Photo By Staff Sgt. Kelsey Blankenship | Spc. Robert Lanham of B Company, 505th Engineer Battalion, washed the pepper spray out...... read more read more
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CAMP BUTNER, N.C. – Sgt. Samantha Bailey, a soldier with B Company, 505th Engineer Battalion said she felt like she just stuck her face in a volcano. “My eyes are ok now, but it feels like molten lava is dripping down my face,” she said.
Soldiers from the 505th were blasted in the face with pepper spray, Aug. 28, at Camp Butner as part of a training exercise conducted during North Carolina’s 2012 Vigilant Guard.
Vigilant Guard is an exercise that tests the National Guard as the first military responder to a natural or man-made disaster, in support of the governor and the state emergency management agency.
Exercises, such as each individual soldier being pepper sprayed then following through with a four-piece obstacle course, helped to train the soldiers in warding off an attacker. These events were a different type of training than soldiers receive during most Annual Training periods. The training Vigilant Guard provided was more focused on what each individual was capable of achieving for the team, rather than the overall capabilities of the unit as a whole.
“This one [annual training] is definitely different because it is more focused on the individual’s portion to this mission,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jason Jones, a soldier with B company, 505th Engineer Battalion.
Each soldier had to mentally prepare themselves for what they knew would be tough and painful, non-lethal force training while they stood in line watching their comrades yell in pain as the pepper sprayed burned their face and eyes.
“Going in to the training there was a lot of anxiety. I am not used to any sort of pepper spraying,” said Pvt. Connor Helms, B Company, 505th Engineer Battalion. “I couldn’t even eat my chow because I was so afraid I’d puke it up when they told me to close my eyes.”
Along with the excruciating pain of the pepper spray training, the soldiers were excited to receive training with UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. During the training the pilots gave an overview of the equipment, along with safety information. This helps to ensure that if soldiers are in a situation where they would need to travel via helicopter, they would already be comfortable in the aircraft and aware of the circumstance they were in.
The Black Hawk training will come in handy for the soldiers in circumstances such as hurricane duty or any kind of natural disaster, said Jones. “As engineers there have been times when we have been called to go on flights to recon routes for the equipment and to assist others during disasters.”
The soldiers know that the training may be useful in the future and that the struggles they face together will continuously build them stronger. They are standing strong together through the fun and the hard training to ensure they all successfully complete AT together.
“Our soldiers are highly motivated,” Jones said. “Their reaction is just non-stop ready to go. I haven’t seen one lull during the training. I am pretty impressed with the soldiers.”
| Date Taken: | 08.28.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 09.03.2012 17:28 |
| Story ID: | 94168 |
| Location: | NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 230 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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