Training center brings troops from across the commonwealth

t was a perfect spring day on May 20, with mild temps and a cool breeze, to tag along with the 206th Engineer Battalion at Wendell H. Ford Regional Training Center in Greenville. This battalion of soldiers stationed in Owensboro, came from across the commonwealth for two weeks of training at the center.

An instructor explains how to detonate the charges to a soldier from the safety of a bunker.

Escorted by a group of young officers, the morning was spent out on the range, watching the combat engineers learn to detonate explosives as part of their annual training requirements. Most with just a few years of service under their belts, they came from their civilian lives for the intensive training. An architect, a professor, a recent college grad - the group was made up of people from a wide variety of backgrounds, who came together to train as a cohesive unit.

The soldiers carefully wrapped and readied the blocks of C4 explosive, under the watchful eye of their instructor. When the charges were prepared, the soldiers set them and we all took shelter in a bunker.

Under the weight of a flack vest and helmet, we stuffed ear plugs in and waited as a guardsman was instructed to detonate the charges.

“Fire in the hole,” he yelled as loud as he could, three times and then...BOOM! A flash of light and 43 pounds of explosives sent dirt and debris into the sky.

The U.S Department of Defense requires all units to receive certification annually, and the Wendell H. Ford Regional Training Center in Greenville is a perfect location for soldiers to gather, with plenty of space for the series of training sessions they must achieve during their two weeks in Muhlenberg County.

Lt. Katie Mitchell, who lives in Lexington and works as an architect, explained the role her unit plays as MOS 12C, a military occupational specialty of bridge crew-members. Their duties include building bridges on land or water, often quickly and under adverse conditions.

Mitchell said the 12C unit will spend the day learning about explosives from the combat engineers, the 12B unit, and then they will switch roles with the bridgers teaching the combat engineers their skills. The cross-training will include a day of ferrying, which Mitchell described as building a partial bridge and then ferrying a group of trucks across a body of water. This effort will combine the knowledge of the two units. “This is called a culminating event,” Mitchell said.

After days of specialized training, the soldiers put their skills to the test performing combat scenarios. The young officers will lead their troops into simulated combat, using paint balls and their best strategies, to complete complex missions. After one last day of fun and games to round out the two weeks, the soldiers will return home, to their jobs and families, more prepared to defend the homeland.