Photo By 1st Sgt. HollyAnn Nicom | Soldiers with Delta Company, 103rd Brigade Engineering Battalion, 56th Stryker Brigade...... read more read more
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FORT IRWIN, Calif. – Soldiers of the 103rd Brigade Engineering Battalion, 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania Army National Guard endured a CS gas attack in the early morning here Aug. 17, on their last field training day at the National Training Center.
The Soldiers were gathered to discuss troop movement out of the field into cantonment, when a group of Observer Controller Trainers, acting as highly trained Opposing Forces, tossed several CS gas grenades into their encampment.
Yellow smoke whistled and curled out of the grenades as the Soldiers jumped into action.
“Gas, gas, gas,” was shouted around the camp as unit members quickly donned their masks and moved toward their vehicles for coverage. Muffled yells rang through the smoke-filled air as the pungent clouds grew more dense.
Sgt. Angela Martes, a logistics supply specialist with the 103rd BEB, crawled out of the smog, coughing and choking as her fellow Soldiers came to her aid.
“This was unexpected,” said Martes with runny eyes, her face a bright shade of red. “I thought this would happen eventually, and we could escape it, but it got me.”
When the tear gas settled, the troops sat in anticipation, with their masks still strapped tightly to their faces, after demonstrating their knowledge of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear defense training.
Spc. Steven Williams, a military intelligence systems maintainer and integrator with the 103rd BEB, said he felt his unit was prepared for the attack.
“We all had our masks, (unit leadership) told everyone to keep them on us,” said Williams. “We (trained on CBRN defense) the day before we went into the box, and we train on CBRN regularly at our home duty station.”
It was William’s first time training at the National Training Center, and he said he felt the wide-open spaces combined with the desert environment were vital to the CBRN defense training. These elements offered what a classroom could not: austere conditions Soldiers may face overseas, and fast-paced practice with actual tear gas, he said.
| Date Taken: | 08.17.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 08.18.2018 18:03 |
| Story ID: | 289362 |
| Location: | FORT IRWIN, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 315 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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