenges.
Captain James Sturges, executive officer assigned to the MTT for the Air Assault, Pathfinders and Rappel Master courses, explained the requirements necessary to enter the course. “The Soldiers must pass a 2-mile run and an obstacle course to continue,” he said. The students are also inundated with multiple exercises throughout the day.
“On Day 0,” McClung said, “they are constantly smoked. They are pushed mentally and physically. They are reminded what they are here for.”
Proper physical fitness is necessary to be able to conduct combat assault, prepare sling loads for transport and rappel from aircraft. Soldiers are assessed on various other critical skills, also.
Sgt. Jonathan Schmidt, combat engineer, 818th Engineer Company, 164th Engineer Battalion, North Dakota Army National Guard, said, “This is the hardest course I have ever been to.”
The students can be dropped from the course for not passing physical, written and hands-on evaluations, not following directions exactly and for safety issues and concerns. Two-hundred-sixty-nine potential students arrived on Day 0; 197 graduated.
Phase 1, Day 1, began with another challenge to overcome: the Soldiers complete a 6-mile ruck march, while carrying 35 pounds. They must complete the course in one and one-half hours.
“The ruck march gets them in the right physical condition and their brains into Air Assault mode,” McClung said. “They are in a good mindset, they know what pain is and they know they can get beyond it.”
Phase 2 focused on sling load operations, where the Soldiers learned to hook up a load and inspect it with speed and accuracy prior to it being mobilized for air transport.
“By this time, they are squared away and ready to learn,” McClung said. “Lives depend on making sure every aspect is done with 100 percent accuracy. After Day 0, the sling load test is where we see our most failings. They have two minutes to do four loads; your miss one and you’re done.”
Many of the Soldiers take the sling load information back to their companies for mission essential tasks.
Sgt. Cody Brown, radar repairman, 3670th Maintenance Company, 821nd Battalion, 82nd Brigade, Oregon Army National Guard, attended the Air Assault course to learn how to sling load radar systems.
“I want to learn how to transfer the systems from base for field emplacement in the battlefield; specifically,” he said, “the AN/TPQ-36 Firefinder, [a weapons-locating] radar system.”
Sling load and Air Assault skills can also be used for combined military and civilian assets in local communities and state emergencies.
Sgt. Jordan Cowart, infantryman, B Company, 3rd Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment, 81st Stryker Brigade, Washington Army National Guard, plans to use his newly developed skills for search and rescue operations.
“I will be able to save lives by hooking up equipment and dropping it in an area where a bird can’t land,” he said.
Spc. Brady Rude, combat engineer, 211th Engineer Co., South Dakota Army National Guard, said, “We can use the sling load operations for fire fighting and moving sandbags during flooding situations.”
Phase 3 consists of three days of rappel operations. “This is the most dangerous, but also the most fun,” McClung said. “They have worked to get to this point; they are not going to mess it up. The reward for them is seeing what they learn about themselves. My reward is seeing them change.”
“It is definitely thrilling,” said 1st. Lt. Justin Ann, information operations officer, 62nd Medical Brigade, Joint Base Lewis-McChord. “This course has helped me to overcome my fear of heights and to challenge myself.”
The overall reason for the intense instruction, strictness of following orders and attention to detail is safety for all. During this cycle, for example, the rappel ropes were compromised. The trainers decided to forego the final rappel with a full pack for safety reasons. Since the students were not trained in that area, they were not tested in it.
“They were strict, and, coming from an infantry background, it was great,” said Pfc. Bjon Thompson, infantryman, 2nd Battalion, 116th Armor Regiment, 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team, Idaho Army National Guard. “They focused on details and deficiencies, which are meant to keep us safe. If the rigging comes out or straps break, we could end up paralyzed or dead: neither is exciting. Safety—it’s life or death—too easy.”
| Date Taken: | 06.08.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 06.29.2018 15:37 |
| Story ID: | 281167 |
| Location: | WARRENTON, OREGON, US |
| Web Views: | 303 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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