Photo By Jacqueline Haderlein | ANSBACH, Germany (April 2, 2024) - U.S. Army Garrison (USAG) Ansbach hosted the...... read more read more
ANSBACH, Germany (April 2, 2024) - Two jobs in one – Bundeswehr Soldier and Firefighter. The military fire protection, or “Militärische Brandeinsatzkräfte”, of the 1st Squadron of the Transport Helicopter Regiment 30 had the opportunity to train at the IMCOM Europe (IMCOM-E) Fire and Emergency Services Regional Training Center on Urlas Kaserne at U.S Army Garrison (USAG) Ansbach in Middle Franconia mid-March.
“One moment, we are Soldiers carrying firearms and the next moment we are firefighters extinguishing a fire,” emphasized Oberstabsfeldwebel Christian Schmitt, platoon leader and trainer of squadron.
Hailing from Niederstetten Air Base, Northeast of Baden-Württemberg, the 20 Bundeswehr firefighters from the aviation operations support platoon who participated in the training are responsible for defensive fire protection outside military properties, including military training grounds.
“For the instructors of the IMCOM-E Fire and Emergency Services Regional Training Center, it is always an enrichment to have fire departments outside of the U.S. Army as guests to deepen partnerships with local fire departments. This was especially true with the Soldiers of the Military Fire Protection of the 1st Squadron of the Transport Helicopter Regiment 30 from Niederstetten, with whom we have maintained a very good cooperation for years,” said Alexander Gernhard, USAG Ansbach Training Officer at the Ansbach-based training center.
During the two-day training, the Bundeswehr firefighters practiced and trained on various situations with the help of their garrison counterparts. On the first day, the main focus was on respiratory protection training where, in particular, the hydraulic ventilation technique and breathing apparatus was covered.
During the hydraulic ventilation exercise, the Bundeswehr firefighters learned how to correctly assess the length of the water hose, how to avoid obstacles in the corridor by laying the water hose in a specific “loop” method and how to use the hydraulic ventilation technique to clear smoke from the room. This technique can have a positive effect on fire behavior and visibility for the firefighters. However, that was not all - they also trained the so-called "Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus" aka ACBA. Here, the firefighters passed through a foggy, obstacle-filled space with very poor visibility and other sensory-robbing hazards with only 15 minutes of available air in their tanks.
The first day was not only mentally and physically challenging but also strength-sapping as these exercises had to be carried out wearing full firefighting equipment. This is an additional weight of around 30 kilograms or approximately 66 pounds.
The second training day consisted of technical emergency response exercises, which were practiced on U.S. Army Humvees. One of these exercises was the lifting bag technique, for which 2 lifting bags had been placed under a Humvee, while stabilizing the left and right sides with wooden blocks, which also helped to lift the Humvee. This performance is used on flipped vehicles, train wagons or larger trucks to lift them from one side to gain better visibility or to perform rescue maneuvers of occupants trapped inside. The downside of this technique is how time-consuming it can be as the Bundeswehr firefighters must evaluate the situation correctly to accomplish a successful rescue mission.
The team was also able to use their own technical equipment to develop new methods for rescuing a trapped person in a vehicle. In this case, the team worked a scenario where a person suffering from shock was trapped in a car by an U.S. Army Humvee, meaning that the person must be freed from the wreckage within 20 minutes or otherwise become accessible to the first responders.
The background of the Bundeswehr firefighters is very diverse; some have been doing this for years while some are fresh out of school. Therefore, various scenarios were practiced to prepare the group for every kind of unexpected or life-threating situation.
“We are very happy to be back in Ansbach and be able to train with our counterparts again”, said Schmitt.
These training sessions, which take place several times per year, are conducted not only at the Ansbach facility but with several other partners. Two important aspects of this training are, of course, the reinforcement German-American partnership and the focus on the familiarization with the U.S. Army fire equipment. But also prepared the team for the upcoming NATO Swift Response Training which will take place in Romania this summer and allow the team to work with other U.S. Army units and allies.
“For the IMCOM-E Training Center, it is also recognition to be able to offer the opportunity to train firefighters of the German Armed Forces. Of course, what should not be underestimated is the small talk [and camaraderie] between the training units,” highlighted Gernhard.
The IMCOM-E Fire and Emergency Services Regional Training Center is the only firefighting training ground in Europe of its kind. A key IMCOM-E asset, the center was built between 1999 and 2001 and features the Fire Scenario Simulator, a unique training structure capable of creating realistic and digital emergency scenarios for training. At the time, there were 16 fire training simulators across the entire U.S. Army, but today USAG Ansbach is the only garrison that owns this special facility. This training area can be used to simulate controlled emergencies, fires, explosions and much more in order to train our firefighters on best practices for serious incidents.
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The U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach military community is located in the Franconian region of Bavaria and is spread across six sites and nine kasernes dispersed around the city of Ansbach and the village of Illesheim. Today, Ansbach is home to the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, the community's largest tenant unit, as well as the 7th Engineer Brigade, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, and 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment. The garrison takes pride in supporting more than 12,000 Soldiers, civilians, family members, and retirees working and living in the Ansbach area.
For more news from U.S. Army Garrison Ansbach, visit: https://www.army.mil/FranconianNews or https://www.facebook.com/usagansbachcommunity/
| Date Taken: | 04.02.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 04.03.2024 09:45 |
| Story ID: | 467632 |
| Location: | ANSBACH, BAYERN, DE |
| Web Views: | 156 |
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