Recuritment must be sucking badly. Sailors now to fight the Middle East.
Jesus Christ.
http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate...l/14414185.htm
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Crash course taxes trainers
Navy to send hundreds of sailors to Fort Jackson's 2-week program
By CHUCK CRUMBO
[email protected]
TIM DOMINICK/
[email protected]
Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Narcisse trains sailors in movement techniques at Fort Jackson. The Army and Navy are teaming up to teach combat skills to sailors deploying with Army units to dangerous regions.
More photos
The Navyhahaha8217;s decision to have thousands of sailors serve with ground troops in Iraq and Afghanistan means more work for Fort Jackson trainers.
Plans call for the Navy to send at least 400 sailors a month to a two-week crash course in ground combat at the Columbia post.
That total could reach 1,000 sailors a month by October, said Lt. Col. Doug Snyder, commander of an Army Reserve unit training the Navy personnel.
The Navy, which has not had a major role in the war on terrorism since the opening days of the Iraq invasion, offered to provide the thinly stretched Army a steady supply of people with skills needed by just about any military unit.
For example, a truck driver in the Navy has the same skills as his Army counterpart. The same goes for civil engineers, medics, supply clerks and staff planners.
But, given that there are few safe havens in Iraq or Afghanistan, the Navy needed to train a lot of people fast in the basics of ground combat.
The Navy settled on Fort Jackson because a crash course on basic combat skills already exists there, said Cmdr. Kevin Aandahl. hahaha8220;There was no need for us to go anywhere else.hahaha8221;
Aandahl was referring to a two-week training program that the Army created in 2004 to accommodate the call-up of members of the Individual Ready Reserve.
Like all Reservists, members of the Ready Reserve have fulfilled the active-duty part of their eight-year enlistment contract. But unlike other Reservists, members of the Ready Reserve are not assigned to units that drill monthly or receive pay.
To get the Reservists back into shape and reacquainted with military life after being recalled to active duty, the Army set up Task Force Marshall at McCrady National Guard Training Center.
McCrady is a 15,000-acre compound on the eastern edge of Fort Jackson that includes dormitories, classrooms and chow hall.
Two years ago, the Army called up about 5,600 members of the Ready Reserve; 4,500 went through training at Fort Jackson.
hahaha8220;Those numbers were never truly realized,hahaha8221; Snyder said, adding the task force has trained about half the number of Army personnel it expected to receive. hahaha8220;Therefore, the structure existed, and we could more fully utilize it.hahaha8221;
Before the sailors arrived in January, the task force beefed up its training program, including a heavy dose of rifle marksmanship as well as basics like low-crawling and how to shoot from behind barriers.
Sailors also must be familiar with convoy protection techniques as well as identifying roadside bombs. Thathahaha8217;s because they will have to travel in convoys to get into and out of Iraq.
Training days start with reveille at 5 a.m. and routinely last 14 to 15 hours. Snyder concedes the sailors are being asked to absorb a lot in a short period.
hahaha8220;Ithahaha8217;s almost like putting a fire hose to your mouth, cranking the water and drinking every drop,hahaha8221; said Snyder, a Reservist from Elgin.
Presently, 103 soldiers from five Army Reserve divisions are training the sailors and Army Reservists.
Snyder said some of the drill sergeants who are trainers are combat veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan.
hahaha8220;Theyhahaha8217;re able to share a lot of their experiences, shortcuts ... and wisdom that theyhahaha8217;ve picked up,hahaha8221; Snyder said.
The Navy, which started sending sailors to Fort Jackson in January, is committed to the program for hahaha8220;as long as ithahaha8217;s necessary,hahaha8221; said Navy Lt. Susan Henson. That could mean Task Force Marshall will remain a fixture at Fort Jackson for some time.
But therehahaha8217;s no movement to make the mission permanent.
hahaha8220;Most of Fort Jackson is geared to the nine-week basic combat traininghahaha8221; for incoming soldiers, said Col. Craig Currey, commander of Fort Jacksonhahaha8217;s Victory Brigade, which supports the posthahaha8217;s training functions.
Starting in June, Fort Jacksonhahaha8217;s training units will be dealing with the annual hahaha8220;summer surgehahaha8221; hahaha8212; the period between June and September when 60 percent of new soldiers are trained, Currey added.
Brig. Gen. James Schwitters, commanding general of Armyhahaha8217;s largest training center, thinks the task force will remain a mission carried out by Reservists, not the regular Army trainers who conduct the nine-week courses at Fort Jackson.
hahaha8220;I believe this is a very, very natural mission for our Reserve component,hahaha8221; Schwitters said. hahaha8220;They bring to it a very unique understanding of the demands.hahaha8221;
Reach Crumbo at (803) 771-8503.