Soldiers in A Company, 4th Battalion, 353rd Infantry Regiment, 162nd Infantry Brigade, hosted a counter remote-controlled improvised explosive device electronic warfare, or CREW, company specialist course June 29-July 1 attended by 18 Soldiers and civilians. The class included the company’s own counter-IED trainers and members of the 519th Military Police Battalion.
The course was held at Alpha Company’s counter-IED training facility on Fort Polk and conducted by experts from the Fort Huachuca, Ariz., CREW mobile training team. The purpose of the advanced-level CREW class was to enhance training conducted by Alpha Company, whose mission is to instruct deploying combat advisors from all service branches.
A CREW company specialist, or CCS, maintains all CREW devices within a company and advises a company commander on how best to employ electronic warfare at ground level.
The CCS class provided hands-on practice in arming and trouble-shooting most of the CREW counter-measure systems currently employed by the Army in combat. The three-day course also covered radio-frequency jamming principles plus the limitations and capabilities of each system.
“We always seek ways to increase our relevance to prepare combat advisors for C-IED tasks for both theaters,” said Capt. Michael Bryant, Alpha Company commander. “This CCS class definitely rounded off some of the rough edges in our CREW training.”
Alpha, as it did in February with a basic-level CREW operators course, opened the training up to other Fort Polk units. Two companies from the 519th Military Police Battalion jumped on the opportunity to master one of the most important systems used to combat IEDs, the greatest killer of coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“As a platoon leader, this training was very informative. It gave us a chance to operate some of the systems we’re using to counter IEDs,” said 1st Lt. Michael Calegari of the 272nd Military Police Company.
Mickey Sizemore, one of two instructors from Fort Huachuca’s CREW MTT, said the training is invaluable for deploying combat advisors. “CREW systems should be as much of a core competency as learning how to shoot your rifle,” he said.
Sizemore, a former Army sergeant major and electronic warfare officer, added that the battlefield has turned increasingly electronic. “You look at everything in our trucks now and they probably contain as much electronics as traditional weaponry. You have to be aware of the systems’ capabilities and how they work together,” said Sizemore.
Alpha Company provides two hours of instruction to combat advisors on the basic operation of CREW devices as part of its two-day C-IED training, which also includes dismounted and mounted practical exercises aimed at helping Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen to recognize common IED indicators.
