Special training readies Soldiers to meet their units downrange

By Spc. Cortnee Falconer, 126th Press Camp Headquarters, Michigan Army National GuardJune 25, 2010

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1 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Pfc. Shane Samuels, 3rd Squadron 2nd Stryker Calvary Regiment, takes a defensive position after a simulated rollover in HMMVV Egression Assistant Training (HEAT) on Grafenwoehr Training Area, Grafenwoehr, Germany, May 26, 2010. He was grateful for t... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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2 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Sgt. Joshua Dickson, 3rd Squadron 2nd Stryker Calvary Regiment, emerges from a flipped HMMVV for HMMVV Egress Assistant Training on Grafenwoehr Training Area, Grafenwoehr, Germany, May 26, 2010. After the HMMVV flips, the occupants have to unbuckle ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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3 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Staff Sgt. Durwen Edwards, the Reflexive Fire instructor for Theatre Specific Individual Readiness Training, and Sgt. 1st Class Karl Mitchell, platoon sergeant for 1st platoon, TSIRT, demonstrate the battle buddy system for reloading a weapon on Graf... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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4 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Service members rush into a building while conducting Urban Operations under the direction of Staff Sgt. William Coy a former mechanized infantryman and instructor for Theatre Specific Individual Readiness Training (TSIRT) here, at Grafenwoehr Traini... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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5 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Staff Sgt. William Coy, an instructor for Theatre Specific Individual Readiness Training (TSIRT), signals to a servicemember as they peer around a corner on the Urban Operations Course on Grafenwoehr Training Area, Grafenwoehr, Germany, May 26, 2010.... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

GRAFENWOEHR, Germany - A car pulls up to a military checkpoint and the driver is found carrying five cell phones. The guards are suspicious because having multiple phones could be a sign of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) engineer. They yank the man out of the car and slam him to the ground. Because they had no translator they couldn't understand the man's explanation. He turned out to be a regional Lord and carried five phones to make sure he had coverage in every area.

Army Sgt. Jeremy Smith, an IED instructor for Theatre Specific Individual Readiness Training (TSIRT), posed various scenarios like the one above, in an effort to caution servicemembers in his class on the dangers of overreacting to IEDs on Grafenwoehr Training Area (GTA), Camp Aachen, May 27, 2010. The Joint Multinational Training Command (JMTC) offers training, through TSIRT, for servicemembers who need to be trained to join units already deployed or are deploying but not as a unit member. TSIRT instructors research every new device or technique and seek to implement it in their training regimen.

Because the Soldiers in the scenario are trained to react defensively, they didn't look further thus offending a very powerful man.

"IEDs are like ghosts or scary stories because people don't know how they work. I try to take the mysticism out of them," said Smith.

TSIRT seeks to avoid these mishaps by training troops to think about their actions and the way it could impact fellow servicemembers.

"If you don't know what an IED [component] looks like you have defeated yourself," said Smith, warning the class, while demonstrating how various harmless looking items can be used to create lethal weapons. The former Combat Engineer studies whatever new device comes from the battlefront and seeks to recreate it for deploying troops.

Air Force Capt. Rick Ernest, Det. 2-7 Weather Squadron, found the training to be absolutely helpful. "In the Air Force we don't get a lot of [this] kind of training."

His comrade, Tech. Sgt. Josh Buck, Det. 2-7 Weather Squadron, continued, "Hands on training is good. But the most valuable training is what the instructors bring back."

TSIRT teaches a host of different training to prepare service members for deployment. TSIRT works as well as it does because at GTA all the ranges are centralized. The rifle ranges, urban operations, and HMMVV Egress Assistant Trainer (HEAT), urban operations, and other fundamentals are all constructed and relatively close to one another on GTA.

HEAT training offers hands on training in case of a tactical vehicle rollover. The training positions Soldiers in a vehicle that can rotate 360 degrees. Soldiers in their battle gear simulate driving with the doors battle locked; locked so that they can't be opened from the outside. The vehicle is then flipped over on its top and the occupants have to evacuate and secure the area around the "downed" vehicle.

"There were three rollovers in March," said Sgt. 1st Class Willard Andrus, the senior instructor for the HEAT, "If soldiers encounter it here there will be some experience for when it happens over there and they will be prepared."

Pfc. Shane Samuels, 3rd Squadron 2nd Stryker Calvary Regiment, said he appreciated the hands on training he received in HEAT. He is going to Afghanistan as a supplier. He will be in a convoy, running supplies to units across treacherous road ways, and the possibility he might be in such a situation is high.

"The training is beneficial because this is happening over there. I'll be doing this downrange, better to experience [a rollover] now so I can react right later," Samuels said.

HEAT and the IED course are just two of the many different courses TSIRT offers to service members before they deploy. A few others include Reflexive Fire, Urban Operations, Weapons Familiarizing, and Media Relations.

Although TSIRT tries to marry instructors to their Military Occupational Specialty, all instructors have to have a working understanding of all the tasks here, said Sgt. 1st Class Karl Mitchell, platoon sergeant for 1st platoon. No one can just be a SME [subject matter expert] for a task; everyone has to be able to teach.

"TSIRT's primary goal is be up to date and insure the instructors are teaching classes to U. S. Army standards. We can bring new information to the table but everything has to go by Army basics," said Mitchell.