WINTEX (Winter Exercise)

[Stonewall]

For 4 years I ran an annual training exercise called "WINTEX", or Winter Exercise.  I'm new to this site and happened to come across an old AAR from 2004 for one of the WINTEX missions I ran.  If you're bored, go for it, read it.

I put the OPORD and the AAR for your reading pleasure....
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18 DEC 03

OPERATIONS ORDER (OPORD)

1. SITUATION:  This plan outlines operational information and requirements for the squadron to conduct cold weather ground search and rescue operations.
a. Location:  Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, training areas TA-8 and TA-9.
b. Date:  27-29 DEC (Saturday to Monday)
c. Time:  0900 Sat – 1200 Mon
d. Assembly:  Bldg 3123, DC National Guard Armory on Davison AAF, Ft. Belvoir

2. MISSION:  To obtain general and advanced ground SAR training in an extended cold weather environment.

3. EXECUTION: 
a. Tasking:

1. SAFETY:  Safety is the paramount consideration for this FTX.  In the event of severe weather (extreme cold, blizzard, etc.) the exercise will be terminated and all personnel will be removed from the field and moved indoors. 
2. Participating personnel will arrive on time, in proper uniform, and with necessary materials to accomplish the mission.
3. All units are invited and encouraged to participate.  Participating units should contact the Project Coordinator with the number of projected participants.
4. All personnel will remain in the field throughout the entire exercise.  Only special visitors and personnel who made prior arrangements will be authorized early/late departure or arrival, i.e. Chaplain, Wing Commander, or Honored Guests.

b. Assembly:  Participants will travel to the assembly area (AA) by corporate or private conveyance.  The AA is located on Davison Army Air Field, which is not actually located on Ft. Belvoir proper.  Proper CAP identification will be necessary to gain access on to Davison AAF, which is manned by US Army Military Police.

c. Requirements: 

1. National Capital Wing Cadets must have a signed parental permission slip upon arrival to the rally point (Davison AAF, Bldg 3123). 
2. Members from outside of National Capital Wing are required to provide a CAPF 31 signed by their unit commander and parents if a cadet upon arrival to the AA.  The CAPF 31 must have current emergency contact information as well as medical conditions, allergies, and medications.
3. Each individual is required to have, at a minimum, 101T-GTM.  The only exception is for Mission Radio Operators.  Meaning, each individual must have 101-GES, ROA, and First Aid.
4. Cadets must have achieved the rank of Airman, and all seniors must have completed Level I/CPPT.
5. A minimum of two (2) senior members will be required to be onsite at all times.
6. Individuals will need to bring their 24-hour and 72-hour packs and be fully capable of carrying them (together) and surviving in extreme cold conditions for 3 days, 2 nights.
7. Personal radios should be used if available.  Corporate radios will be in limited supply.  Cellular phones should be brought for use in case of emergency and charged prior to the exercise.
8. All personnel will stay in shelters/tents.  Vehicles and buildings are not to be used for sleeping.

4.  ADMINISTRATION AND LOGISTICS:

1. Mission Number:  FFX-0531
2. Uniform:  BDU's will be worn in strict accordance with CAPM 39-1.  Only non-uniform adjustments will be allowed for cold weather.  The training area and forward operating base will be a no-hat/no-salute area.
3. CAP Corporate vans will be required to ferry teams into and out of operational training areas.  POV's will not be driven to the training areas.
4. All personnel are required to bring substantial food for 3 days.  A minimum of 6 meals will be needed and MRE's are recommended.  Coolers and large cooking equipment are not authorized.  Only personal stoves that can be carried in the 72-hour gear are allowed.
5. Equipment:  Squadron-owned SAR equipment to include L'Pers, Jetstreams, radios; medical kits, team boxes and 5-gallon water cans should be brought. 
6. Emergency Medical Facilities:  Call 911 for emergency medical assistance or proceed to nearest DeWitt Army Community Hospital.  Alternate hospital is INOVA Mount Vernon Hospital.  EMT's with medical kits will be onsite at the FOB.

a. DeWitt Army Community Hospital
9501 Farrell Road
Ft. Belvoir, VA  22060
(703) 805-0510

b. INOVA Mount Vernon Hospital
2501 Parker's Lane
Alexandria, VA 22306
(703) 664-7000

5. COMMAND AND CONTROL:

a. Command:
   
Project Officer:      Lt Col Kirt Bowden
Cadet Officer in Charge:   C/Maj Megan McIntosh
Cadet First Sergeant:   C/CMSgt David Zager
Mission Medic:      C/Lt Col Stephen Langone (EMT)
Mission Radio Operator:   C/SMSgt Josh Sullivan
Assistant MRO:      TBD
Mission Safety Officer:   Lt Col Gordon McIntosh
Chaplain:         Ch. (Lt Col) John Hoffmann
Public Affairs/Photographer:   Capt. Paul Cianciolo
Team 1 GTL:      C/2d Lt Alex McIntosh
Team 1 ATL:      C/SMSgt Emily Shiflett
Team 2 GTL:      C/SMSgt Zack Showalter
Team 2 ATL:      C/2d Lt Greg Niemann
Team 3 GTL:       C/2d Lt Elliott Korona
Team 3 ATL:      C/2d Lt Aaron Realey

