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FORT MCCOY, Wis. – Before soldiers are sent overseas into
dangerous areas, the military needs to make sure they are
ready for any situation.
For Warrior Exercise 86, it
means they need an enemy.
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July 24, 2013 - Pfc. Kelsie Humphreys and Spc. Veronica Montoya are searched by Spc. Megan Shank and Spc. Melonee Nowakowski on Forward Operating Base EPW2 at Fort McCoy, Wis. Humphreys is an opposing forces player with the 678th Human Resource Command out of Charlotte, N.C., and native of Columbia, S.C., Montoya is an OPFOR player with the 678th HRC and native of Salisbury, N.C., Shank is a native of Rockville, Md., and a military police officer with the 352nd Military Police out of Rockville, Md., and Nowakowski is a military police officer, 340th MP Battalion out of Ashley, Pa., and native of Hamburg, Pa. OPFOR Soldiers are helping train MPs by attacking convoys and being processed as enemy prisoners of war, which allows the MPs to learn the proper way to do their jobs. The soldiers are taking part in Warrior Exercise 86 as a part of their extended combat training. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Francis Horton, 363rd Public Affairs Detachment)
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“We're simulating different
scenarios units would face overseas,” said Staff Sgt. Keith
English, an opposing force player and native of Macon, Ga.,
with the 678th Human Resource Command out of Louisville, Ky.
The OPFOR players are at Fort McCoy, Wis., for their
extended combat training.
OPFOR is filling in as
insurgents in various roles, from attacking convoys to being
processed as enemy prisoners of war, English said.
“Up until now, we weren't prisoners. We were OPFOR, but we
were just (simulating) killing people,” said Spc. Bryan
Wendelberger with a laugh from behind a fence lined with
barbed wire.
He is a native of Orlando, Fla., and
OPFOR player from the 689th Engineer Company from Orlando,
Fla.
Every day, the OPFOR soldiers are given
briefings on where they are training and how to act, said
Wendelberger.
“(The briefing) gives us an idea of
what we're supposed to behave like, things we're supposed to
look for that the (Military police) should be covering,”
said Pfc. Kelsie Humphreys, OPFOR player, 678th HRC and
native of Columbia, S.C.
But soldiers also bring
their own experiences to the training.
“We do a lot
of briefings, a lot of walk-throughs of different scenarios,
and we rely on a lot of our military background,” English
said.
“Our unit's only been back from Afghanistan for
about a year, so we have a lot of experience with what we're
trying to teach them,” said Spc. Bradley Wheeler, OPFOR
player, 689th Engineer Company, and native of Orlando, Fla.
OPFOR aren't the only players putting soldiers through
their paces. The U.S. military also hires civilians to play
local nationals in the various training villages peppered
across the Fort McCoy area.
“These are all local
hires,” said Ken Plato indicating a crowd of civilians
protesting at the front gate of Forward Operating Base EPW
2.
Plato is the site leader of Fort McCoy for Valbin
Corporation, a company contracted to hire civilians for
these training missions.
One contracted civilian has
a very personal reason to work closely with training
soldier.
“Saddam killed 4 million in my country,
including my brother, my uncle,” said Hussain Ali, a
contracted civilian with the Valbin Corporation.
He
has been working as a contracted civilian at Fort McCoy for
eight years.
“This is my way to say thank you,” Ali
added. “I feel I have to do this.”
Regardless of
background, the contracted civilians are more than happy to
help.
“All of these contractors are really very proud
of what they do because they feel like they are
accomplishing a purpose and helping soldiers get ready for
deployment to areas of the world that aren't really friendly
towards us,” said Plato.
By U.S. Army Sgt. Francis Horton
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2013
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