To maintain a heightened state of readiness, Soldiers from Fort Stewart-U.S. Army Medical Department Activity participated in range week Feb 13-17. Range week consists of many different operational objectives and concludes with Soldiers qualifying on their M4 and M9 weaponry.
Private 1st Class Robyn Spicer, a medic in the Winn Army Community Hospital Emergency Department, zeros her M4 assault rifle in preparation for her turn to qualify.
"I think being combat ready, no matter if you're medicine or if you're infantry, either way, it's important to be combat ready no matter what MOS you have," Spicer said.
Fort Stewart U.S. Army MEDDAC Officer in Charge, Capt. Lakesha Lee, explained the importance of Soldiers maintaining a constant state of readiness.
"It builds confidence," Lee said. "The more practice you have the better you get, so at any time if we do deploy, go down range they're very comfortable they're very confident in their assigned weapon."
The mission of MEDDAC is to conserve the fighting strength for the Third Infantry Division. Because of the constancy of the healthcare mission, MEDDAC Soldiers are saving lives around the clock. However, they must be ready to deploy at a moment's notice, so this training helps reaffirm their individual readiness.
"Being able to leave at any minute, I think that's actually pretty cool," Spicer said. "Because that way, not only do I get the experience in the emergency room dealing with both civilians and active duty, and retirees, we get to work with people who are on the front line and doing their jobs so they can protect this country while we can protect them."
Spicer joined the military because she felt a calling after the terror attacks on September 11. Even though she was only in grade school at the time, the Florida native knew then that she would one day fight for her country.
"My birthday's on September 11," Spicer said. "So when I watched that on TV I decided that I wanted to join the military. So that I can do my part to help protect this country, versus just sitting around and watching and doing nothing."
Range week began with Engagement Skills Training at the Virtual Training Center at Fort Stewart. The EST training is designed to simulate live weapon training events. Each MEDDAC Solider was required to qualify their individual marksmanship with the M4 and M9 before participating in live-fire range qualifications.
"Even though we are medical, we should be able to be deployment ready," U.S. Army MEDDAC, Spc. Chelsea Thims said. "We need to be able to shoot and to be able to handle a mission, and to be able to know what we're looking at and how to effectively take down our target."
The week-long training regimen for MEDDAC Soldiers is to stand ready take on their constant mission to save lives on the battlefield, and at their home station.
Social Sharing