As the C-130 flew overhead, streams of parachutes attached to static
lines drop from the aircraft side doors as paratroopers from the 173rd
Airborne Brigade, jumped to earth. One by one, they landed randomly
across the field.
Walking from one paratrooper to the next at the 7th Army Joint
Multinational Training Command Bunker Drop Zone in Grafenwoehr Training
Area, Germany, Spc. Estar Hegel, a medic with the 6250th Army Hospital,
and Port Orchard, Washington native, asked Soldiers if they were OK
after their jump.
Known as BDZ, this training area is one of the only drop zones in Europe
where both personnel and heavy equipment can drop for airborne
operations. For medics on foot, there is a lot of space to cover.
Without stopping, Hegel moved from one paratrooper to the next,
observing movements for signs of injuries and asking for verbal
acknowledgement.
Although you'd never know from the serious look on her face, she was thrilled to be there.
"I never thought I'd get to do something like this," she said as she
walked the vast open space. "It's definitely an impressive experience."
Each year, most U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers get the opportunity to train
outside of their home stations at locations such as Fort Hunter-Liggett,
California, or Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, as part of their annual
deployment training. Others are chosen to participate in training
opportunities that take them even further from home.
A program known as the Overseas Deployment Training, along with
Operation Atlantic Resolve, brought many Reservists to Europe to train
for three-weeks or more with active-duty units, running a variety of
training missions.
One unit out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, the 6250th Army
Hospital, brought five Soldiers with varying medical military
occupational specialties to the Grafenwoehr Army Health Clinic, for
their three-week training assignment.
Along with working in the clinic, the medical Soldiers spent the day with active-duty medics on a drop zone, July 23.
Not only did the medical team learn how to patrol a drop zone, they were
given instructions how to prepare a field litter ambulance back at the
Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 4th Battalion, 319th Airborne
Field Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade motor pool. Active-duty medic
Sgt. Tyler Sheeks gave the Reservists an orientation of the field litter
ambulance, safety procedures as well as how to use the radio in case
someone had to be medically evacuated off the drop zone.
Both National Guard and Reserve Soldiers perform Overseas Deployment
Training here, and hone their medical skills, while building
relationships with their active-duty counterparts.
"It was nice having them with us," said Sheeks.
The Soldiers are here to train, however they add value bringing their
citizen-Soldier skills to the offices they support. Performing missions
that support training as well as assisting Soldiers is an added value to
the ODT program.
http://www.army.mil/article/130736/Reserve_medical_Soldiers_embed_with_active_duty_counterparts_for_Overseas_Deployment_Training/
By Sgt. Christina Dion
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