1st Air Cav Soldiers run and gun

By . Richard Wrigley, 1st ACB PAO, 1st Cav. Div.October 4, 2010

FORT HOOD, Texas -Capt. Phil Leathead (left), of Jackson, Mo., and Sgt. Jake Maire, from Claremore, Okla., both with B Company, 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, try to con...
1 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – FORT HOOD, Texas -Capt. Phil Leathead (left), of Jackson, Mo., and Sgt. Jake Maire, from Claremore, Okla., both with B Company, 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, try to con... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
FORT HOOD, Texas - Soldiers from Company B, 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, run from their simulated downed aircraft in full tactical load in order to make it on time to ...
2 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – FORT HOOD, Texas - Soldiers from Company B, 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, run from their simulated downed aircraft in full tactical load in order to make it on time to ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
FORT HOOD, Texas - In front, Lt. Col. William Huff, of Fort Benning, Ga., commander, 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, fires his M4 carbine during the live fire portion of B...
3 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – FORT HOOD, Texas - In front, Lt. Col. William Huff, of Fort Benning, Ga., commander, 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, fires his M4 carbine during the live fire portion of B... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
FORT HOOD, Texas -Capt. Phil Leathead, of Jackson, Mo., a platoon leader with Company B, 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, pulls security with the M240B machine gun, while ...
4 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – FORT HOOD, Texas -Capt. Phil Leathead, of Jackson, Mo., a platoon leader with Company B, 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, pulls security with the M240B machine gun, while ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
FORT HOOD, Texas - Soldiers from  2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, run while transporting a simulated injured crew member from one point to the medical evacuation site dur...
5 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – FORT HOOD, Texas - Soldiers from 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, run while transporting a simulated injured crew member from one point to the medical evacuation site dur... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT HOOD, Texas - Soldiers from 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, conducted a simulated downed aircraft and shoot-and-run range, here, Sept. 29 - 30.

Developed by company level leadership, the event focused on more than just the static shooting range, said Lt. Col. William Huff, commander, 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st ACB.

Troopers from Company B, 2-227th, have trained over the last months on basic Soldier and aircrew tasks. The training exercise also allowed them to get some hands on experience and gain confidence in working together in order to prepare for future deployment.

"This training event was a great way to validate the last few months of training, to put these guys in a pressure situation and make them make decisions they might have to make when they are deployed," said Capt. Donovan Groh, from Carlisle, Pa., in charge of the shoot-and-run training exercise. "They might not know the answer to every problem that arises, but they're being put in a situation where they have to figure it out."

These warrior tasks range from how to sterilize a downed aircraft if it must be left behind, to how to perform land navigation, to performing first aid and many other basic Soldier and aircrew tasks.

All this training was put together, however, in this one culminating shoot-and-run; a timed and evaluated exercise.

The exercise started with splitting Soldiers into flight crews, with each crew flying out one at a time to the start point of the training event. Once there, they manned a "downed" CH-47F, Chinook helicopter, and waited for the signal to start.

Once started, the event was all about performance and procedure, incorporating all that the team had learned over the last training quarter to safely and correctly exit the aircraft, radio in for guidance, and move to given points to successfully get extracted from the area.

Because the scenario was timed, evaluated and scored, the whole crew found themselves running tactically, fully geared, trying their best to set the standard.

After making it to the first extraction point, the crew members found that they had been compromised by the enemy and participated in a live fire range, shooting all three weapons systems; the M240B machine gun, M4 carbine and M9 pistol.

For the last task of the graded event, one of the evaluators designated a member of the crew as injured and the rest of the team was then evaluated on their ability to conduct proper first aid, call in for a medical evacuation and transport the injured crewmember to the new extraction sight.

The training exercise did not just test the crewmembers on their warrior tasks proficiency levels. It also got them a little more familiar with working together as a team in a tactical environment.

"[The training] helped me understand who I am (deploying) with. I'm going to be with a whole bunch of experienced aircrew members, and even if we're on the ground we're going to be doing all right," said Pfc. Jake Fletcher, of Georgetown, Calif., one of the newest soldiers to join B Co.

"The confidence that was built all the way through [the exercise], you can't replace that, it's just invaluable," said Huff.

In the end, the training exercise turned out to be a great success; pulling together everything from the last training quarter into one outstanding event, said Capt. Aaron Reynolds, a native of Chattanooga, Tn., company commander, B Co., 2-227th.

"This was like the cherry on top."