*Ground Team Leaders and Assistant Team Leaders may be cadets or seniors.  Additional teams may be created if necessary.
   
b.  Communications:
   
1) Mission Base: Channel 2
2) Mission Base Alternate: Channel 1
3) Logistics: Channel 3
4) Call Signs:  Call Signs shall be in clear text, identifying the particular unit tasking, such as:
   
BELVOIR BASE for Command Post (CP)
LOGISTICS for logistics section
SAFETY for Safety Officer
MEDIC for the Medical Officer
TEAM ONE, TWO, THREE... for each team designation

c.  Base Contacts (Cellular):

1) Command Post Dedicated Line:  (202) 439-XXXX
2) Lt Col Bowden:  (202) 327-XXXX
3) Lt Col McIntosh (Safety): (202) 439-XXXX
4) C/Maj McIntosh:  (703) 606-XXXX
5) C/Lt Col Langone (Medic): (571) 283-XXXX


For questions or comments regarding WINTEX, contact the project officer, Lt Col Kirt Bowden, at (703) 742-XXXX or XXXXXX@comcast.net.  To see last year's WINTEX AAR, visit www.fairfaxsquadron.org.


KIRT BOWDEN, Lt Col, CAP
Commander   
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AFTER ACTION REVIEW (AAR)

WINTEX IV, 27 – 29 Dec 04

Ft. Belvoir, VA

SMIC:  Lt Col Kirt Bowden
Fairfax Composite Squadron

C/OIC:  C/Maj Megan McIntosh
Mount Vernon Composite Squadron

C/1Sgt:  C/CMSgt David Zager
Andrews Composite Squadron

Chaplain: Chaplain (Lt Col) John Hoffmann
National Capital Wing

Medic:  C/Lt Col Stephen Langone, EMT-B
Fairfax Composite Squadron

Comms Section: 
C/SMSgt Josh Sullivan
Andrews Composite Squadron

C/2d Lt Elliott Korona
Flying "W" Composite Squadron (NJ Wing)

Visitor: Colin Greata (Former CAP C/Lt Col)
Former Fairfax and Mount Vernon Cadet, currently in 3rd year at West Point

Most Motivated: 
C/2d Lt Greg Niemann
Mount Vernon Composite Squadron

Toughest Cadet: 
C/SSgt Jamie Wright
Flying "W" Composite Squadron, New Jersey Wing

Total Number of Participants:  30 (10 Seniors, 19 Cadets, 1 Visitor)

Number of Wings Represented:  2 (DC, NJ)

Number of NATCAP Units Represented:  4 (001, 033, 045, 053)

Number of NJ Wing Cadets Represented:  5

Number of Personnel who Remained Overnight:  26

Intent of WINTEX IV:  Conduct a 3-day, 2-night field training exercise in a cold weather environment to learn valuable Land Navigation, SAR and Survival skills.  An Operations Order was issued by Lt Col Bowden in November, refined and re-issued in early December.  Cadet Commander for WINTEX was determined in October and a First Sergeant selected in November. 

Description of overall exercise: 

• Qualified Ground Team Members/Leaders and Trainees arrived at 0900 on Saturday morning and signed in.  CAP ID and ES credentials were checked upon sign-in.  All cadets were required to have a parental permission slips and cadets who participated from outside the wing brought a CAPF 31 signed by their commander and parents.

• Following sign-in, a formation was held along with a promotion, team assignments, and a "WINTEX Blessing" by Chaplain Hoffmann.  A complete showdown was conducted by each of the three team leaders and observed by staff.  This was important to insure that all participants had appropriate gear for cold weather operations as well as enough food to operate for three days.  Before shipping off to the field, the entire group recited the RESCUE Creed, written in 2002 by then C/1st Lt Megan McIntosh of Mount Vernon Squadron.

• Upon departing to the field all WINTEX participants were dropped off approximately 2 Kilometers from the Assembly Area (AA) where the WINTEX Command Post (CP) was located.  Each ground team member and one Radio Telephone Operator (RTO) strapped on their 24 and 72 hour gear for a road march into the AA.  The RTO carried a man-pack radio which allowed for long-range communications and to maintain contact with the CP.  The AA was located in Training Area 9 (TA-9) where a Hexagonal Tent was erected with an antenna mast to act as a command post.  It was monitored 24 hours throughout the entire operation.  Electricity was hooked up by extension cord to a nearby building.

• Day one of training consisted of land navigation which involved teams traveling more than 1K to a single point and returning.  A shelter class was conducted by 1st Lt Josh Batten who used natural shelters, poncho shelters, and parachute survival shelters as a part of his block of instruction.  Cadets were not required to, but most stayed in the shelters they had built versus their personal tents. 

Later, C/Maj McIntosh taught a fire-starting class which showed students how to collect the best materials for making a fire and how to ignite a fire without a match or lighter.  Day one was ended with a two-hour night land navigation course and assignment of overnight radio watch.

