Drizzt
Member
Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico)
May 19, 2003 Monday
SECTION: FINAL; Pg. A1
LENGTH: 774 words
HEADLINE: Schooled in Self-Defense
BYLINE: Miguel Navrot Journal Staff Writer
BODY:
Training prepares N.M. soldiers to ward off ambush tactics in overseas deployments
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE -- Todd Buzzard carefully paces through an arroyo, bent at the knees slightly and working to keep his drawn 9 mm pistol still while firing at small, steel targets. An instructor hovering over his shoulders pops off one order after another, directing Buzzard what to shoot at and how to do it.
"Stay low. Stay low. Keep moving. Keep steady. Stay low," Sgt. 1st Class Jason Riley tells Buzzard, a National Guard chief warrant officer, as he walks and fires slugs at the metal targets. A "ping" sound is the bullet-on-steel hit. A "whizz" means, well, a miss.
"It's not as easy as it looks," Buzzard tells his fellow soldiers from the 717th Medical Company after going through the course, named "the Donga."
Buzzard sounded more pings than whizzes, which is good for him and the rest of the 717th. This summer, a few dozen soldiers in the Santa Fe-based air ambulance company may pack up their UH-60A Black Hawk helicopters and head to southwest Asia as part of the ongoing campaign against terror.
If they go, the mission will be the second in two years for the 717th. From October 2001 through May of last year, they worked through a grueling winter in the Balkans as part of the peacekeeping efforts in Kosovo.
More than half of those who went to Kosovo could be deployed again later this year, officials said.
To prepare for any deployment, the 717th spent this past weekend at an Energy Department training range inside Kirtland Air Force Base brushing up on weapon proficiency and learning new tactics with their M9 service sidearm.
As a medical unit, the 717th is prohibited by rules of war from fortifying themselves with military assault rifles. So if trouble strikes and one of their helicopters goes down in a hostile area, they must be able to protect themselves with the military's standard-issue service pistol.
Instructors Sunday went well beyond simple proficiency and target shooting from static positions. The 717th's soldiers were drilled on firing while moving and under duress -- tactics taught to law enforcement officers and SWAT teams but seldom to rank-and-file soldiers.
"It's probably the most intensive training they've ever seen," said Capt. John Fishburn, company commander who expects to deploy with the unit if they head overseas. "We're doing this, obviously, so they can protect themselves."
Many of those running through the courses finished with some exhaustion.
Daniel Purcell, a 25-year-old pilot and first lieutenant who works full time as a police officer in Los Alamos, connected nearly all 36 bullets to steel targets during one drill Sunday. He has done similar training in the police academy but never while wearing camouflage.
"This is exactly the kind of training we need," Purcell said, slightly out of breath after the exercise.
Paul Saiz, 32, another first lieutenant who works for a security company at Los Alamos National Laboratory, also appreciated the training, calling it "long overdue."
Riley, the range master Sunday who offers the weapon training to various National Guard units, points to the recent ambush on the Army's 507th Maintenance Company in southern Iraq as a "glaring example" of the need to train supporting soldiers how to fight effectively.
Nine soldiers in the Fort Bliss, Texas, maintenance group were killed in a March 23 Iraqi ambush near Nasiriyah when the rear-echelon group came under fire.
If one of their helicopters went down in hostile lands, Riley said, the pilots and medics may find themselves fending for themselves until other rescuers could arrive.
"If these skills keep them alive for an additional 15 minutes, that may be all they need," Riley said.
Local National Guard brass are happy to provide the training to deploying soldiers and airmen, even though it is a draw on resources, namely ammunition. Each Guardsmen fires about 50 bullets annually to stay qualified on their weapons. During this weekend's drill, the two dozen or so training soldiers with the 717th each expelled nearly 250 rounds, or about 6,500 in all.
That ate up much of the local guard's allotment of bullets, said Col. Greg Zanetti.
"War has changed," Zanetti said Sunday. "Rear-area units are finding themselves in harm's way. It's getting to where war is all around you."
To have enough bullets on hand, the National Guard had to seek donations from State Police and other law enforcement agencies, Zanetti said. Meanwhile, officials are seeking other means of increasing the ammunition supply.
