Pvt. Callie Cox, combat medic, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, renders aid to an internally displaced person during training at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif., Aug. 28, 2016. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Ange Desinor)
By Staff Sgt. Ange Desinor
3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office, 4th Infantry Division
FORT IRWIN, Calif. — U.S. Soldiers are expected to be ready for any mission, at any given time. In order to achieve such readiness, certain joint training is put in place to ensure the Soldiers are prepared when the nation calls on them.
Soldiers with Fort Carson’s 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, and 110th Military Police Battalion, 759th MP Battalion, joined forces with Reservists from the 437th Civil Affairs Battalion, Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, Virginia; and the 362nd Psychological Operations Company, Fayetteville, Arkansas, at the National Training Center (NTC), Fort Irwin, California, Aug. 22, 2016, to achieve a common goal.
When units undergo training at NTC, they are given a scenario where they’re deployed to a fictional country. The 3rd ABCT was given the fictional country called “Atropia,” to assists its citizens from an enemy force called “Donovians.”
“We engage the population to gather information for U.S. forces,” said 1st Lt. Brandon Wilson, officer in charge, 437th CA Bn. “I’ve never done a mission where I had to help (internally displaced persons) before. This training allows you to have that realistic experience.”
Soldiers took pride in their role during their training.
“I am very happy to be here and enjoy this training,” said Sgt. Zachary Panchella, combat medic, 588th Engineer Battalion, 3rd ABCT, 4th Inf. Div. “I worked in a hospital for a couple of years. Being out here and actually doing my job providing medical aid to people is what I like to do.”
It can be difficult working with new units as well as helping the local citizens.
“The hearts and mind of the people is really important,” said Panchella. “Insurgency is usually created when people have a reason to not like you or your country. When you’re able to go out to a group of people and actually have them appreciate you and understand that you’re there to help, it’s really helpful; especially in the efforts for this scenario to push back enemy forces.
Soldiers with the 110th Military Police Battalion, 759th MP Battalion, process internally displaced persons during their scenario-based training at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif., Aug. 22, 2016. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Ange Desinor)
Learning to work as a team benefits the mission.
“You learn how to work with other units, how to explain things and the challenges you will have,” said Wilson. “Other units have their ways of doing things … but you learn to combine all of them.”
Although the military is all about teamwork, it can also be difficult at first.
“As civil affairs, we are a four-man team, and we can’t do everything ourselves,” said Wilson. “Our mission was to deal with internally displaced persons during our scenario. We have medics, engineers, military police, PSYOPS, etc., and combine all of those elements to carry out the mission. We communicate what the mission was and how we need to execute.”
“Some of the challenges we faced was not doing a reconnaissance prior and (coming) up with a legit plan,” said Wilson. “A lot of the things we did were adjusted on the fly. Once we got everyone on the same page and had a good plan in place, everything went smoothly.”
With the amount of conflict with what’s going on in the world, Wilson sees this training as being beneficial.
“As a (Soldier), we can be sent anywhere in the world,” said Wilson. “It’s important that we are prepared for any mission.”