• Day two (Sunday) started early with 30 minutes of light physical training (PT), mostly calisthenics and a short jog to get the blood flowing and muscles warmed up.  Following PT, members ate breakfast and prepared for non-denominational religious services hosted by Chaplain Hoffmann.  Services were not required, but were attended by all but 1 student and 3 staff who were tasked with setting up courses.  The first time the Chaplain performed such services was at WINTEX III the year before.  Day two continued with 6 hours of round-robin training.  Each of the three teams spent two hours at each station which included Missing Person Search (1st Lt Batten), ELT Search (Lt Col Bowden), and Advanced Land Navigation (1st Lt Culpepper). 

Day two was wrapped up with each team receiving an azimuth but no coordinates or distance to travel.  Each team was released from a different location and told to travel on their azimuth until they reached a point where staff would be waiting.  The average distance ended up being approximately 1,300 meters.  Upon reaching the final destination (TA-8), each team was tasked to erect one two-person shelter using whatever they had on hand, build a fire, and eat chow.  The evening ended with a road march back to the AA at approximately 1930 hours.

Students were allowed to build a big fire and catch up on some rest following an After Action Review (AAR) of the day's events.  Some students decided to conduct night time operations while others relaxed around the fire and told stories.  The last announcement of the AAR was to "always keep your equipment ready to go at a moments notice".  This was said on purpose.

• As far as everyone knew, day three was to begin like day two, with PT.  Instead, staff woke up the students one hour early (0600) to find an ELT.  This was to be a team level competition.  After about 1 ½ hours, team Three found the ELT.  Teams were only allowed to use handheld Jetstream multi-band radios which offered its own challenges in this environment.

Following the competition, teams broke out breakfast and took down their tents and hooches.  As usual, the last class was a gear class that focused on personal gear that makes up both the 24 and 72 hour gear set-ups.  Then, break down of the assembly area and finally a 2K road march with 24 and 72 hour gear out of the AA and back to the starting point where it all began 2 days before.

What went right?

• Regardless of the demands of training, limited sleep, and cold temperatures, morale was high throughout the entire operation.
• The communications section was top notch.  Not just operationally, but with accountability of all comms equipment.
• No injuries worthy of reporting happened (minor blisters, small scrapes, etc. only).
• Unique experience to train with personnel from other wings and units.
• A good number of "first-timers" were there to experience the training.
• Weather, while not extremely cold, did offer its challenges.  Temperatures got down to the high teens during both nights.
• Only the second time anyone experienced religious services in the field.
• No disciplinary problems were experienced at all.  None.
• No permanent losses of equipment.

What went wrong?

• One cadet went home during day one because he was homesick.
• Schedule got off track and delayed on two occasions, but time was recovered later on in the operation. 
• While no one permanently lost equipment, there were several occasions where gear was found by staff because it was not properly secured and accounted for.
• "Hanging out" in the CP became a problem, but not a big enough problem to where it affected training.
• Students were constantly late for formations.  During almost every formation, staff was left standing waiting for team leaders to get their teams in formation. 
• Several occasions came up where some things could have been done proactively without staff having to point it out.
• It took about half of the weekend before students started organizing their gear to standard.  It was instructed and announced several times for teams to either have their gear on or neatly placed in formation.
• After WINTEX, a few members were observed at a local restaurant not wearing their uniforms properly.
• Keys to the Mount Vernon Squadron building should have been turned back in to Base Ops upon deployment to the field rather than keeping them the entire operation.
• Ft. Belvoir's training office gave us the wrong keys to the training area.  We had to cut the chain, with permission of the MP's, and replace the lock. 

What needs to be improved?

• 100% accountability of keys 100% of the time.
• Getting to formation prior to the specified time.  "To be on time is late.  To be early is to be on time".
• Once leaving the field and moving back into a garrison environment, especially on or near a military base, members should remember to revert back to wearing their uniform properly.  It is understood that sometimes in the field, away from the public, uniform standards may be altered due to weather conditions, but it is unacceptable to be seen in public either partially or incorrectly in uniform.
• Ensure that cadet command and first sergeant play a more active role in the planning and execution phases.  It can be hard sometimes to coordinate planning, but all efforts should be made in the future to make this more of a cadet-run training exercise.

I personally believe that WINTEX IV was a complete success.  No matter what, things will always need improvement and mistakes will always be made.  That is the nature of volunteering in such an organization.  This was the fourth of its kind with the intent of this activity taking place each year during the holiday break.  If anyone wishes to add comments, make suggestions, or ask questions regarding this exercise, please send them to Lt Col Bowden at XXXXXX@comcast.net, or call (703) 742-XXXX.

Hooah, and thanks to everyone who made WINTEX IV a success.

KIRT BOWDEN, Lt Col, CAP
WINTEX IV Commander

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Some pictures to go along with the OPORD and AAR....

Chaplain in the field...


Survival training...mmmm, looks good.


After 3 long days...


Finishing it up with a 5K road march.  We ruck in, we ruck out...

[Stonewall]

Here's a picture of a Mitchell promotion during one of the WINTEX's.  I always liked to have memorable promotions for the cadets and what better way than in the field...

[Pylon]

Sounds pretty sweet!   

When can you organize one for our Group?