FORT BENNING, Ga., (March 25, 2015) -- The immediate evacuation of a 13,400-pound Humvee rolling over as a result of striking an improvised explosive device is a possibility in the life of a Soldier, but it is a far cry from the normal routine of a Department of Defense civilian.
Fifty-nine students got to experience what that might feel like March 15-20 as a part of the Executive Leadership Development Program's visit to Fort Benning.
"They're going to get a little taste of what the privates and new officers coming in get," said Staff Sgt. Justin Cobb, A Company, 3rd Battalion, 81st Armor Regiment.
"If you want to understand what the warfighter does, the best way to do it, sometimes, is to go through what the warfighter goes through," said Vanessa Glasscoe, ELDP program manager.
For the simulation, four students at a time, acted as Soldier crewmembers and were strapped into part of a simulator, meant to resemble the cargo area of an M1114 Humvee in Humvee egress assistance training and mine-resistant, ambush protected vehicle rollover simulations.
For the simulations, the students went through four different battle drills: familiarization of the critical rollover point, familiarization with being upside down, dry-land egress and water egress.
As the simulator was tilted 180 degrees following the familiarization battle drills, Cobb said the crewmembers were left hanging upside down so they understand how disorienting it can be.
From this position, they egress - they release their seatbelt and evacuate the overturned vehicle, which many found is easier said than done.
"Back in Iraq, Soldiers were dying not being able to get out of these vehicles," Cobb said, noting since the Army began using simulators, more Soldiers have survived.
Participants also visited Smith gym, interacted with Soldiers, were exposed to Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation and rappelled during their weeklong visit.
The mission of the ELDP is to give prior military, retired military and inner-agency personnel, as well as civilians an understanding of what the warfighter goes through, Glasscoe said. They are at the bridge of GS-12 through GS-14, uniformed personnel at the captain and major ranks and some enlisted, he said.
In addition to the experience, ELDP students gain connections to their peers so that they can reach across the department to help solve issues they may be working on, said Glasscoe.
"We go around the world - to include overseas - and travel to look at the missions of a number of warfighter units from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard, so we have a better understanding of not only what our warfighter goes through, but how it relates to the missions what we do at each of our locations," Glasscoe said.
Andrea Stauffer, Stuttgart Family and MWR, Stuttgart, Germany, said she valued in the program because of the way it allows the participants to "know what the Soldiers and the service members are going through," especially in relation to the IED training.
"If you had to do that all day, every day for a year, you can see where the stress and the tension comes into play," Stauffer said of the on-edge feeling of looking for IEDs. "You have (to have) enough time to release it..." she said.
Sgt. 1st Class Samonie Oliver, instructor of military operations, agreed with Stauffer's assessment and spoke from a Soldier's point of view.
"It's sometimes hard to put it down; when I came back, I found myself in the civilian world walking on the street and looking at signs, looking at triggers. So, that (time off is) very, very important."
From the budget's impact to the new strategies or policies being put in place, Glasscoe said the actions of the warfighters all connect to the DoD missions at home.
"When you're a civilian and at a desk, you never really get to understand," said Alana Wooditch, a foreign policy analyst at the Pentagon. "Not only seeing about it or reading about, but actually getting to do it, even on a simulated level has been really awesome. It broadens the mission and our appreciation for what Soldiers do every day."
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