Navy Individual Augmentee Combat Training
NIACT was HOT. Kevlar, plate carrier, elbow/knee pads, gloves over a uniform and boots in 100 degree heat with 90% humidity ends up feeling like dawning 50 extra pounds of wet clothes. I learned a lot of army type things I was always curious about, such as weapons, weapon cleaning, convoy ops, building clearing, etc. I shot well enough to earn ‘sharpshooter’ ribbons on both the pistol and the rifle, which I am pretty happy about.
Here is an email I sent to shipmates who will meet me in Afghanistan later that describes much of my travel and training experience up until I got Kabul:
Fellow deploying PAOs,
Right now I am sitting on a c-17 loaded up with tanks of liquid
nitrogen and passengers (lots of new normals to get used to around
here), headed to Bagram. I am now six weeks into this deployment and
have not yet reached my final destination. The following is an account
of my experience thus far and collection of gouge that might be useful
to you as you begin your own journey forward.
NMPS-
– Book your room at the Q early and request Maury hall. Several people
ended up with CNAs and had to stay off base and it took ECRC three
days to figure out shared rental cars, so they had to deal with lots
of taxis and otherwise avoidable reimbursements in their travel
claims. Maury hall is really nice as Navy Gateway Inns go, and only a
block away from NMPS, so even in mid-July-Norfolk-heat, walking was no
issue.
– When you arrive at the airport, get a taxi that has access to the
naval base and a cabbie who knows where the berthing halls are. You’ll
have to check in at Wall Manor first, have the cab wait for you to
then take you to Maury, which cost about $35.
– Pack light and bring civilian clothes. There will be lots of down
time and early release days, there are free, brand new washers and
dryers in Maury hall, and you will be issued all the necessary
uniforms for NIACT and deployment. So you could easily get by with one
set of type iii’s or blueberries for the week. Khakis are also
acceptable, but there are a couple days when you have to try on
uniforms and boots where khakis might be cumbersome.
– Bring a kindle. There will be A LOT of down time. The down time can
either be free time or time spent waiting in line depending on how
much of the medical checklist you can get done at your NOSC; PHA,
vaccinations, dental, eye prescriptions, ANAM, etc. If you have
everything complete before you get to Norfolk, then you’ll get almost
two days off in the middle of the week.
JFTC – NATO Joint Force Training Center, Bydgoszcz Poland
This is Resolute Support training that is conducted quarterly so the
next session is not until January. I don’t think this will apply to
any of you because you’ll all be joining me before then, but if you do
get an ordmod to include this istop, let me know and I’ll give you
more gouge. The training focused on the staff structure for the RS
mission, how the departments interact and overlap and protocols and
techniques for training and advising the Afghans. Much of the
curriculum seemed to not really apply to a media operations PAO, we
were always the unique case of staff officer advisors, but the
training was still useful and I believe will give us a better chance
to hit the ground running when we get there, but we’ll see.
NIACT –
All I can say is I hope the weather cools down a bit by the time you
get there. South Carolina heat in August was a new experience for me.
Most days we reached category 5 heat (Navy equivalent is a black flag)
by 10 am. I spent a majority of the two weeks in wet clothes because
within minutes of dawning the IOTV – Improved Outer Tactical Vest, I would saturate my shirt with sweat. You’ll be issued combat shirts with the uniforms. The
built in elbow pads on these shirts have a toxic funk, so wash them
ahead of time, but whenever you are authorized to wear them, I
recommend taking advantage. They are much lighter and more comfortable
under the vest than the uniform blouse.
Open bay barracks, nearly unpalatable DFAC, drill sergeants, buses
with no AC… It is a pretty legitimate army experience that will
reaffirm your choice to join the Navy. But I got very familiar with my
weapons, shot a lot, and gained new experiences I would not have had
the opportunity otherwise.
The most important gouge I can offer is bring a headband or dewrag or
something to keep the sweat from running in your eyes under the ACH. A
cooling towel is also nice to have.
ECRC FWD – Qatar
From FT Jackson, 13 of us headed for Afghanistan got on a chartered
bus for a 9.5 hour drive up to Baltimore to catch a rotator that went
through Germany and Kuwait before landing in Qatar. Qatar is another
new heat experience for me; I had never before been to a place where
the weather forecast predicts a wind chill factor of 122.
The time spent in ‘cutter’ could vary. We arrived on a Thursday and
the next flight up to Bagram wasn’t until the following Monday. But,
the BOG clock starts when you arrive so if you do have to spend a few
days there, enjoy the three beers a day, the good food at the defac
and the rest of the amenities the Air Force built on this arid desert
base.
With that, be strategic with your “72 hour” carry on bag because you
won’t have access to the rest of your seabags while you’re there.
Things like a hat, sunscreen and even a bathing suit are recommended.
If not a bathing suit, you will want civilian clothes; shorts, t
shirts, workout gear. Everyone in the area where you’ll stay is
transient and there are no uniform or footwear requirements around the
base. The only clothing rules I remember are no sleeveless shirts and
you can’t go into the defac straight from the gym in sweaty clothes –
not that anyone could tell because walking from the barracks to the
defac is enough to make anyone look like they just came from the gym
when temps are in the 120s.
The ECRC staff is very helpful, have good gouge and make sure you know
where you need to be to get to your next stop. It probably helped that
their CO went to NIACT with us so they picked up their new boss when
they picked us up too.
That’s all I have for now. If you have any questions, I’ll be here.
Look forward to seeing you soon.
V/r
Chris
PS – this was drafted on the c-17 but I didn’t have a connection to
send it until now – sitting in the PA shop at RS. We had to stay
overnight in Bagram; transient berthing here is a little rough – far
more army than the Airforce berthing in Qatar, but it was only for one
night. Seabags still stay at the airfield, so 72 hour bag became a 1
week bag for us. Helo flight from here to RS is a short ride on a civ
contracted 12 pax Chinook. Pretty easy day. In Bagram, start drinking
more water than you think you should to help with elevation
acclimation.