Photo By Scott Sturkol | A Fort McCoy Cold-Weather Operations Course (CWOC) Class 20-02 student participates in...... read more read more
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For every class in the Cold-Weather Operations Course (CWOC) at Fort McCoy, the last big training event the students participate in is cold-water immersion training at Big Sandy Lake on the installation’s South Post.
“Cold-water immersion, just like the course itself, tests the students both mentally and physically,” said CWOC instructor Hunter Heard, who coordinates training with fellow instructors Manny Ortiz and Joe Ernst. All are with contractor Veterans Range Solutions, which works with Fort McCoy’s Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization, and Security to complete the training.
Students learn in a special cold-water immersion training scenario new to the 2019-20 CWOC training season, Heard said. The scenario includes having one of the squad members go through a cold-water immersion event in the lake and then the squad, as a team, has to take what they learned during the course to help the affected squad member warm up and recover.
This includes having the squad member take off most clothing and then climb into a sled lined with dry blankets. At the same time, other squad members erect an Arctic cold-weather tent with a heater where the squad member then warms up and recovers to prevent injury.
After each squad completes the training scenario, then all students take the plunge into Big Sandy Lake for a few minutes to experience what it would be like falling through the ice, Heard said.
Ernst said cold-water immersion understanding is critical for each student’s ability to survive and operate in a cold-weather environment.
“The experience of a service member being introduced to water in an extreme-cold environment is a crucial task for waterborne operations and confidence building,” Ernst said. “For a person to fall into water in that environment, the onset of panic generally introduces itself quickly. For our service members who will be operating in an extreme-cold environment, it is a task that, if not trained for, can produce unnecessary casualties.”
The human body’s reaction to falling through ice and into frigid water starts with the mind, Ernst said.
“The shock to the system generally results in an immediate response of a heightened rate of breathing,” Ernst said. “Visual limitations (tunnel effect), confusion, and muscle tension are common reactions. The ability of a person to regain control and composure after getting in this situation is possible.”
ROTC Cadet Sebastian Antonio Mota with the Rambler Battalion at Loyola University of Chicago was a student in CWOC Class 20-01 in December 2019. He said the cold-water immersion training scenario was one of the best training events in the course.
“That event was the culminating challenge,” Mota said. “It required us to use all of the knowledge we learned in the course to keep one of our teammates in the fight.”
Ortiz said that throughout the course, students are taught ways to prevent and treat cold-weather injuries.
“An important part of the training and understanding operations in the cold weather is how to identify and understand what causes cold-weather injuries,” said Ortiz, who was a combat medic in the Army. “This year, we have training that includes scenarios on how students can respond to help a victim of hypothermia. This helps them build confidence and knowledge in understanding cold-weather injuries as well.”
The CWOC is modeled after the Cold-Weather Leader Course taught by the Army Northern Warfare Training Center at Black Rapids, Alaska. During training, students also learn about a wide range of cold-weather subjects, including skiing and snowshoe training, how to use ahkio sleds and the Arctic 10-person cold-weather tent, and how to build improvised shelters.
Students complete miles of ruck marching in the snow and cold during the season. Sometimes students move in snowshoes and skis covering dozens of miles. Students also complete training in terrain and weather analysis, camouflage and concealment practices, and risk management.
Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.
The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services each year since 1984.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”
| Date Taken: | 02.26.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 02.26.2020 16:32 |
| Story ID: | 363956 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 88 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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