Grissom PSYOP Soldiers train for worst Published July 9, 2014 By Tech. Sgt. Mark R. W. Orders-Woempner 434th ARW Public Affairs GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. -- Sometimes, a person just has to know when to leave, and that's exactly what a group of Grissom Soldiers trained to do recently. More than 30 Soldiers from the U.S. Army Reserve's 316th Psychological Operations Company based out of Grissom took part in an intensive military support operations training at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center, Indiana, June 19. "The Soldiers were here to train on asymmetric warfare and counter-IED (improvised explosive device) tasks," said Michael Demo, a training integrator with the Counter IED Integration Cell at Camp Atterbury. "They trained on their key PSYOPs tasks as they engaged with people inside of a town we had set up, and then when things got contentious, they trained on hostile contact taskings." PSYOPS Soldiers are part of the Army special operations community who are primarily responsible for the analysis, development and distribution of intelligence used for information and psychological effect. "Ultimately our goal is to learn as much as we can about the area and people and try to help them understand that we're there to help them," said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Mark Hutchins, 316th PSYOP Co. PSYOP sergeant. "We're there to help if we can." While their mission may start out as friendly, the Soldiers of the 316th PSYOP Co. said in a real-world situation with multiple sources of influence things can turn ugly in a hurry. "We want to talk to as many people as we can and get as much info as we can, but if things start turning hostile, we need to be able to recognize that early and get out quick," explained Hutchins. "We may not know if it's a setup, and if something goes crazy, we need to be able to keep our Soldiers safe." The staff sergeant went on to explain that a hostile environment doesn't just have to be one that is imminently dangerous, and sometimes the PSYOP specialists need to leave in order to regroup and come back at a later time when they are more welcome. "We don't want to cause any problems," he elaborated. "We're a guest in their village, so if they feel uncomfortable and want us to leave, sometimes it's best that we do so." In the case of the June annual training, the scenario was more than an uncomfortable situation. The Soldiers went through multiple scenarios where rival factions of local government leadership initiated violent actions during the Soldier's visit to the mock village. In each scenario, after things turned hostile, the Soldiers had to exit the village rapidly while looking out for enemy attack from either small arms fire or IEDs. The PSYOP specialists were often forced to deal with casualties and disabled vehicles, which tested their command and control capabilities in a combat scenario. "We train as we fight," said Hutchins. "There's always a possibility things turning bad around us, so we don't train for the worst, we won't know how to react if it does happen. "We have a lot of young PSYOP Soldiers who've never been in a situation like that, so they learned to be able to control what they needed to in the engagement," he continued. "When things went bad, they were able to back out of the situation." "Over time they continued to get better," said Demo. "Each iteration was ten-fold better." To make the training even more realistic, the unit utilized several 316th PSYOP Co. wheeled vehicle mechanics in the roles of villagers and opposing forces. "Not only did they do their specific jobs on the maintenance side, they also interacted with the rest of the PSYOP unit and helped them with their scenario based training and face-to-face interactions," said U.S. Army Sgt. Adam Ruddell, 316th PSYOP Co. wheeled vehicle mechanic. "They went with us to train on their specific job and because we convoyed our vehicles down there, but they also helped us out," said Hutchins. "While they were role playing, it helped them understand what we do as psychological operators and more about the mission they support, which makes them more well-rounded Soldiers." U.S. Army Sgt. Drew Branstine, 316th PSYOP Co. wheeled vehicle mechanic, said the training more than served its purpose for the mechanics. "For the most part, we were just servicing Humvees, but we got good experience moving the LMTs (light medium tactical vehicles) and up-armored Humvees down," continued Branstine. "And, turning the wrench is always good experience." U.S. Army Spc. Stephen Thomson, a fellow 316th PSYOP Co. wheeled vehicle mechanic, agreed, but he said the best part of his annual training involved a multi-tool instead of a wrench. "The best part so far was fixing a Humvee with a fuel leak on the convoy down here," Thomson explained. "I just pulled out my [multi-tool] and fixed it in five minutes." The 316th PSYOP Co. is one of three Army Reserve tenant units at Grissom, which also hosts the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command. Grissom Soldiers, Airmen and Marines routinely deploy around the world in support of the Department of Defense mission and U.S. strategic objectives. Stay connected with the 434th ARW on Facebook and Twitter.
