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48th Brigade Trains in Indiana
FOX 24's Linh Bui visits the 48th Brigade at Camp Atterbury in Indiana
Linh Bui
Story Created:
Jun 4, 2009 at 9:47 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Jun 4, 2009 at 10:46 PM CDT
The 48th Infantry Brigade of the Georgia National Guard is set to deploy to Afghanistan at the end of this month. Soldiers are currently training at Camp Atterbury in Columbus, Indiana.
Imagine an army convoy traveling down an Afghanistan road. Suddenly, a bomb explodes. Insurgents attack and soldiers must return fire...
From the combat to the injuries, it’s is all part of military training. Soldiers from the 48th Brigade are experiencing what could happen while they're in Afghanistan.
Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Perry Carter says, "Our intention is to make sure they know how to react if something happens out there on the road. That they are well trained in how to do that. And this training is providing us that opportunity."
The 48th Brigade's mission is to mentor and train Afghan forces.
"We're helping the Afghan Army and Afghan Police provide security for their own people so we don't have to do it,” says Col. Commander Lee Durham of the 48th Brigade. “We're just advising them and then we - ultimately us the U.S. and not us the 48th Brigade - will come home."
And as part of that mission, soldiers expect to travel almost 8000 miles on dangerous roads. But after extensive training, they say they're ready.
"I had one of my company commanders who has been to Afghanistan twice make the comment to me the other day that this is the most training he's had in his entire career,” Carter says.
Durham says, "I have no concern about their training level. I have no concerns about their discipline and leadership. They accept responsibility and they do a great job at it. I think they're the best trained and best led Brigade in the army."
Soldiers have spent about two months training at Camp Atterbury in Indiana and next week they'll return home to spend time with their families before they deploy.
We also spoke to some of our hometown heroes to see how soldiers from Middle Georgia are feeling about their impending deployment. We’ll have that story Friday night on FOX 24 News at Ten.
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