Members of the 704th Military Intelligence Brigade evacuate a "casualty" during a situational training exercise on March 14 at Fort Meade, applying skills developed through previous training in realistic scenarios. After applying first aid, teams cal...
After spending several Thursday mornings conducting training in first aid skills, Soldiers with Headquarters and Operations Company, 741st Military Intelligence Battalion, 704th MI Brigade, put their skills to a test during a situational training exercise on March 14 at Fort Meade.
The company ruckmarched to the training area on March 13 and spent the morning training and reinforcing medical skills at stations that focused on one skill each.
After practicing evacuating a "casualty," treating bleeding injuries and burn wounds, preventing and controlling shock, and restoring breathing, the company rucked back to its point and returned to the office for the rest of the day.
The next day, the Soldiers again rucked to the training area to begin the STX. Service members split into two groups for the first run through the exercise, applying the skills developed through previous training in realistic scenarios.
After both teams went through once, they combined for a final run-through.
They were instructed to move tactically as a team, react to contact when necessary and apply first aid as needed. After applying first aid, teams called in a nine-line medevac request and transported their casualties for evacuation, while continuing to react to "enemy" contact.
Capt. Ryan Marvin, the commander of HOC, said he was pleased with this culminating event to this quarter's training.
"The Soldiers had a chance to take the knowledge they gained yesterday and apply it in realistic scenarios," he said. "And we mixed in tactical movement to contact techniques, which we don't get to do very often."
After completing the scenario, the company gathered to discuss the event and brainstorm things the Soldiers found helpful and things that could be improved.
Soldiers agreed it was a good opportunity to get out of their offices and spend time training as a team.
Sgt. Jason Brown, a signals collection analyst who participated in the training event, said it's important to maintain skills that aren't used very often.
"It was good training, very exciting," Brown said. "It was nice to do something different, using real-life scenarios and brush up on our existing skills. We don't do this stuff every day, so it's important to keep the skills sharp."
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