2011 Sun Bowl teams tour Fort Bliss
Chaz Cheeks, Georgia Tech outside linebacker, lines his site with an M240 7.62 mm machine gun at the vehicle and equipment display here Dec. 28. More than 200 Sun Bowl football players from the Utah Utes and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets toured Fort Bliss facilities with Soldiers. Photo by Master Sgt. Kelly McCargo, 1st AD Public Affairs.
Master Sgt. Kelly McCargo,
1st AD Public Affairs:
“Man, I look like Rambo,” said a 314-pound, 6-foot-5-inch football player.
He was easily hefting a 22-pound M240B Army machine gun with one arm, with several of his equally burly peers laughing nearby.
More than 200 Sun Bowl football players from the Utah Utes and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets converged at Fort Bliss for a tour of the state-of-the-art facilities Dec. 28.
Maj. Gen. Dana J. H. Pittard, 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss commanding general, welcomed the players and discussed the broad transformation Fort Bliss has gone through and thus making it “the future of the Army.”
During the tour the players split into their respective teams to visit the Engagement Skills Trainer 2000, the Close Combat Tactical Trainer warehouse and military vehicle display.
The EST 2000 features a 28-by-11-foot interactive movie screen. The Soldiers, with their assigned weapons, hone target acquisition skills just as they would as a squad fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan.
“Being in the Army is just like being on a football team. It is a team sport. Everybody has to know their job. We have our own plays – they are called battle drills. This reinforces what Soldiers are trained to do once they are in contact with the enemy,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Davenport, 1st AD and Fort Bliss command sergeant major.
“Here at the EST 2000, they practice marksmanship,” he said. “Marksmanship is very important to us, just as blocking and tackling are to you guys.”
More than 200 Sun Bowl football players from the Utah Utes and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and Fort Bliss Soldiers enjoy a turkey and roast beef buffet Dec. 28. The football players and Soldiers, visited the Engagement Skills Trainer 2000, the Close Combat Tactical Trainer warehouse and military vehicle displays. Photo by Master Sgt. Kelly McCargo, 1st AD Public Affairs.
The players were given a chance to shoot the M4 carbine with CCO mount, or basic sighting scope, while wearing an Army combat helmet and body armor.
“I have never seen anything like this at all,” said Dres Anderson, Utes wide receiver. “This gives us some idea of what Soldiers go through. This stuff is no joke. You see it on TV and you think you could do it. It is not as easy as it looks.”
The EST 2000 is linked to a database that replicates several combat scenarios into “scenes” from Iraq and Afghanistan that Soldiers must properly interpret and react to.
“This is awesome. I don’t have a lot of experience with weapons, but this is a safe, cost-effective way to train your Soldiers … I am really impressed,” said Will Jackson, Yellow Jackets offensive lineman. “[The gear] is really heavy. You see it on TV and it looks really light. Once you put it on, you realize that is not the case at all. I don’t think I could wear this all day.”
The EST 2000 weapon systems are interchangeable and can support as many as 10 medium- to heavy-caliber weapons, shotguns or anti-tank launchers.
“We wanted to show them the main weapon they are using in Iraq,” said Jerry McKinney, EST 2000 manager. “We also ran some collective-type [engagement] scenarios for them to shoot.”
Meanwhile about two miles away, several players toured the CCTT and military vehicles.
Outside of the CCTT warehouse five combat vehicles, with the vehicle crew complement, were displayed in the parking lot. The Soldiers who comprised the crew partnered with the players and explained the capabilities and components of each vehicle.
“It’s pretty crammed in there – it took me like an hour to get in [the Stryker mobile gun system],” said 6-foot-3-inch Isaac Asiata, Utah Utes offensive line.
The military vehicles displayed included a Stryker infantry carrier vehicle, Stryker mobile gun system, M1A2 Abrams tank, Bradley fighting vehicle and an up-armored Humvee.
After a thorough introduction of each vehicle and the crew members’ duties, the players toured the CCTT warehouse.
“Simulations help our Soldiers study and analyze the opposing forces – just like the coaches and … players study and analyze [the opposing team],” Joe Porras, CCTT senior analyst, said to the players. “It provides our Soldiers the ‘muscle memory’ that they need in battle, so they can come back from combat alive.
“It’s not the ‘best plan’ that wins, it’s the ‘best executed’ plan,” he said.
The warehouse houses more than 28 simulators, which replicate crew positions of numerous combat vehicles. The simulators are linked via a state-of-the-art computer database with several combat scenarios from Iraq and Afghanistan.
“BOOM” as a T-72 Soviet tank burst into flames on the view screen. The gunner who shot it was laughing.
“That is pretty sick!” said Chris Polizi, Utes tight end coach, expressing his satisfaction with the positive outcome.
Leaders at the crew, platoon or company level negotiate the scenarios to hone critical leadership and precision gunner skills.
“It’s fun to see what troops do every day. It’s one thing to see it on TV but to be here seeing you in action … you have to be a special type of someone to do this every day,” Asiata said.
After the tours, both teams and several Soldiers had dinner at the Centennial Banquet and Conference Center for a roast beef and turkey buffet.
Hypnotists and mental coach Douglas MacCraw entertained the group by hypnotizing about 15 players and some Soldiers. Some linemen danced like ballerinas, while another basked in audience applause, which he was told was only for him.
“My mom was an Army brat, my dad was in the Secret Service and my uncle was in intelligence in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Sean Poole, Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets punter. “I really appreciate [the Soldiers] taking their time to show us [the military equipment] – everyone is excited to be here.”
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