Special Forces students train to be SF engineers

[SR-25]

By Paul D. Prince
U.S. Army Special Operations Command Public Affairs Office

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service, Nov. 16, 2005) —Soldiers assigned to the 4th Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group here continued their schooling Nov. 15 during Phase III of Special Forces Pipeline Training. The students are inspiring to become Special Forces engineer sergeants.

Army Special Forces engineers are experts in constructions of field fortifications and topographic survey techniques. Special Forces Teams are among the most specialized combat forces in the Army and they experience rigorous mental and physical training, according to the Web site: www.goarmy.com.

“We have one of the most dangerous training exercises in the Special Warfare Center and School,” said Maj. Russell Miller, a company commander assigned to 4th Bn., 1st SWTG. “A portion of the SF training is to detonate an unexploded ordinance safely and strategically.

“This training is important, because we come in contact with many unexploded ordinances overseas all the time,” Miller continued. “When SF Soldiers first roll into towns there, the locals will go to them for help with unexploded ordinance. They have to have the expertise to do the job.”

Miller said these Soldiers first spend time in the classroom. He explained that classroom space is a challenge; sometimes there are only 40 seats for 70 students.

“We are getting a new facility that will allow for enough space for 80 people, which will help us to double training time,” said Miller. Miller and his staff insured that the exercise environment is controlled and cautious because the work can be dangerous.

“The first part of the class is construction,” said Sgt. 1st Class Curtis Parsons, an instructor assigned to 1st Bn., 1st SWTG. “We build everything that we will need for the exercise. This is to simulate situations of discovering improvise explosive devices and learning to dispose of them without relocating them.”

“We are not interested in failing anyone. We try to retain and train the dedicated Soldiers,” said Sgt. 1st Class Adam Bourlet, another an instructor assigned to 1st Bn., 1st SWTG. He said the instructors are there to guide students and allow them to gain hands-on experience.

The students were separated into 10-man teams. Parsons said the team formations teach Soldiers to work with one another through the chain-of-command. This approach especially benefits the candidates that have limited military experience before entering the Special Forces Pipeline.

“We don’t touch anything unless there is an issue of safety. They receive classroom training before the hand-on experience which helps,” Parsons said.

During the exercise, the students carried boxes of unexploded ordinances down range to a secure area. The candidates then prepared the ordinances for denotation by wiring it together, creating a “daisy chain” effect. The students and instructors then took cover up-range in a bomb shelter. When the instructors gave the order, the students charged the ordinaces’ triggers, and the explosives ignited like falling dominoes.

The students quietly celebrated their team's success, and then prepared for more classroom training. The unexploded ordinance exercise is only one of many components to accomplish in Phase III of SF Pipeline Training; however, each candidate now is one step closer to their goal.

http://news.soc.mil/releases/05NOV/051118-01.htm