Soldiers assigned to B Company, 100th Brigade Support Battalion, participated in a four-day home station training event June 18-21 at Camp Eagle on Fort Sill, Okla.
The course helped many of the fresh faces in the unit expound on their foundational knowledge of various threats and situations they may encounter in combat and noncombat environments.
"The whole purpose of this field problem was back to the basics," said Staff Sgt. Carl Pilcher, event noncommissioned officer in charge and platoon sergeant.
1st Lt. Tamera Marshall, event officer in charge and B Company executive officer, said the training featured improvised explosive devices identification and defeat classes, and various Army Warrior Task Training courses, which featured a real-world maintenance-like spin.
The training also featured: land navigation, how to set up a camouflage net, how to recover a vehicle, how to conduct a convoy, how to set up a defensive position and basic medical training.
Fort Sill is the first duty station for Pfc. Marshall Barber, a wheeled vehicle mechanic; he has been assigned to B Company for approximately eight months.
"This is my first time coming to the field with this unit," said Barber. "They taught us how to set up camo' nets properly: stake them in , use the and how it's supposed to actually sit if the wind is blowing."
The Dallas native said he and his fellow Soldiers also underwent land navigation training.
"That was pretty good because you've got young guys like us who haven't went to the ," he said.
Barber also credited the NCOs who trained them because they "knew what they were doing" and were able to train them and make on-the-spot corrections.
Although the unit conducts hip-pocket training as well as scheduled training while in the garrison environment, many of its Soldiers enjoyed the change of scenery from the motor pool to the field.
"We are always doing training," said Pvt. Marcus Ward, a wheeled vehicle mechanic who has served with the unit for six months. "The field is better we never get out of the motor pool unless we are doing a range or a class. It's just good to be in the field, get dirty and feel like a Soldier."
The home station training was the first in a series of three training events B Company has planned.
It is slated to conduct another field training exercise later this year, which will be scenario-based and will complement what the Soldiers recently learned throughout the home station training.
Afterward, the unit will undergo a "full blown" field training exercise, which will test the Soldiers' ability to apply the knowledge they gained from the previous training events.
"I hope they learn from it and grow from ," said Marshall.
"We have a lot of new Soldiers who just came in the Army," said Marshall. "I hope they put it in their tool bags and roll on."
Social Sharing