New Mexico Minuteman - Summer 2011 - Keep Trees

The fi rst fi ve training scenarios included:
land navigation training, basic rope instruction,
vehicle search exercise, OCONUS
cave clearance and shooting fundamentals,
and beam hit. The teams alternate between
scenarios so that all members will have the
opportunity to get much needed training.
“This is the fi rst [training] exercise that
we have ever done together as New Mexico
National Guard members from Military Police
and Security Forces. Hopefully, this initial
training session will lead to more events in
the future,” said Col. John Castillo.
The two-week training began the morning
of April 13, 2011. During the fi rst week participants
went through a cave area to learn
how to clear the area. The area was “booby
trapped” and caused trainees to increase
their awareness of activities and their surroundings.
The “cave area” used in this
scenario had a cache of enemy weapons,
ammunition and chemicals. The trainees’
mission was to clear the area, keep vigilance
on the outside of the cave and take an
inventory of the enemy cache. Once completed,
they were to give the information to
their chain of command and wait for further
instruction. Upon the end of the exercise,
the team and cadre (instructors) conducted
a debrief, also called a “hot wash.” During
the hot wash, they discussed what could
have been done differently and more effectively.
The trainees then regrouped and
continued on the mission with their new
knowledge. During the debrief, the cadre
made a few changes to the arrangement of
the equipment and contraband making the
next scenario different than the fi rst.
Another group of trainees worked the
highway HAZMAT area of the tunnel. This
area was set up to represent a scenario
based exercise of a highway or tunnel venue
for terrorist created situations, hazardous
materials environments, or other designed
operations. The vehicle search, set up for the
New Mexico groups, was to clear the area of
the wreckage and look for the enemy. The
exercise had the team going through each
vehicle and looking for the enemy and any
victims of the wreckage. Once the vehicle
search was conducted and the vehicle
deemed safe and secure, they proceeded
to the next vehicle. After completing the
scenario the team convened for a hot wash.
After conducting the debrief, the team went
back to complete the new scenario, only
this time the lights were dimmed and the
“enemy” began to fi re at the trainees. Both
teams were armed with simmunition, giving
the scenario a more realistic feel.
In the afternoon, three teams went out to
the fi eld for land navigation training along
with tactics. The course took them through
a series of fi ve points. The teams started
at the top of the hill plotting their navigation
points. Once this was completed they
headed down to fi nd the fi rst point, which
was marked by an orange painted ammunition
can. This was the marker for the next
point. Using a compass, a topographical
map, and other navigational techniques the
Army and Air Guard teams forged ahead,
quickly and effi ciently conquering this segment
of the course. .
Not all of the training was conducted in
the “Tunnel.” Classroom instruction played
a vital role in the training. The basic rope
instruction allowed the students to become
familiar with different types of ropes and the
understanding of the many intended uses
of rope. The information made students
aware of the strength and understanding
of how ropes come into play when doing
a search and rescue mission with rappelling.
These techniques would be applied
at a later time.
Shooting fundamentals and “beam hit”
gave the Soldiers and Airmen a refresher
on basic rifl e and beam hit marksmanship.
This instruction was prudent for hands
on training with a weapon. The students
practiced, cleaned and became even more
familiar with their weapons, increasing their
readiness.
While this only describes part of the training
that was accomplished, the entire training
process featured a total of 10 events.
The intent of all the planned scenarios is
to improve both the Army and Air Guard’s
response to terrorism and major disasters
through realistic training.
“They came together as New Mexico
Guardsmen from various parts of the state
and worked as one team,” said Castillo.
“These are motivated Soldiers and Airmen
that took this training opportunity and ran
with it. Once the teams came together, they
began to develop cohesiveness through
individual and team tactics, stressing
communication and real world incident
response.”
The second week of training encompassed
squad tactics, confi ned space
training, collapsed structure victim rescue,
Military Operations on Urban Terrain training
and Chemical Biological Radiological
Nuclear and Environmental training. Most
of the training was conducted in the Tunnel‘s
scenario based areas. The confi ned space
training was accomplished in complete
darkness while the students made their way
through a two-story structure to fi nd a victim
who could not get out. The scenario made
the students rely on each other’s voice for
instruction as well as their senses. Working
in complete darkness elevated the level of
diffi culty.
The “Rubble Pile” in its own right gave
the teams a workout. The area was set up
to look as if a large structure had collapsed,
and the teams’ mission was search and
rescue. The teams were taught to check the
debris fi eld to ensure it was stable to transport
“victims” and check areas for expired
persons. They were taught how to identify
and mark the areas so that other emergency
response personnel could move past the
areas marked or help with the recovery of
the victim(s).
The CNR personnel upped the ante by
dimming the lights, adding smoke, loud
music and screaming victims to the scenario.
This put an added pressure to the
students, but overall they kept calm and
forged ahead with the task given to them.
They ‘daisy-chained’ the victims together,
creating a human chain, ensuring that they
got out of the rubble together. The injured
[played by mannequins] were placed on
backboards and carried out.
The rest of the training areas allowed the
teams both classroom and practical instruction.
The overall training, which took many
months of planning, paid off for both the
Army and Air Guardsmen. Both sides realized
a lot of their training was very similar
and they also had a newfound respect for the
specifi c areas specialized to each branch.
“From the brand new Airman to the
senior NCOs, the constant comment to me
was, ‘Sir, this is the best AT I have ever been
to.’ I can tell you that the hundreds of hours
that went into the preparation for this exercise
by my team of professionals were well
spent and effective,” said Castillo
The camaraderie among the members
gave them a new sense of understanding
and awareness. Overall, the mission was
a success and new friendships were developed,
giving this training a human touch to
another military adventure.
Summer 2011 / NEW MEXICO National Guard 15