Space Soldiers undergo air assault, MEDEVAC training

FORT CARSON, Colo. -- In recent training involving U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopters, compound raids and casualty management, 1st Space Brigade Soldiers exhibited how Army space operations can be both technical and tactical.

Soldiers with 18th Space Company conducted air assault and MEDEVAC training alongside the 4th Infantry Division Combat Aviation Brigade at Fort Carson on May 1 and May 15 to experiment and validate expeditionary deployment and delivery methods of Army space forces and equipment.

The exercise was an example of efforts to further integrate space capabilities with special operations and cyber forces, as well as adjacent units on Fort Carson, and enhance those partnerships’ ability to enable movement and maneuver of the joint force and conduct space operations at the tactical edge.

"In order for the cyber-space-SOF partnership to work, we need to be equipped and trained to achieve more precise placement and access for space-based capabilities, and this was a way to train for that,” said Capt. Anthony Portuesi, 18th Space Company officer-in-charge. “The Soldiers in the 1st Space Brigade know how to do ‘their job.’ However, we need to be as tactically proficient as the people we support to build trust, competence, and commitment for mission success.”

Maj. Andrew Hicks, commander, 18th Space Company, said Portuesi and his team simulated various battalion staff sections on behalf of the unit to plan for the event, which facilitated education and integration between both the space and combat aviation brigade crews.

“Over the course of just a few – but long – days, Anthony and his team developed a task force level intelligence overview, mission, friendly and enemy scheme of maneuver, and sustainment plan for the event which made the training realistic and worthwhile,” Hicks said.

Soldiers received training on warfighting functions like movement and maneuver, sustainment, and command and control. For the medical portion of the event, Soldiers learned how to evaluate a casualty on mechanism and type of injury, signs and symptoms present, and treatments applied, as well as how to secure casualties in rescue stretchers in preparation for air evacuation. Training also included sling loading casualties, using the hoist and safely navigating under the aircraft’s rotor disc while boarding.

During the air assault training, the Combat Aviation Brigade’s UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crews transported space Soldiers to a second location, where the Soldiers simulated large-scale combat operations activity by clearing compound buildings and evacuating subsequent casualties.

“Getting to integrate with combat aviation was very thrilling and motivating,” said Sgt. Patricia Marquez. “This training has helped prepare me for combat and field scenarios by broadening my scope and focus on the tactical instead of just the technical or administrative parts of my work. It allowed me to see the bigger picture of not just how 18th Space Company can become more tactical, but how we can be a strong asset for the Army as a whole.”