5th AR BDE takes on rare training mission

By 1st Lt. Vanessa Dudley, 1st Battalion, 361st Regiment, 5th Armored Brigade, Division West Public AffairsFebruary 5, 2014

5th AR BDE takes on rare training mission
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Spc. Achland Peau, left, and Spc. Francois Clerfe, right, conducts a two-man manual carry on Pvt. Michael McIntire during a medical evacuation scenario at McGregor Range, N.M., Jan. 18. During the two-day convoy live-fire exercise, Soldiers engaged t... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
5th AR BDE takes on rare training mission
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – From left to right, Spc. Luis Jugsliva, Pvt. Patrick Chamness, Spc. Francois Clerfe, and Spc. Achland Peau carry Pvt. Kwame Presley to their designated aid and litter vehicle during the dismounted portion of the convoy-life fire exercise at McGregor... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
5th AR BDE takes on rare training mission
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Pfc. Darnell Bailey, a combat engineer originally from New Jersey and assigned to the 570th Sapper Company, 14th Engineer Battalion out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., uses the VMR-2 Minehound to search for possible improvised explosive devices i... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

McGREGOR RANGE, N.M. - The 1st Battalion, 361st Engineer Regiment, Task Force Redhawk, 5th Armored Brigade, Division West recently received a unique opportunity to train two companies from an active duty engineer battalion.

TF Redhawk, which usually trains Army Reserve or National Guard units on the fundamentals of counter-improvised explosive devices, trained Soldiers of the 570th and 571st Engineer Companies, 14th Engineer Battalion, stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

The unit was originally expected to train at the Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, La., but found out that due to the large number of units going there at the same time, they would have had to fight for the limited, yet essential, training resources.

"At McGregor Range, there wasn't a unit scheduled to go through during the time period the two companies were going to be going through JRTC, so we just started asking a bunch of questions as to whether or not they could support us and the answer was yes," said Lt. Col. Douglas E. Brown, commander of the 14th Engineer Battalion. "The end result was really good and we are really happy about the fact that we came down here."

Throughout their time at McGregor Range, the 570th and 571st Engineers were able to sharpen their skills on the fundamentals of route clearance, perform situational training exercises, and execute a culminating training event. They spent their last two days with TF Redhawk conducting mounted and dismounted combat patrol live-fire exercises using route clearance equipment.

During the dismounted portion of the combat patrol live-fire exercise, select Soldiers used metal detectors to search for possible improvised explosive devices. The remainder of the dismounted patrol maintained situational awareness, looking for anything out of the ordinary which might indicate a possible IED.

"The experience was very cool, but there was a lot of brass on the ground so I could easily get the wrong signal," said Pvt. Kwame Presley, a combat engineer originally from Saginaw, Mich., and assigned to 2nd Platoon, 570th Sapper Company, 14th Engineer Battalion. "It was a very big challenge because I have to listen for the correct sounds and I'm still new at it."

If anything suspicious was found, the unit would utilize their route clearance equipment, such as a robot or their mine protected vehicle to investigate. The unit was also expected to react to a casualty and conduct medical evacuation procedures during the dismounted patrol.

After two days of continuous training with TF Redhawk, both companies were validated for their upcoming deployment.

"Task Force Redhawk was very helpful in altering their training plan from what they normally do to fit our training requirements, and we definitely appreciated that," said Brown.

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