News - Fort Stewart Frontline Online

8A TheFrontline September 20, 2007
3rd Infantry Division
4th BCT Soldiers practice their night vision
Pfc. Amanda McBride
4th BCT Public Affairs
You’re preparing for your mission and
you know that without these you won’t be
able to see. You stare out of your humvee
and everything around you is green.
Though it’s green, you’re able to see everything
in the dark environment - even
though it is nighttime.
Soldiers throughout the Army go on
countless missions every day and night
while deployed and night vision goggles
give Soldiers the ability to see and perform
their duties at night.
Soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat
Team participated in night driving training
Sept. 14 in preparation for the brigade’s
upcoming deployment.
Though Soldiers are required to take part
in the training, the main objective is to get
the Soldier familiarized with the different
NVGs and how to use them.
“The purpose of this training is to familiarize
Soldiers with the PVS 7 and the PVS
14, said Sgt. 1st Class Charles Purnell, master
driver. “It allows them to know the capabilities
and limitations of these devices. It
also allows them to get used to depth perception
and the safety requirements they
need to put in place while driving at night.”
Throughout the entire training exercise,
safety was always required and it was
always the top priority no matter what.
“The safety aspects that are used when
Soldiers are doing this training is that we
will not go above 15 miles per hour,” Purnell
said. “The TC (track/vehicle commander)
will have NVGs on to ensure that the Soldier
isn’t going too far to the left or to far to the
right.”
Before Soldiers are allowed to drive the
Sgt. Ben Brody
Aboard a Chinook, Soldiers from Company B, 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and
Rocky, a military working dog, wait for the order to launch an air assault in the Tigris River Valley,
Sept. 15.
humvees with the NVGs on, they must first
take a class on the NVGs to get familiarized
with how they work and how to properly
use them.
“Another aspect is that the Soldiers get a
block of instruction first so they are familiarized
with the piece of equipment,”
Purnell said.
“We also do a daytime dry run over the
route we will be taking so the Soldiers are
familiar with the course prior to doing it
with the NVGs at night.”
Another important aspect covered in the
training was for Soldiers to identify intersections
and other obstructions in the road.
“The purpose of Soldiers identifying road
intersections to the left and the right is it
allows them to know that they are using
proper scanning techniques to identify
road intersections,” Purnell explained. “Not
just road intersections; it could be obstruc-
During the operation, four Apache
attack helicopters circled overhead, firing
hundreds of 30mm cannon rounds
at the insurgent positions.
Over the past month, Soldiers from
Company B, 3rd Battalion, 509th
Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th
Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry
Divison, teamed up with aviators from
3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd
Infantry Division, and conducted seven
air assaults in the Tigris River Valley.
Operation Marne Husky disrupted
insurgents who fled the towns of
Salman Pak and Arab Jabour in front of
earlier U.S. offensives, said Lt. Col.
Robert Wilson, 3rd CAB’s executive officer.
“We were able to use our combinedarms
capability to insert forces into
areas that the enemy previously
tions in the road; it could be puddles of
water; it could be different things that can
be seen through the NVGs.”
Although the Soldiers did a dry run of the
route they would be taking in the daytime
prior to the night training, some Soldiers
still were apprehensive about driving with
the NVGs on.
After given the opportunity to drive with
the NVGs on, many left with a confidence in
their driving, some got over their initial
fear, and others learned valuable information.
“I was uncomfortable at first because I
thought it was going to be harder to see my
surrounding areas,” said Pvt. Brandy
Swackhammer, assigned to Headquarters,
Headquarters Company, 4th BCT. “I feel
comfortable driving now in NVGs and I
think that having us help each other was
beneficial.”
CLINIC From Page 1A
With the new school year coming soon, school-aged children
were given supplies such as pens, pencils, paper and book
bags.
"We want the Iraqi people to know that we care and that we
are doing as much as we can for them. We haven't forgotten
about them," said Maj. Catherine Haverty, 3rd Civil Affairs
Battalion, Detachment 1.
The event was an initial step in a larger project that could
bring more permanent medical care to the region.
