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Blackanthem Military News
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Mar 17, 2010 - 6:39:30 PM |
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Navy Group 6 Prepares for Afghanistan at Camp Shelby. Miss.
By Sgt. Sharon Hinkle, 177th Armored Brigade Public Affairs, Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center, Camp Shelby, Miss.
Nov 4, 2009 - 5:17:42 PM
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| Petty Officer 2nd Class David Huffsteller focuses down range as Petty Officer 3rd Class Daniel Kurtz fires the .50 caliber machine gun during the live-fire exercise at Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center, Camp Shelby, Miss. The Sailors are members of Navy Group 6, which is made up of Sailors from all over the world. The group will head to Afghanistan later this year to conduct detainee operations. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Sharon Hinkle) |
CAMP SHELBY, Mississippi - Navy Group 6, a 50-Sailor team from naval commands throughout the nation, is currently preparing for their mission to Afghanistan at Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center, Camp Shelby, Miss. Once in theater, the group will perform detainee operations at a facility in Bagram.
The unique group is completely comprised of enlisted personnel, ranging in the ranks of Petty Officer to Chief Petty Officer. There are no officers in the group.
"In the Navy, depending on one's job, an [Petty Officer] can be in charge of 20 Sailors," says Chief Petty Officer Daniel Collins, the chief of Navy Group 6. "The Sailors who volunteered as an individual augmentee, went through a screening process prior to receiving orders for this mission. They had to be squared away."
Also notable about the group, they were 50 perfect strangers upon their arrival at Camp Shelby.
"This is the hardest mission to do because you meet 50 strangers and try to get them to gel as a team," says Collins, who was serving as Navy recruiter in San Diego before volunteering for the mission. "We succeed as a team but we also fail as a team."
Master at Arms (MA) 2nd Class Jayme Taylor, an Aurora, Ill., native, is one of the female Sailors in the group. A master at arms is the Army equivalent to a military police officer, and she is one of 11 in the group.
"When I found out I was deploying, at first, I was apprehensive," said Taylor, an Army Reservist stationed in Great Lakes, Ill. "I had just gotten engaged to a former Marine who has deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. But as time went by, I became excited. My fiancé gives me a lot of good advice."
Taylor, an Illinois State Trooper and a graduate of Illinois State University, says the training she has received so far is definitely relevant.
"We have to start with the basics because the other Sailors are not MA's, but the instructors are really good. I do my part by helping them with things like handcuffing procedures," she said.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Ian York, an active duty administrative specialist, volunteered as an individual augmentee for the detainee operations mission to give back to his community and see the world.
"I'm really anxious to get there," says York. "I want to do this." York, a native of Knoxville, Tenn., is stationed at the Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 14 in Norfolk, Va. He also agrees the detainee operations training is productive to their mission.
"You have to understand, most of us here have never touched a weapon or cleared a room," says York. "The training here has taught us that. We're learning to deal with detainees in a way that will probably be very close to how we will deal with them in country."
All three Sailors agree the biggest challenge for the group has been learning to work together with Sailors they have never met.
"Despite the fact we all just met here at Camp Shelby, our training has definitely been successful," said Daniels. "Thhe Sailors have adapted very well to the Army training. It definitely helps that we are learning detainee operations from military police officers who have been there and done that."
When asked how she is mentally preparing herself for the mission, Taylor was reflective.
"First, I maintain my faith. I know to take it day by day, and keep an open mind. I listen to the instructors, even if I already know how to do something, and try not to let stress break me down."
York prepares himself by being patient and ready to learn.
"The Army has a lot of different ways of doing things," says York. "I'm just listening and soaking up all I can. I'm also learning a lot of new words like "hooah" and "too easy."
"Navy Group 6 is ready to go," says Daniels. His advice to his Sailors is, "Stay mentally strong. A day down is a day closer to coming home."
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Nathan
13 Nov 2009, 22:23
So who do they report to? Army? Have fun. Army sucks and will jerk them
around the entire time there, especially with no Navy officer assigned to
them. Glad I'm not in that unit.
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