Triple Canopy Training Relationship

Courtesy Photo | Triple Canopy guards fire the M240B machine gun during the live-fire training portion on Sage range, here, Sept. 5, 2011. The guards fire the weapons the increase their accuracy.  

CONTINGENCY OPERATING STATION KALSU, IRAQ

09.04.2011

Courtesy Story

1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division

CONTINGENCY OPERATING SITE KALSU, Iraq - Early Sunday morning, the soldiers from the Muleskinner Battalion and the Triple Canopy Ugandan guards were out on Sage Range at Contingency Operating Station Kalsu, Iraq, waiting to go hot.

Company A, 115th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, brought their M240B machine guns, the Ugandans brought their RPK light-machine guns.

All were anxiously waiting to get on the range to test their newly found skills on each others’ weapon systems.

Prior to the range going hot, each group provided a familiarization class with each others’ weapon system. The Triple Canopy guards, which numbered 78, joined 10 Soldiers from Alpha Company to participate in the joint-range.

The range, organized and executed by 2nd Lt. Jason Mercado, the Quick Reaction Force platoon leader for 115th Brigade Support Battalion, is the first of a three-part familiarization range that will take place over the course of the next two Sundays.

Triple Canopy, comprised primarily of Ugandan guards, is responsible for the internal security at COS Kalsu. In light of this role, the Muleskinner Battalion reached out to them to facilitate a partnership with the guards who help to keep the soldiers and civilians on the COS safe and secure.

Sgt. Robert West, a Fort Worth, Texas native, assigned to Company A, 115th Brigade Support Battalion, conducted a 45-minute block of primary marksman instruction on the M240B.

After the familiarization classes, the Triple Canopy guards were put into a firing order by the range safety officer, Sgt. First Class Jeffrey Wilkes. They were led onto the range where they fired over 25 rounds each. In the end, over 2000 rounds were fired.

The roles were then reversed, and the Muleskinners soldiers received familiarization training on the RPK light machine gun. Each guard was led on the range and fired over 40 rounds.

This training series allows soldiers from the two cultures to come together and learn from one another.

“Both the [Alpha Company] and the Ugandan guards received excellent training and they really enjoyed the exchange of cultures,” said Mercado.

Over the course of the next two Sundays, more Muleskinner soldiers will continue to partner with and cross-train with the guards as part of a long training partnership between the two organizations.

• Date Taken: 09.04.2011
• Date Posted: 09.09.2011 08:43
• Story ID: 76739
• Location: CONTINGENCY OPERATING STATION KALSU, IQ