Subscribe
FORT MCCOY, Wis. - If preparation is a key ingredient to a successful deployment, then the 1st Brigade Combat Team (1st BCT) is starting off on the right foot.
The ultimate goal is for soldiers to be validated on required training, an essential and final step to the 1st BCT’s deployment to Kuwait this summer. The soldiers kicked off Wednesday morning by breaking off into battle drill teams and headed to the Fort McCoy training site in full combat gear.
The soldiers took part in a Middle East Cultural Awareness and Introduction to Arabic Class, which was taught by Staff Sgt. Samir Yasin, an Army linguist and native of Ramallah, Palestine. While English is his fourth language, Staff Sgt. Yasin also speaks Arabic, Hebrew, and Russian.
Spc. Rory Christensen, a geospatial engineer and native of White Bear Lake, Minn., gained more perspective on the Arabic language from Staff Sgt. Yasin.
“It’s helpful to hear a native speaker actually saying the Arabic words we’re learning.” Christensen said.
Christensen came away impressed by the cultural aspects of the class as well.
“The first hand knowledge Staff Sgt. Yasin has was noticeable when he described the different ways to interact with an elderly man or a classroom of young girls” said Christensen.
Wednesday’s training also featured a class on biometric facial recognition. Soldiers used a ‘HIIDE’, which stands for Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment, to gain a better understanding of how military and law enforcement agencies around the world are identifying terrorists through facial, iris, and fingerprint scanning.
Soldiers went through a simulated convoy after taking a course on reacting to enemy explosive devices and small arms fire as well as rules of engaging the enemy.
The following day was loaded with classes and hands-on exercises in improvised explosive devices detection and countermeasures. Soldiers went into the field and identified possible IED locations and learned how radio jamming can block and thwart the dangerous possibility of IEDs that detonate by remote control devices, such as a cell phone.
The 1st BCT will go through validation on these tasks early next week, which will put them one step closer to being ready to deploy later this summer.
| Date Taken: | 06.02.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 06.04.2011 13:21 |
| Story ID: | 71583 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 82 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 1st BCT Fort McCoy STX Training, by SSG Bob Brown, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
