HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Connecticut National Guard members are constantly training, but on media day, they open the state armory so News 8 can see how they train.
“We highlighted some of the key tasks that we’re expected to accomplish: Shoot, move, communicate, and medicate,” Lt. Col. Eric Roy said.
Before they can shoot, though, they have to learn how to assemble a rifle properly. Moving may sound easy, but what if you have to move up a cliff? So, rock climbing is part of the training.
On the battlefield, you can’t use your cellphone for communication. It’s not secure, and the enemy can track you on it. So, they are learning how to assemble and use a military radio.
And medication? That means a course in battlefield medicine. The thing about the National Guard is that almost all its members have jobs and skills from their civilian life that help with what they do in uniform.
“They bring something from the outside in,” Roy said. “So, not only can we do what we need to do as soldiers, but we can also enhance our communities because we take what we have, and we take what the army gives us, and we take that back to our communities.”
So, the citizen soldiers then use those skills to help the rest of us.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
