A 3-2 ADA Soldier guards the rear of a formation as part of a MOUT training exercise near Tobin Wells Training Area Friday. Photo by Spc. Rachael Estes.
3-2 ADA conducts MOUT training
Spc. Rachael Estes, 32nd AAMDC Public Affairs
Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery, spent Thursday and Friday practicing skills they will need in a battlefield environment.
The Soldiers, training in a field near their battalion headquarters, participated in classes ranging from first aid to how to properly use a Claymore mine, and moved out to the Military Operations on Urban Terrain training site near the Tobin Wells Training Area.
Sgt. Christopher Alfrey, an observer/controller and trainer at the MOUT site, said the training involved how to react to direct and indirect fire, combatives, and entering and clearing buildings.
Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery, secure a building while an “enemy combatant” is being subdued during Military Operations on Urban Terrain training near Tobin Wells Training Area Friday. Photo by Spc. Rachael Estes.
“This was good training for the Soldiers,” said Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Green, a 3-2 ADA launcher platoon sergeant. “We have a lot of new Soldiers, (and) for some of them this is the first time they are doing MOUT training.”
Green added that the training gave the Soldiers an opportunity to make mistakes in the training environment, not on the battlefield.
Pfc. Ginger Graham said she thought the training went well.
A Soldier from 3-2 ADA demonstrates how to apply a tourniquet during training near 3-2 ADA headquarters on Fort Bliss Thursday. Photo by Spc. Rachael Estes.
“(The training) helps just in case we go to Iraq,” Graham said. “You know how to approach a city and clear a building. You know what to look for with (improvised explosive devices).”
Command Sgt Maj. Bryan Pinkney, 3-2 ADA command sergeant major, said the training was necessary in order to be able to accomplish the unit's war-time tasks.
“Soldiers love training,” Pinkney said. “That is what they come into the Army for.”