The Official Publication of Task Force Raptor (3-124) TXARNG

Issue 2 - November 2011

Takin’ the trucks down range

The Soldiers from Task Force Raptor (3-124 CAV) qualify on Gun Truck Gunnery at their Annual Training in Ft. Bliss, TX.

Site Security Team tightens upSite Security Team tightens upMembers of Charlie Troop’s Site Security Team prepare for their mission in the Horn of Africa

Ft. Bliss, Texas (Oct. 30, 2011) – After a long morn-ing of tying knots and making sure they held, Texas Na-

tional Guardsmen were more than eager to bound off a perfectly good structure.

Soldiers from the Site Security Team (SST), Charlie Troop, 3-124 CAV, based out of Terrell, TX, tightened up their rappel-

ling skills at the base rappel tower at Ft. Bliss, Texas.

The instruction began with the Guardsmen learning how to tie a Swiss Seat, a 12-foot rope tied around the waist and through the legs

in a manner that creates a seat for the Soldier to secure himself via a snap link to the rappel tower’s rope. Once this rope twisting and turning

is mastered the Soldiers are given a few more safety checks and ascend the 40-foot tower for their decent.

This is day one for the Texas Guardsmen from the SST who are going through a series of drills at their annual training.

“Rappelling is just a confidence builder to prepare the Soldiers for FRIES [Fast Rope Insertion and Extraction] training, advanced marksmanship training, rural and

urban operations, and a final culmination exercise where these Soldiers put to use the all training they have been given,” explains Staff Sgt. Michael Barker, instructor with the

Insertion and Extraction Cell for Task Force Raptor (3-124 CAV), the parent unit for the SST. “These are special skills for a special group of Soldiers.”

The Soldiers of the SST were specifically chosen for the group, explains Sgt. 1st Class Adam Rosario, Platoon leader for the SST.

“When we built the platoon we tried to adhere to a higher set of standards and this wasn’t a team that we told people they had to belong to; everyone here is a volunteer. We had an APFT, an inter-

view board process and developed a merit list from that. In the end we put together a great group of guys, all here ‘cause they want to be.”

Gearing up to head down range

Spc. James Cutbirth, takes aim. The Soldiers from the Site Security Team, are practicing their marksmanship skills in the 9mm to M4 transition lane.

Story and Photos by Staff Sgt. Malcolm McClendon, Task Force Raptor (3-124 CAV) PAO

The all-volunteer team is as varied as the training they partake in. Anything from bricklayers to policemen makes up the ranks.

“I was in the police department for a few years and I always wanted to serve in the military. I looked around and I found that the Texas Army National Guard had the most to offer,” says Spc. James Cutbirth, team leader with the SST. “I first joined the LRS (Long Range Surveillance) unit here and when I heard about the SST, I jumped at the opportunity. I’ve have been to jump school, Ranger school, and a lot of other good training.”

Cutbirth is a full-time police officer with the Dallas Police Department and feels a connection between his job and the Texas National Guard.

“I love the opportunity to be able to not only serve my community back home, but to serve my state and country as well; especially doing it with a group of good guys that feel the same way.”

Cutbirth and the rest of the SST will deploy to the Horn of Africa early next year. There they will join other US military branch services in a joint training effort, in preparation for any personnel or equipment recovery missions.

The SST mission is only one of many their higher headquarters, Task Force Raptor (3-124 CAV), will be supporting in the East African region. There, the Task Force will join the larger Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa in promoting partnerships with area nations.

For now, the men of the SST are hooking up their Swiss Seats, leaning back and bounding down the tower.

Spc. Enrique Hernandez kicks in the door as his team prepares to rush in behind him to clear the build-ing. during uban operations training.

McGreGor ranGe, Ft. Bliss, tX (Nov. 1, 2011) – It was still dark outside when the Soldiers began boarding the bus. With a wake-up at 0400 and formation at 0500, off they went down the long endless dirt roads at McGregor Range.

Texas National Guardsmen from Task Force Raptor (3-124 CAV) made their way to pick up their HMMWVs for a day at the range. Today, they will be qualifying on Gun Truck Gunnery.

For four days, Soldiers from Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, Charlie Troop, and the 712th Military Police Company have been practicing and refining mounted maneuver and shooting at targets from their HMMWVs.

“The Soldiers have to go through five tables before they get here.” explains CPT Erik Alejos, Officer in Charge for the Task Force gunnery. “The first two tables are dry fire, with the crew learning to work with each other. Next two tables, they fire at five en-gagements with live rounds. And on Table V, which is a pre-qualification table, they need to hit 7 out of 10 to score a 700.”

Today on Table VI, qualification day, the training at the tables is paying off.

“They are doing well,” Alejos continues, “we instituted the ‘crawl, walk, run’

concept out here. For a lot of these

guys it’s the

first time; they’ve never worked as a crew, so they’re going through that initial un-derstanding of how to work in a gun truck crew. But like anything, as you continue to train, you get proficient at it.”

The Gun Truck Crews consist of a gunner, a truck commander (TC) and a driver. Even though the gunner is the one who takes aim and pulls the trigger, it takes the whole crew to qualify.

“It’s very crucial for the driver to have a very steady platform for the gunner,” says SPC Maricela Cardona from the 712th Military Police Company out of Houston, TX. “If the driver hits the brakes, it throws the gun-ner’s whole sight picture off and results in targets not being hit.”

As the TC in her Gun Truck, Cardona is responsible for the entire crew’s success. She makes sure her gunner is up to speed on his gunnery skills, and that the driver knows the course he will be driving.

SPC Cardona is no stranger to taking charge and leading personnel. In her hometown of Houston, TX, she is a Human Resources Supervisor. She finds that the opportunities given to her by the Texas Army National Guard help her out there and vice-versa.

“Supervising almost one-hundred person-nel in my civilian job, I get the

jest of what it takes to get the word out, take care of, and mentor my Soldiers,” explains Cardona, and likewise I can take the skills I learn here to my civilian job.”

Once qualified, Cardona’s and the rest of Task Force Raptor’s crews will take these valuable skills on their deployment to the Horn of Africa early next year.

Alejos explains, “Our Task Force has been given the task to provide a security force over there. Gun Trucks are a critical part of that force; and that’s why we have to do gunnery, to get our crews qualified for that mission.”

The Task Force will join a larger Combined Joint Task Force in the Horn of Africa to promote partnerships with the region’s countries.

Back here on the ranges at McGregor, the crews anxiously wait their turn to qualify. The early morning wake-ups and the chilly desert air they provide are a welcomed change for Cardona.

“I love the opportunity to take a break from HR, get out of a stuffy office and shoot some weapon systems, I love it!”

Pfc. Valdmar Ozuna from Task Force Raptor (3-124 CAV), sites in, in prepara-tion to qualify on the range at Ft. Bliss, TX

Gun truckin’Story and Photos by Staff Sgt. Malcolm McClendon, Task Force Raptor (3-124 CAV) PAO

Spc. Richard Gray from the Site Security Team launches off the rap-pel tower. The Soldiers from Charlie Company, Task Force Rap-tor, are tightening up on their rappeling skills in preparation for their deployment to the Horn of Africa next year. (U.S. Army pho-to by Staff Sgt. Malcolm McClendon, Task Force Raptor PAO).