From dawn to dusk Soldiers work to accomplish every mission

Photo By Daniela Vestal | Spc. Luke Cope and Robert Deshannon, from B Det., 4th Financial Management Company, 142nd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, carry a stretcher with a fellow Soldier simulating a wounded teammate to a landing zone during a MEDEVAC exercise, Dec. 10.  

UNITED STATES

12.22.2009

Story by Daniela Vestal 

Fort Bliss Public Affairs Office

It has been more than 40 years since Fred Ebb coined the phrase "Money makes the world go round" and a lot has changed since then — especially for the former office-bound finance Soldiers of the Army. Today every Soldier is focused on training for their wartime mission in addition to their primary military occupational specialties.

This was especially true for the Soldiers of B Detachment, 4th Financial Management Company, 142nd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, who culminated a month of training with a live-fire exercise, Dec. 10.

The unit is new, having just stood up in March, and has been working on their deployment pre-training since September, relying on determination and hard work to get them through the intense time line of training.

"We started with nothing," said Capt. Mary Johnson, B Det. commander. "We've been building teams and establishing systems and [the Soldiers have] been doing an outstanding job. I've been putting a lot of demands on them to make sure they are trained and ready to go."

The convoy live-fire tested the unit's preparedness by continually throwing different scenarios at the Soldiers each time they went through the 10-mile-long lane. Each iteration took about an hour to complete and covered situations ranging from reacting to improvised explosive devices to calling down MEDEVAC support for wounded Soldiers.

"Today's live-fire was good for us," said Pfc. Derek Fabors, "We got a lot of different situations thrown at us so a lot of critical thinking was involved and I'm always a big fan of that. Having to think on your feet and adapt to change — I think that's what makes the best Soldiers."

• Date Taken: 12.22.2009
• Date Posted: 12.22.2009 22:33
• Story ID: 43067
• Location: US