The cool rain was a welcome break
from the Georgia heat as the final phase of
pre-deployment training came to a close at Fort
Benning, Ga., last month.
A team of 25 Soldiers and civilians led by the
Operational Test Command were among 400 people there
for medical screenings, briefings and weapons
training before deploying to Kuwait, Afghanistan and
Iraq.
Better known as Forward Operational Assessment team
IX, this data collection group is the Army Test and
Evaluation Command’s current A-Team made up of
members from Army Evaluation Center, Developmental
Test Command, and OTC.
The FOA team assesses new systems
used for the first time by units in theater.
The team’s presence there allows for a coming
together for the product user in theater and the
decision maker in the States on many new systems. It
makes rapid fielding possible.
It’s called Harmony Church – the place where the
final week of training was conducted — but unless
folks stopped by the Religious Education Center for
some worship tunes, about the only sounds of music
were hundreds of weapons clicking all at the same
time.
Soldiers and civilians familiarized themselves with
weapons by taking them apart and putting them back
together before qualifying.
At the ranges, the noise from the foxholes – a
combination of blast and heartbeat – was a reminder
of the reality of war.
During weapons qualification, one group of Soldiers,
crouched with ear plugs in and empty shells flying
off to the sides of their M-16s, zeroed in on the
target dead ahead. Another group stood ready with
9mm handguns as targets popped up from behind dirt
mounds.
Soldiers in teams practiced handling grenades,
maneuvers for securing territory, forging walls and
making their way under barbed-wire fences.
With the hot Georgia sun beating down, keeping
hydrated was the order of the day.
While waiting for baggage checks just before
deploying, OTC’s Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Domont
voiced his appreciation for the reservists who
conducted the training at the Continental U.S.
Replacement Center.
“They did an outstanding job equipping us with the
skills we need,” Domont said.
Domont would be one of the first arrivals in theater
and provide logistics support to the mission.
Col. Mike Bowers, commander of OTC’s Fort Sill,
Okla.-based Fire Support Test Directorate, said the
Army tester agenda has changed in recent years.
“We’re at war, so we’re using an accelerated testing
and fielding timeline,” Bowers said. “You get the
best solution you can in Soldiers’ hands. In Cold
War days you might have five or six years to get
that 100 percent solution. We don’t have that.”
The FOA IX team will deploy for six months and
overlap with the team they will replace.
Some members of the current team served on previous
FOA teams, including information technician Brian
Trahan; the current team’s noncommissioned
officer-in-charge, Sgt. Maj. Scott Koroll; and data
collector Sgt. 1st Class Robert Wolf.
“This is a needed job,” Wolf said. “You have to
interact with many, many groups, and everybody here,
their personalities are perfect for the job.”
At least one member of FOA Team VIII, Lt. Col.
Charles Wittges, is extending his time in theater
because he has relevant aviation training.
The team’s leadership said harmony certainly was one
of the themes throughout more than a month of
training that lead up to deployment.
Those weeks helped the team see the big picture of
ATEC’s mission, Koroll said. He said he wished
everyone coming into the command, not just his FOA
team members, could have this experience.
The weeks of training took the team to ATEC test
facilities, starting with database training and
theater-specific deployment training at Fort Hood.
Training topics included finance; sexual harassment;
survival, evasion, resistance and escape; land
warfare; and antiterrorism.
They also used a skills trainer simulator to
practice weapons qualification.
They visited Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., where
they drove mine resistant ambush protected vehicles
and saw an improvised explosive device demolition.
The team visited Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., for
hands-on training in electronic warfare testing by
DTC.
“It demonstrates the flexibility of ATEC and the
Army,” Bowers said. “When we can take 25 people from
three of the major subordinate commands, 12
different installations in the United States, bring
them together in about five weeks, go through all
the stages of team building, turn into a performing
team at the end of that, and go get the job done.”
Maj. Steven Braddom, DTC’s Aviation Technical Test
Center at Fort Rucker, Ala., is one of two test
pilots assigned to this mission.
Braddom said the value of having someone on hand who
has experience with a system to answer questions as
new equipment is used by units operating in theater.
“There will be all kinds of questions,” Braddom
said. “Why is it this way and not that way, is it
safe to do this. It’s nice to have (someone) who is
familiar with all the gyrations that went around on
the system and tested it.”
Braddom said he is “eager to help” and that’s where
the FOA mission comes in.
“You can’t just send a paper survey over there,”
Braddom said. “You’ve really got to have a guy sit
down with the Soldier and talk to him.”