JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- Army personnel and Marine aviators here joined forces March 4 to create personal security training above and beyond the ordinary for a detachment of Army Reserve Soldiers.
Members of the 1-307th Infantry Regiment, 174th Infantry Brigade, wanted to make a fast paced, realistic scenario for the 810th Military Police Company, a personal security detachment from Tampa, Fla. Toward this goal, Sgt. 1st Class James Rogers III with the 1-307th operations section coordinated the involvement of Marine Helicopter Light Attack Squadron 773. The Marine unit provided an AH-1 Super Cobra and a UH-1Y Huey to fly overhead security as the PSD escorted a role player through an urban training area.
Members of the 810th had to maintain constant communication with the aircraft and each other while simultaneously protecting their principal from harm. After moving from building to building for several minutes, an instructor from the 1-307th stepped up the pressure by simulating sniper fire from the tower of a nearby building. 810th Soldiers reacted quickly, returning fire while other members hurried the principal back to his vehicle for a quick getaway. The convoy relocated to another area of the training range here with a landing zone, known as Contingency Operating Location Victory.
In another example of detailed coordination by the 1-307th, the training plan called for loading the principal onto one of the Marine helicopters. The Huey stirred up clouds of recently fallen snow as it set down at COL Victory while 810th Soldiers maintained a perimeter. The principal, still surrounded by his PSD escorts, then moved out under the roar of rotors and loaded on to the helicopter, concluding the training.
According to Sgt. 1st Class James Meyer, non-commissioned officer in charge of Det. 4, the experience level in the unit varied, so maximizing the benefit of the unit?'s training is essential. The 1-307th?'s scenario fit the bill.
?"Only a few Soldiers have prior deployment experience with a PSD," said Meyer. ?"So this was a good opportunity for them."
At the opposite end of the spectrum from many of the young, less experienced service members is Soldiers like Cpl. Barry Gooch, detachment team leader and unit armorer. The 50-year-old former Marine and Desert Storm veteran joined the Army Reserve after a 20-year break in service because he felt he had more to contribute. Another veteran is Staff Sgt. Clay Proffitt, squad leader with the 810th. He is on his fifth deployment but still gets value out of this type of training because each unit is different.
?"We came from all over for this deployment but it is a small group," said Proffitt. ?"Because of this you can get to know each other better and quicker. Training like this brings us together as a team."
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First Army Division East, in partnership with the United States Army Reserve and Army National Guard, advises, assists and trains Reserve Component Forces, in both pre and post mobilization through multi component integrated collective training, in accordance with Army Total Force Policy, Department of the Army, Forces Command and First Army directives in order to achieve Army Force Generation directed readiness requirements.
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