"We're hoping to turn this into a local clinic," said Capt.
Daniel Joyce, 1/40th Cav. battalion surgeon. "We are working
on a CERP (commander's emergency response program) project
to get power and water here.”
Most importantly, the region needs doctors. Currently, four
local Iraqi doctors and a female obstetrics/gynecology doctor
have been identified as possible candidates to work at the pro-
HUSKY From Page 1A
“The WTB at Winn continues to transition
into a place of refuge and healing for that
generation of Soldiers as the 55-member
staff cadre is hired and the “working parts of
the battalion gel,” said Lt. Col. Leonard
Porter, the Warrior Transition Battalion
commander.
Staff members include doctors, nurses,
social workers, physical therapists, counselors,
and others funded with GWOT dollars. Winn’s
WTB services also include special garrison
assets now available for transitioning Soldiers
and their Families.
“The garrison understands that the WTB is a
number one priority at Fort Stewart,” said
Collins. “Col. (Todd) Buchs (Fort Stewart-
Hunter Army Airfield garrison commander)
and I work together closely to run day-to-day
activities.”
Buchs also supports the Town Hall meetings
for transitioning Soldiers and their Families
where presenters, such as Veterans Affairs rep-
resentatives, explain benefits. Attendees can
question a forum of representatives that
includes the American Red Cross, Directorate
of Morale, Welfare and Recreation and other
subject matter experts about medical care,
financial support and other relevant issues.
Caregivers at the battalion include Soldiers
and civilians who at any given time support
approximately 200 wounded Soldiers and
their Families — Families whose worlds have
been turned upside down as a result of the
trauma they received in the Global War on
Terror, according to Porter.
“These injuries change lives,” Porter said.
“Soldiers are disfigured from IED exposure,
gunshot wounds and others have post traumatic
stress and traumatic brain injuries.
Since they can no longer perform their jobs,
they worry about their careers and have real
fear and anxiety about their futures. ”
To help minimize that stress, they’re
assigned a triad of caregivers that consist of a
Nancy Gould
Sgt. Eddie Cockel, a South Carolina National Guardsman and transitioning warrior at
Winn Army Community Hospital shows off the amenities he enjoys at the two-person
modular barracks he shares with another recovering Soldier. He returned from Iraq in
October 2006 with an injured shoulder.
posed clinic.
"We are working with them right now to figure out their
schedules so they can come in and work with residents to reinvigorate
the health care system here," Underwood said.
Working with Iraqis will put an Iraqi face on the mission and
make the clinic truly an Iraqi enterprise, he added.
Although Coalition Forces will continue to provide medicine
for the clinic, the medicine will be purchased through a local
Iraqi company, Haverty said. She expects the medicine to
arrive within 10 days.
"It makes you feel pretty good," Joyce said. "It shows we care
enough to come out here. They are going to remember an
American doctor looked at my baby and said ‘he is OK.’"
Even with limited resources, Joyce, who has a background as
a family doctor, Haverty, an emergency room nurse with 35
years experience, and an Iraqi army medic, Sgt. Maj. Kalid Latif
primary care manager (a physician); a nurse
case manager and a squad leader who ensures
their medical, educational and social needs
are addressed and met.
The team expedites appointments and services
at the installation and expedites referrals
to agencies made outside the gates. According
to Porter, the team helps to eliminate the possibility
of service fragmentation and works
closely with the Veterans Administration to
expedite benefits for those deemed unfit to
return to active duty.
Before the WTU, warrior transition care was
overseen by the Medical Process and
Retention Unit— the unit that had oversight of
Sgt. Eddie Cockel, a South Carolina National
Guardsman who returned from Iraq in
October 2006 with an injured shoulder.
“I received excellent care in Medical Hold (a
section of the Medical Process and Retention
Unit) when I returned from Iraq,” he said, “but
the WTB is better because there are more caseworkers
and Soldiers now that have quicker
access to them than we had in the past.”
