Fort Bliss Monitor

CNN series profiles brothers of 116th BCT

Staff Sgt. Mike Miles
5A Tac, 91st Div. Public Affairs

CNN Correspondent Alex Quade interviews Spc. Evan Pruett at Doña Ana Range.

A TV crew from CNN visited Fort Bliss this week to capture a story about four brothers from Pocatello, Idaho, training here with the 116th Brigade Combat Team. The brothers are 2nd Lt. Eric Pruett with 2-116 AR, Pfc. Jeff Pruett, who serves in the same battalion, Spc. Greg Pruett, 1-148 Field Artillery and Spc. Evan Pruett of the 145th Support Battalion.

Reporter Alex Quade and her cameraman Walter Imparato spent much of Monday following the brothers as they trained at the ranges near Doña Ana. Quade had earlier done a story on the brothers after they were mobilized. That story showed them at home with their family and friends. She intends to follow their deployment to Iraq after they finish training here.

In their interviews the Pruitt brothers all said that it is comforting to have each other nearby to talk to and share experiences. They intend to stay close when they move to Iraq, and will do what they can to look out for each other.

The Pruett Brothers, from left, Pfc. Jeff Pruett, Spc. Evan Pruett, 2nd Lt. Eric Pruett and Spc. Greg Pruett are the subject of a series of stories airing on CNN.

Monday the training was a “search and clear a village” exercise with blank ammunition. The village was populated with Soldiers from the 2/91st Division and civilians, all acting as Iraqis. This gave the Soldiers the chance to learn to deal with local civilians in a combat environment. There were simulated Fedayeen snipers in two of the buildings for Soldiers had to deal with, in addition to Muslim clerics and city mayors.

It was Pfc. Pruett’s turn to run through the exercise as Walter, the cameraman clambered up and down the shoot houses as he tried to get the best pictures for the story. The platoon managed to calm down the excited locals long enough to search a house before the snipers began firing. A Soldier with an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon managed to get one of the snipers with an accurate shoulder-fired burst. A team that entered the house the second sniper was firing from took him out. The clearing force had one Soldier declared to have an arm wound by the Observer/Controller/Trainers. One civilian was wounded by the sniper and treated by the Combat Life Savers in the platoon.

Quade said the story would run on the Paula Zahn show in the near future.



www.bliss.army.mil	Published for the Fort Bliss/El Paso, Texas Community	August 12, 2004

<map name="boxmap-b4"> <area shape="rect" coords="0, 589, 120, 600" href="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm/privacy-policy.html?o=1" > <area coords="0,0,10000,10000" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=&creative=92501&camp=8117&link_code=dl1&path=subst/misc/amazon-cobrand-cc/v3/marketing-from-associates-step1.html/ref%3Db1_assoc_29" > </map>	CNN series profiles brothers of 116th BCT Staff Sgt. Mike Miles 5A Tac, 91st Div. Public Affairs CNN Correspondent Alex Quade interviews Spc. Evan Pruett at Doña Ana Range. A TV crew from CNN visited Fort Bliss this week to capture a story about four brothers from Pocatello, Idaho, training here with the 116th Brigade Combat Team. The brothers are 2nd Lt. Eric Pruett with 2-116 AR, Pfc. Jeff Pruett, who serves in the same battalion, Spc. Greg Pruett, 1-148 Field Artillery and Spc. Evan Pruett of the 145th Support Battalion. Reporter Alex Quade and her cameraman Walter Imparato spent much of Monday following the brothers as they trained at the ranges near Doña Ana. Quade had earlier done a story on the brothers after they were mobilized. That story showed them at home with their family and friends. She intends to follow their deployment to Iraq after they finish training here. In their interviews the Pruitt brothers all said that it is comforting to have each other nearby to talk to and share experiences. They intend to stay close when they move to Iraq, and will do what they can to look out for each other. The Pruett Brothers, from left, Pfc. Jeff Pruett, Spc. Evan Pruett, 2nd Lt. Eric Pruett and Spc. Greg Pruett are the subject of a series of stories airing on CNN. Monday the training was a “search and clear a village” exercise with blank ammunition. The village was populated with Soldiers from the 2/91st Division and civilians, all acting as Iraqis. This gave the Soldiers the chance to learn to deal with local civilians in a combat environment. There were simulated Fedayeen snipers in two of the buildings for Soldiers had to deal with, in addition to Muslim clerics and city mayors. It was Pfc. Pruett’s turn to run through the exercise as Walter, the cameraman clambered up and down the shoot houses as he tried to get the best pictures for the story. The platoon managed to calm down the excited locals long enough to search a house before the snipers began firing. A Soldier with an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon managed to get one of the snipers with an accurate shoulder-fired burst. A team that entered the house the second sniper was firing from took him out. The clearing force had one Soldier declared to have an arm wound by the Observer/Controller/Trainers. One civilian was wounded by the sniper and treated by the Combat Life Savers in the platoon. Quade said the story would run on the Paula Zahn show in the near future.