FORT BENNING, Ga., (Oct. 14, 2015) -- It is important to train Soldiers to prepare for all types of situations, which is why Fort Benning Soldiers have begun their annual cold-weather training to prevent cold-weather injuries and casualties.

"Here at Fort Benning, we don't have very many cold-weather injuries," said Jill Carlson, Maneuver Center of Excellence safety director, noting that five occurred last year but they mainly occurred in Dahlonega, Georgia, where Fort Benning sends Soldiers for the Mountain Phase of the Ranger Course. "When we do get them, it is out of the ordinary."

The need for training and prevention to keep Soldiers safe still exists.

Because the climate here is humid, the key is to keep our Soldiers dry, Carlson said.

Carlson said the most common cold-weather injury here is chilblain skin, or breaking of the skin and blistering, and is caused by long exposure to the cold most commonly on a Soldier's nose and ears.

She said when Soldiers' feet get wet, they are more prone to cold-weather injury as well, but procedures to change out socks help mitigate this.

Leaders receive Cold-Weather Injury Prevention guidance from the Surgeon General every year in October before the temperatures typically start to descend, which gives the requirements for units to go through cold-weather training.

"Our units that are stable here already know to go ahead and prepare," Carlson said. "They are always halfway through it before we even get the letter - they're pretty good at it."

As a reminder to Soldiers, commanders and NCOs, cold-weather injury prevention information is displayed on the opposite side of the Heat Illness Prevention Guide. It reminds commanders and unit NCOs of the acronym COLD - keep it Clean, avoid Overheating, wear Loose clothing and in Layers and keep clothing Dry.

During field training after the weather turns colder, burn barrels, warming tents and cold-weather gear is used.

Commanders also have the option to adjust training to later times. In summer, units may begin to train before the sun comes up, but in the winter months, training can be pushed to 9 or 10 a.m. when the temperatures have risen.

"The best thing is to make sure our Soldiers watch out for each other and be cognizant of the environment around them and be able to mitigate the risk associated with anything that comes into play during that training," Carlson said. "It's all about taking care of each other."