FORT DRUM, N.Y. (July 30, 2015) -- Units throughout 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI) had an opportunity to sharpen their basic Soldier skills during a weeklong Mountain Peak training exercise July 18-25 at Fort Drum.
During the exercise, members of 1st Platoon, B Battery, 3rd Battalion, 6th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st BCT, participated in an emergency deployment readiness exercise, which consisted of a unique type of training that is new to the division: using a C-130 aircraft simulator to learn and practice how to tie down the Soldiers' bags on pallets and properly load the pallets onto the aircraft.
"It's more or less for Soldiers who have not deployed," said Staff Sgt. Bob Chatman, platoon sergeant for 1st Platoon, B Battery, 3-6 FA. "They get a feel of the whole process from the start of getting your equipment and stuff ready to actually getting on a bird and going down range."
The EDRE portion is set in place to test the efficiency and speed at which Soldiers will be ready to deploy at a moment's notice.
"If we go down range, it's going to help us prepare for actually doing this in real life," said 1st Lt. John Tripp, platoon leader for 1st Platoon, B Battery, 3-6 FA.
"When we get the call, we basically get on the bird as soon as possible, and there are steps we have to take in order to get to that point," he continued.
The overall exercise tested everything from basic Soldier skills to advanced military tactics from the team to platoon level.
"It's the first time a lot of these platoon leaders and their platoons had the chance to work together in the training glide path going from fire team to squad, and now at the platoon level," said Capt. Rocco Boccuti, assistant operations officer for 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st BCT.
During Mountain Peak, participating units had a chance to work at the team, squad and platoon levels in order to accomplish whatever task was thrown their way.
"I think it's just getting everybody in a real-world setting," Boccuti added. "We could have done military decision-making process in the rear, but that's not the 1st Brigade way of doing things, it's not the Triple Deuce way of doing things either. It's getting us out here and putting us in stressful situations where we have a bunch of things going on, so it actually does a good job of simulating being down range."
Exercises like these don't solely rely on one Soldier. They require a lot of teamwork and cooperation to ensure a successful outcome of the given mission.
"We came together as a team," Boccuti said. "We're really a learning organization, and I think that's key that we promote learning from mistakes or making mistakes in training so we're not doing it when it really counts."
After they complete the training, the Soldiers may go home, but the training they received remains fresh on their minds and they carry that until the next training opportunity when they get to hone their skills even further.
"It's a good way to just continue to learn and be challenged, to not just settle on the standard because there's always room for improvement," Boccuti said.
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