May 19, 2003 Monday
SECTION: FINAL; Pg. A1
LENGTH: 774 words
HEADLINE: Schooled in Self-Defense
BYLINE: Miguel Navrot Journal Staff Writer
BODY:
Training prepares N.M. soldiers to ward off ambush tactics in overseas deployments
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE -- Todd Buzzard carefully paces through an arroyo, bent at the knees slightly and working to keep his drawn 9 mm pistol still while firing at small, steel targets. An instructor hovering over his shoulders pops off one order after another, directing Buzzard what to shoot at and how to do it.
"Stay low. Stay low. Keep moving. Keep steady. Stay low," Sgt. 1st Class Jason Riley tells Buzzard, a National Guard chief warrant officer, as he walks and fires slugs at the metal targets. A "ping" sound is the bullet-on-steel hit. A "whizz" means, well, a miss.
"It's not as easy as it looks," Buzzard tells his fellow soldiers from the 717th Medical Company after going through the course, named "the Donga."
Buzzard sounded more pings than whizzes, which is good for him and the rest of the 717th. This summer, a few dozen soldiers in the Santa Fe-based air ambulance company may pack up their UH-60A Black Hawk helicopters and head to southwest Asia as part of the ongoing campaign against terror.
If they go, the mission will be the second in two years for the 717th. From October 2001 through May of last year, they worked through a grueling winter in the Balkans as part of the peacekeeping efforts in Kosovo.
More than half of those who went to Kosovo could be deployed again later this year, officials said.
To prepare for any deployment, the 717th spent this past weekend at an Energy Department training range inside Kirtland Air Force Base brushing up on weapon proficiency and learning new tactics with their M9 service sidearm.
As a medical unit, the 717th is prohibited by rules of war from fortifying themselves with military assault rifles. So if trouble strikes and one of their helicopters goes down in a hostile area, they must be able to protect themselves with the military's standard-issue service pistol.
Instructors Sunday went well beyond simple proficiency and target shooting from static positions. The 717th's soldiers were drilled on firing while moving and under duress -- tactics taught to law enforcement officers and SWAT teams but seldom to rank-and-file soldiers.
"It's probably the most intensive training they've ever seen," said Capt. John Fishburn, company commander who expects to deploy with the unit if they head overseas. "We're doing this, obviously, so they can protect themselves."
Many of those running through the courses finished with some exhaustion.
Daniel Purcell, a 25-year-old pilot and first lieutenant who works full time as a police officer in Los Alamos, connected nearly all 36 bullets to steel targets during one drill Sunday. He has done similar training in the police academy but never while wearing camouflage.
"This is exactly the kind of training we need," Purcell said, slightly out of breath after the exercise.
Paul Saiz, 32, another first lieutenant who works for a security company at Los Alamos National Laboratory, also appreciated the training, calling it "long overdue."
Riley, the range master Sunday who offers the weapon training to various National Guard units, points to the recent ambush on the Army's 507th Maintenance Company in southern Iraq as a "glaring example" of the need to train supporting soldiers how to fight effectively.
Nine soldiers in the Fort Bliss, Texas, maintenance group were killed in a March 23 Iraqi ambush near Nasiriyah when the rear-echelon group came under fire.
If one of their helicopters went down in hostile lands, Riley said, the pilots and medics may find themselves fending for themselves until other rescuers could arrive.
"If these skills keep them alive for an additional 15 minutes, that may be all they need," Riley said.
Local National Guard brass are happy to provide the training to deploying soldiers and airmen, even though it is a draw on resources, namely ammunition. Each Guardsmen fires about 50 bullets annually to stay qualified on their weapons. During this weekend's drill, the two dozen or so training soldiers with the 717th each expelled nearly 250 rounds, or about 6,500 in all.
That ate up much of the local guard's allotment of bullets, said Col. Greg Zanetti.
"War has changed," Zanetti said Sunday. "Rear-area units are finding themselves in harm's way. It's getting to where war is all around you."
To have enough bullets on hand, the National Guard had to seek donations from State Police and other law enforcement agencies, Zanetti said. Meanwhile, officials are seeking other means of increasing the ammunition supply.
