Photo By Darriel Swatts | Soldiers from Team Spartan, Alpha Company, 1-185th Combined Arms Battalion practice on...... read more read more
CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo - A platoon of Soldiers sits aboard two UH-60 Black Hawks in full 'battle rattle'. The 'birds' they are strapped into cuts through the air on its way to a situation that is only getting worse by the second. The Task Force Nightstalker Soldiers have been told they will provide 360 degrees of security and assist those alive on the ground at the crash site. It all started with those words you never want to hear, "We have a Black Hawk down. We have a Black Hawk down!" Within minutes the helicopters arrive on the scene. Last minute equipment checks are done and final instructions are given out as the wheels touch soil, somewhere in the eastern region of Kosovo. A squad leader jumps out followed closely be his team, each infantryman turning his head, eyes darting around assessing the situation and looking for any threat.
"You never know when something like this could happen," said Spc. Hector Garcia, Team Spartan, Alpha Company, 1-185th Combined Arms Battalion (CAB).
This is what Soldiers from Team Spartan had to do on March 27. Their Quick Reaction Force team must be able to get anywhere in the Multi-National Task Force-East sector within minutes. Luckily this time it was only a training event. But the actuality of something like this happening is far too real. In southern Colorado, a UH-60 Black Hawk crashed the same day as the QRF exercise, everyone survived the crash, but an accident like that shows how important it is to have a qualified team, trained in security, medical procedures and recovery ready in case it happens here.
"Here in Kosovo, it seems safe and secure but you never know what is going to happen," said Sgt. Matthew Frandsen, Team Spartan. "There are still operations going on here so we have to maintain our readiness all the time and be able to go out and provide a safe and secure environment. This is really important for the [KFOR] mission."
The security aspect of the QRF extends beyond your typical perimeter defense. A crucial part of their training involves reacting to riot outbreaks. They must swiftly and decisively respond to counter any acts of aggression and do it with lightning speed. They are built to provide continuous force protection and in one of the worst case scenarios it could mean protecting downed pilots. That was their targeted focus this day.
"Missions like this are extremely important, practice makes perfect," said Staff Sgt. John Nobles, Team Spartan. "So if this happens in real life, we are more prepared and will make fewer mistakes, because in real life, it could cost someone their life."
Their training started the day before the mission so the infantry troops could practice how to load and unload from a Black Hawk safely and quickly. They also received a safety briefing and learned where everything was located in case of an emergency landing and how far they had to be away from the aircraft.
"The reason we conduct 'cold load' training is because during the real event, people make mistakes. We want them to make those mistakes here, instead of when they are doing the mission," said Spc. Justin Ables, a crew chief with Alpha Company, 1-207th Aviation, Task Force Arctic Eagle. "During a 'cold load' the helicopter is off, so the risk of injury is less. When it is running, a mistake could result in a life or death situation."
On mission day the crawl and walk phase ended as the adrenaline kicked into high gear. The Nightstalkers received one last safety brief from the pilots and loaded quickly onto the helicopter. They flew out to the 'crash site', landed and sprung from their seats as the doors slid open. As soon as the Black Hawks flew away, the 11 Bravos immediately set up a security perimeter and waited in silence for the next chalk of helicopters to air assault in and drop off the next wave of Spartans.
"Our command made sure everybody was where they needed to be despite our radios failing, but we were able to set up a perimeter with no other problems," said Spc. Lawrence Todd, 1-185th CAB.
As the choppers moved in within a mile, the sound of air being sliced by the large rotor blades could be heard as if they were right above the troops. Wheels down, the Spartans came flooding out and reinforced the perimeter.
"We normally don't work with helicopters, so when they took us out there and let us use them, it really helps us be a better QRF," said Spc. Donald Buckenmeyer, Team Spartan.
As part of the scenario, their platoon sergeant simulated as if he got shot in the chest. The medic on scene reacted with lightning speed and had the simulated wound taken care of and an IV in place before most of the California based Alpha Co. troops even knew that their leader was down.
"We took a casualty from an unknown source. The situation evolved into a "9-line" MEDEVAC [medical evacuation] request where we had to call a chopper in to get our platoon sergeant out," said Nobles, retelling how the training evolved.
The downed Soldier was stabilized and prepped for transport. Upon the MEDEVAC helicopter's arrival, the platoon sergeant was loaded up and told to head to the hospital at nearby Camp Bondsteel. Once the helicopter was out of sight, the exercise came to an end and everyone had a chance to review of what went well or could have been improved upon.
"Everything went really well. We haven't done anything like this in awhile. It was good to get out there and do a refresher," said Buckenmeyer.
The helicopter was called back to pick up the troops to transport them back to Camp Bondsteel. On the flight back, many of the infantry troops finally were able to take advantage of the fact they weren't quickly reacting to anything and either thought about what they will have to face next while deployed here to Kosovo or rested knowing they have had the proper training to prepare them for what is to come.
"Training is always another experience to add to your playbook. Whenever you come up against any situation that you're not familiar with, you're going to fall back on the things you've already experienced, that you've read about or researched," said 2nd Lt. Andrew Tillman, Platoon Leader, Team Spartan. "So every time you give yourself a new experience, you give yourself another play to go off of in your playbook."
| Date Taken: | 04.21.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 04.21.2009 05:26 |
| Story ID: | 32640 |
| Location: | CAMP BONDSTEEL, ZZ |
| Web Views: | 622 |
| Downloads: | 463 |
This work, Quick Reaction Force: Nightstalker Soldiers train for swift and decisive response, by Darriel Swatts, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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