Soldiers of the 5th Battalion, 353rd Infantry Regiment, 162nd Infantry Brigade, are in the business of training combat advisors for deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. That doesn’t mean they don’t have time to help their fellow Fort Polk personnel.
Twelve members of the Fort Polk Directorate of Emergency Services Special Reaction Team trained on the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle Feb. 8-10. The SRT members recently received an MRAP to aid them in their reaction to criminal activity. They required specialized training that would allow them to safely operate the MRAP. For this they looked to the Soldiers of D Battery, 5th Bn, 353rd Inf Reg.
These Soldiers are tasked with providing specialized MRAP instruction to combat advisors during training at North Fort Polk. Over the course of the past five months, D Battery has trained more than 100 combat advisors in the skills necessary to safely operate the MRAP vehicle. They’ve expanded their training audience to include Fort Polk’s DES, who can now confidently and safely apply their MRAP skills if needed.
“Translating our training –– which is geared towards combat advisors heading to Iraq and Afghanistan –– into what can be useful in police work within civilian urban areas was a challenge,” said Staff Sgt. Fredric M. Clinton, 5th Bn, 353rd Inf Reg MRAP instructor.
The program of instruction covered three days and included classroom instruction, two full days of day and night driving and an examination.
The first day was spent in a classroom with time set aside for hands-on with the MRAPs. The lessons covered several topics including cautions and warnings, vehicle characteristics, vehicle recovery, preventive maintenance checks and services and emergency action drills.
The second and third days of the program were centered on application of the lessons learned in the classroom while driving on the roads at North Fort Polk and at the Tactical Driving Facility. Students became accustomed to driving the vehicles over long distances day and night. On the third day of instruction, students took their driving skills to the Advanced Skills Road Course where they practiced negotiating a serpentine, restricted backing and controlled breaking. That evening, students were trained to operate the vehicle under blackout conditions, using both the driver’s vision enhancer and night vision goggles.
“The SRT members were extremely competent and receptive of all the training,” Clinton said. “It feels good to provide valuable training to such a vital civil service.”
