Martin Luther King - Fort Sam Houston - U.S. Army

JANUARY 13, 2011NEWS LEADER14th MI Battalion Soldiers practice ‘infantry’ skillsBy Maj. Susan Galich14th Military IntelligenceBattalionOver a recent four-dayperiod, the 14th MilitaryIntelligence Battalionconducted a WarriorTasks and Battle Drillsfield training exercise onCamp Bullis that incorporatedrealistic scenariosand training aids for theSoldiers of all three of itscompanies.The centerpiece of thetraining was foot-marching,in squad lanes, to amock Afghan village togather intelligence. Onthe way, the Soldiersencountered small armsfire from “insurgents”and simulated improvisedexplosive devices.“The platoon leaderand platoon sergeantworked together to controlthe platoon’s movementand call in controlmeasures,” said Maj.Chad Wetherill, ACompany commander.“The Soldiers scannedtheir sectors of fire, notsure what might comenext, but knowing that asmall arms engagementor IED contact would belikely, based on their initialpatrol brief.“Three quarters of amile into the movement,the lead element of theplatoon made contactwith a four-man dismountedenemy elementarmed with small arms,”Wetherill continued.“After dealing with theintial enagement, the platooncontinued movementbut later made contactwith an IED, treatedits ‘casualties’ andcalled in for casualtyPhoto by Gregory RippsSgt. 1st Class Jared Anderson keeps watch with an M-16 rifle as ahelicopter arrives to evacuate a “casualty.” Soldiers of the 14thMilitary Intelligence Battalion practiced medical evacuation as part oftheir warrior tasking and battle drills at Camp Bullis, Texas, Dec. 7.evacuation.”To evacuate the “casualties”(as identified bythe exerciseobserver/controllers),Soldiers submitted anine-line medical evacuationrequest to “higherheadquarters.”In response, C Company,149th Aviation Battalion,Texas Army NationalGuard, deployed a UH-60helicopter to evacuate the“casualties.” After the helicoptersdeparted, thesquad reconstituted andcontinued its mission tothe village.Once there, theSoldiers practiced movementthrough urban terrain,interacting with thelocal populace, and usingevery Soldier as a sensorto gather information.The squad then reportedinformation of intelligencevalue to higherheadquarters.The field exercise alsoincluded convoy training,Humvee egress trainingand chemical-biologicalradiological-nucleartraining.With the ConvoyTrainer, Soldiers appliedtroop-leading proceduresto convoy operations asPAGE 5they “drove” throughcities in Afghanistanreacting to IEDs, vehicleborneIEDs and othercontact in completingtheir “mission.” TheHumvee EgressAssistance Trainer gaveSoldiers an opportunityto practice teamworkreacting to a Humveerollover.The exercise culminatedwith a review of howto respond to CBRNattacks and mask confidencedrills using achemical environmentchamber.Wetherill said thequestion he often hearsis, “Since I’m a militaryintelligence Soldier (a35M), why do I need totrain on these infantrytasks?”See14TH MIB P18