WEBVTT

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(upbeat music)

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- Um...

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(laughs)

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- That's a good one.

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I don't know that one.

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- Um...

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- Don't know.

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(intense rock music)

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- PTAE is Pre-mob Training

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and Assistance Element.

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What the National Guard is,

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they decided to take on some of the,

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the majority of the individual training

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for a mobilizing unit,

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hence allowing more boots on
the ground time in theater.

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We cut the mob station
from three to four months

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to four to six weeks,

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and that was the whole idea behind PTAE.

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- What we've done is we've developed

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a lane system, so we've taken
those four battle drills

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and those fifteen individual tasks

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and we've tied them all
into four separate lanes,

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and five if you count CQM,

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that basically can be accomplished
in three days a piece.

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So, when a unit comes down here,

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we develop a training
plan based on those lanes

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and if they wanna tweak
it somehow, we will,

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but it's pretty much
the same training plan

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for each unit,

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and they come down here and accomplish it

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in a three week AT,

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and they seem to be real happy with it,

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and we're getting very proficient

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at running those.

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- This battalion we're training right now,

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we have them broke down
into four training groups.

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So, I have four liaison
officers, one embedded

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in each one of those groups.

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That liaison officer
ensures that the group

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knows what the next day
training is gonna be.

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So, each night they brief them a fragment

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of basically what the
next day's training event

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is gonna be.

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They ensure that they have
all the equipment necessary

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to complete that training,

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and then the next morning they get up

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and they actually go
out, take the unit out

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to the training site,

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make sure that the TAs
have everything set up

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and ready to go for the training,

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and then once they've
completed the training,

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my LNOs document the
training via a roster.

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We scan those into the computer.

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We upload them to our share drive,

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and then we also update
the unit status tracker

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which basically tracks
every training event

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that each individual
person within that unit

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has completed up to this point.

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(intense rock music)

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- I think that the PTAE's got

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everything in order and
they're giving these soldiers

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exactly what they need

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when they go overseas

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to survive and come back home.

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I was on a convoy on
April 17th in 2004 when

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(loud gunshot)
Lieutenant Henderson died

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from 2123d, I was on that convoy.

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I had to get out of my
truck and provide security

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and these tactics that we're teaching now

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(projectile explodes)

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are the exact same tactics
that we were taught

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in Fort Campbell before we went over.

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It's the exact same tactics that I used

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in order to get myself, my truck partner,

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and a bunch of other people
outta the fire fight.

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- PTAE's, it's a good training

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asset for the military.

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It's a chance for other
soldiers to come down here,

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share their experiences,

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and help train the soldiers
that are going over now

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so they're better prepared than we were.

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One of the lanes that I'm a TA or a PI of,

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which is a Primary Instructor of,

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is ECP lanes, and usually the soldiers,

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a lot of the soldiers that
aren't like, infantry or,

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a lot of the soldiers coming through here,

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they're going to be
working like, gate guards,

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so it's a really good
lane for them to learn on,

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and it's nice to see them progress

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as they go through your class.

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They don't know very much,

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and then they learn from your class,

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and then the different
snares that you throw at them

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while you're actually out in the ECP,

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you can really see how they're learning

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and they're adapting to
what their situation is.

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- It's lifely important, meaning that

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if they don't understand these tasks

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and grab the concept of it,

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if they hafta use these
tasks while they're overseas

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and they didn't pay attention here,

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Heaven forbid it should
cost one of them their life.

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One of the main things that I would say

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that, from my experience overseas,

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would be as far as room clearing,

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which is what we're teaching here today.

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If they have an operation,

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they learn how to clear rooms,

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stack on walls if they're like that.

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Well, during my first deployment,

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while we was over there,

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not my team per se,

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but there was another platoon.

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They were doing room clearings,

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and I guess they just didn't have

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the proper training to do so

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and when they went in,

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they lost two or three
people when they went in

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because they didn't clear
the room the right way.

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They didn't check the
door before they went in

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for booby traps and stuff.

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They just saw the
insurgent go in the room,

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go in the building.

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They followed in after him,

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and as soon as they hit the door,

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the whole building just collapsed on them.

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(upbeat guitar music)

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- The training's good.

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A lot of us

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haven't deployed before,
so we don't really know

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what to expect, so the
PTAE's here to, you know,

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fill in all the holes that we don't know

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and just reiterate things
that we've gone through,

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so today's really good training.

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It's to get us ready for
what we're gonna see.

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(bright rock music)

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(shouting)

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- Put your side down,

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let somebody else pull a wick.

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The other thing about these grenades...

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- There's always room for improvement.

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There's always more
training that can be done,

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but as of, I feel 100%
ready to go right now.

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(gunfire)

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- Twist this...

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(gunfire)

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- They're very responsible,

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they know what they're doing.

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They've done it before,
so, you know, someone like

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in the National Guard,

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sometimes you go without that training

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and you need a refresher
every once in awhile.

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So, to have them here, helping us,

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it's really good.

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(shouting)
(laughing)

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- Ow!

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- Tie it up, put it onto the side...

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(gunfire)

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- Help me, Tom Cruise!

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Help me, Oprah Winfrey!

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Ow!

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- It's outstanding training.

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PTAE has been very supportive.

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We've had a couple of weather issues,

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but we've been able to work around it,

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and consolidate where we needed to,

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but still complete the
training to standard.

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Soldiers love it.

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It's a very energetic
and engaging training,

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and that's what soldiers like.

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(gunfire)

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(gunfire)

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(gunfire)

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(gunfire)

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- I actually like the PTAE

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because when you're in basic training,

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you know, you've got like,
80 people all together,

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and you come here, and you
get one on one training,

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and they basically like, put things where

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it's easier for you to understand.

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I got a lot more from this
than I did from basic.

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(upbeat rock music)

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(gunfire)

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- Come on, battle buddy.

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(gunfire)

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- I encourage any soldier
that's going on deployment,

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any chain of command that
knows that they's getting ready

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to go on deployment,

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I would strongly encourage
them to come here

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to Wendell H. Ford in Kentucky

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to get their soldiers
through this training

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with the PTAE staff

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because it's some of the
best training they'll get

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and it'll get them ready quicker

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for their deployment,

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and it'll cut down on
their time at mob site.

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(upbeat rock music)

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- Can you make it hot?

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- Huh?

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(gunfire)

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(gunfire)