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Spc. Caitlin Cecil and Sgt. Orlando Fierro, students in the Fort Knox TASS Training Center civil affairs and psychological operations training Military Occupational Specialty reclassification course, speaks with two women simulated Afghan villagers d...
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Sgt. Jeff Budzynski, Alpha Company, 457th Civil Affairs Battalion, sits with a simulated local Afghan villager during a field training exercise Feb. 6, 2013. Budzynski is one of more than 130 Soldiers who attended the Fort Knox TASS Training Center c...
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Sgt. 1st Class Ed Cardona and Sgt. 1st Class Eugene Thomas, both instructors assigned to the 12th Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 100th Training Division, demonstrates the proper way to shield a damaged vehicle. The demonstration is part of the dismounted ve...
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Sgt. 1st Class Stephen Meneses, a student in the Fort Knox Tass Training Center civil affairs and psychological operations training MOS reclassification course, stands watch while other members of his team speak with two men simulating local Afghanis...
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Sgt. 1st Class Ed Cardona, a dismounted vehicle instructor during the field training exercise, explained to Spc. Scott Radtke, a student in the Fort Knox TASS Training Center civil affairs and psychological operations training MOS reclassification co...
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Spc. Alan Cooper, a Fort Knox TASS Training Center civil affairs and psychological operations training MOS reclassification course student, practiced taking a fighting position after dismounting from a vehicle during a field training exercise Feb. 6,...
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Pvt. 1st Class Heather Capitulk, an Information Systems Operator-Analyst assigned to the 401st Civil Affairs Battalion, Webster, N.Y., waits for further instructors while sitting in the gunner position of a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle ...
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More than 130 Warrior Citizens participated in a joint Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Field Training Exercise as part of a Military Occupational Specialty reclassification course at the Total Army School System Training Center, Fort Knox, Feb. 4-11, 2013.
The pilot course modeled after the one at Fort Bragg, N.C., includes in-class instruction and a FTX with real-life Civil Affairs and PSYOPS mission scenarios. For example, students visited simulated Afghan villages and interacted with local villagers asking about issues ranging from security to medical assistance.
Sgt. 1st Class Brian Morris, a Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Specialist assigned to the 404th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne), Fort Dix, N.J., said the training will help when he returns to his unit and during his upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.
"I enjoyed the small-scaled, joint team dynamic because everyone seemed to have input and helped with the mission," Morris said. "Although this is just the initial stuff, it makes you think on your feet and learn to make quick judgment calls."
The training also provides Soldiers the opportunity to learn about possible situations that may occur during deployment missions, like the ability to negotiate, mediate, and problem solve.
"A lot of times we have relationships with key leadership," said Sgt. 1st Class Ed Cardona, a dismounted vehicle instructor at the FTX currently assigned to 12th Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 100th Training Division. "If civil affairs and PSYOPS work together we can get the key leadership working together."
The course which is currently temporary could become part of the TTC-Fort Knox curriculum if students, instructors, and leadership provide positive feedback.
"We are here to teach these Soldiers to be civil affairs and PSYOPs SMEs, and this FTX is really causing the Soldiers to switch gears," said Command Sgt. Maj. Frank Supinski, senior enlisted leader 12th Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 100th Training Division.
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