CAMP SMITH TRAINING SITE, CORTLANDT MANOR, N.Y. -- It looks like an empty building, but it's full of training value for Soldiers of the New York Army National Guard's 1156th Engineer Company.
That's because the troops are using Building 95 here at Camp Smith, the New York National Guard's training site in the Hudson Valley, to practice their construction jobs. During their weekend drill assemblies since January, the Soldiers have been building walls -- complete with electrical wiring and plumbing fixtures -- inside Building 95, according to Capt. John Scott, commander of the 1156th Engineer Company.
"It offers us a defined location we can use every drill," said Scott, who resides in East Greenbush, New York. "It fits right into our skill sets."
The enhanced training should also set the troops for success during their upcoming deployment to Kuwait, he added.
About 45 Soldiers have been doing work in Building 95, which solves a problem the company was facing -- lack of training areas, he explained.
As a vertical engineer unit, the chief mission of the 1156th Engineer Company is building structures. Army engineers learn carpentry, wiring and plumbing at similar facilities based at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, Scott said.
But Fort Leonard Wood is far away from New York, and without something local to build, the troops had no place to keep their construction skills sharp, Scott said. So Chief Warrant Officer 2 Michael Quijano, the company construction warrant officer and resident of Staten Island, New York, brought the issue to Maj. Chad J. Clark, the Camp Smith facilities engineer.
When he heard about the problem, he recalled that Building 95 was empty, said Clark, a Chester, New York, resident who is also operations officer for the 204th Engineer Battalion, the 1156th's higher headquarters.
"It's just an empty building with a concrete floor," Clark said. "It really wasn't being used a whole lot." Camp Smith staff discussed the idea and decided to allow the engineers to use the building, he added.
"They basically gave us a building to use as a training structure," Scott said. "It kind of mirrors the training sets available at Fort Leonard Wood," he said.
Building 95 may help with retention as well, Scott said, recalling how many engineer troops site lack of training as their reasons for not re-enlisting.
"Being able to offer this to the troops is a big plus," he said.
When the engineers finish the walls, wiring and plumbing fixtures, they'll de-construct the project so training can begin again, he said.
"At that point we can tear it all down and start over," he explained.
While they're able to recover and about 80 percent of their building materials, some things can't be re-used, he said.
"Nails are a case in point," Scott said. "In some cases, lighting fixtures and wiring can be re-used."
The 1156th is scheduled to deploy to Kuwait this fall, and will be conducting some of its pre-deployment training at Camp Smith. Some of the training will take place at Camp Smith's urban-assault course and hand grenade range -- facilities that Soldiers of the 1156th helped build, Clark noted.
"We're using what we're building," Scott said.
Related Links:
New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs
New York Army National Guard soldiers head to Germany for Annual Training
New York Army National Guard Engineer Soldiers Walk Through the Flood to Rescue Residents
Homeland Response Force validation training lifts off
New York Army National Guard Engineers Restore Historic Hudson Highlands Fire Tower
Social Sharing