Cockel is a part of the WTB because his
treatment was more than six months, a prerequisite
for battalion admittance. After a year
at Winn, he’s nearly recovered and is waiting
for a decision from the Army’s Medical
Evaluation Board to his request to retire. For
convenience, he spends week days and nights
in a modular home, located near the hospital
and complete with amenities. He travels home
on the weekends.
The improvement in Cockel’s shoulder has
allowed him to work at the hospital but
Soldiers with more severe injuries are not burdened
with the responsibility of work; nor are
they required to attend Soldier training or
other routine activities as healthy Soldiers are.
Their primary responsibility to is to recuperate
and seek the treatment they need through
their squad leaders and their other care givers.
Squad leaders have the full-time responsibility
to care for up to 12 Soldiers at one time,
said Porter. Their platoon leaders expect them
to know the status of each Soldier and their
Family and designates them the primary liaison
to the services their Soldiers need.
“The triad of care if a beautiful thing,” said
Larry Wooten, Winn’s Family Readiness
Support Assistant. The three primary care-
Miza, were able to examine several patients and view common
problems in the area.
"Most of the illnesses are minor," Haverty said. "Most of
them are skin, bug bites, aches and pains from arthritis, and
rashes."
Overall, 106 men, 43 women and 153 children were examined;
the youngest being a baby born less than 12-hours prior
to the event.
The infant, who had a bump on his chest, was examined by
both Haverty and Joyce. They believed the child's diaphragm
had shifted to the left, causing the bump. The injury was not
serious and should disappear as the child grows older, the
medical professionals agreed.
Haverty said the people were generally healthy and that
most problems could be solved through proper hygiene and
minor medications.
thought were safe havens,” Wilson said.
“By disrupting and capturing insurgents
in this area, we set the security
conditions for Baghdad.”
From Aug. 15 to Sept. 15, troops from
3rd CAB and Co. B, 3/509th PIR, captured
80 suspected insurgents and
killed another 43. Pilots flew 420 hours
during Marne Husky.
The mission was unique for Multi-
National Division – Center, in that the
unit primarily responsible was the aviation
brigade. Typically an infantry
brigade or battalion would control the
ground and artillery forces.
“It’s a great opportunity for us,” said
Wilson.
“Baker Company is a well-led, very
dynamic unit. Their experience in air
assault operations made them a great
selection to work with us.”
WTU From Page 1A
givers work with other service providers who
are already in place.”
Wooten works with ACS staff to resolve
Soldier and Family issues (such as transportation);
facilitating a continuum of care
and services and ensuring that the needs of
wounded transitioning warriors get priority
over other Soldiers and Family members.
Services for transitioning Soldiers are now
available at ACS but by Spring 2008 two renovated
National Guard units, co-located by
the modular barracks, will house services,
including recreational services complete
with leisure equipment, for transitioning
Soldiers. Later it will be replaced with a
newly constructed one-stop service facility,
also located at the complex, according to
Donna Finny, the SFAC director.
The renovated buildings, and the new
facility to follow, will include information
and referral services, entitlements and benefits
counseling, Family services, money management
assistance, emergency financial
assistance, education services, employment
assistance, legal assistance, substance abuse
information and referrals, installation access
and vehicle registration, and many other services.
These Soldiers get first priority in all services
out of the ACS building now, according to
Finny. She will hire a separate staff to run
SFAC facilities when they are completed,
which she says will have a USO atmosphere.
Staff will service Soldiers these facilities, or if
necessary, take services to transitioning
Soldiers at the hospital or their homes.
A toll-free number, 877-433-6114, is also
available for requests and information, along
with the number of the program ombudsman,
Charles McClain, which is 800-984-8523.
“Our staff is leading the way with a number
of best practices,” said Collins. “We’ve got Lt.
Col. Porter, who was in place here before the
transition. He has the advantage of knowing
and utilizing an infrastructure already in place.
“We’ve made progress but still have
improvements to make,” said Collins. “It’s
important that everyone understands that the
Warrior Transition Battalion is the number
one priority here. We have to be ready to care
for a generation of young men and women
who have sacrificed so much.”