Back to the desert

By Pat Caldwell - Argus Observer
Sunday, July 29, 2007 12:05 AM PDT

Ontario - For Ontario’s Army National Guard unit, the wait is over.

Almost two years after returning from an 18-month combat tour in Iraq, Ontario Guardsmen are heading back into the desert south of Boise for a two-week annual training stint on M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks.

Ontario’s Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry, departed for the desert Friday night for the 2007 annual training cycle.

This annual training stint marks a milestone on a number of different levels for the local Guard unit.

In a real way, the two-week agenda on the Orchard Training Area south of Boise closes the door on the deployment to Iraq and also marks the first time in a long time the citizen-soldiers of Charlie Company will be back to work on the 60-ton metal battlewagons that were once the unit’s mainstay.

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“We are excited to get back on tanks,” Charlie Company commander, Capt. Eric Vandewalle, 34, Seattle, said Thursday night at the Ontario Armory.

The 3rd Battalion consists of citizen-soldier outfits from Ontario, Baker City, La Grande, Pendleton, Hermiston, Hood River, The Dalles, Redmond, Prineville and Woodburn.

Vandewalle, who took command of Charlie Company after it returned from Iraq in late 2004, said most of the Guardsmen in his unit are eager to get back to training on the weapons system they were forced to abandon in 2004 when the Eastern Oregon’s citizen-soldier outfit readied to deploy to Iraq.

“We’ve been preparing for this on simulators and here at home station. So we’re ready to tackle AT,” Vandewalle said.

For decades, units in Eastern Oregon’s 3rd Battalion trained to go to war on tanks, including the M1A1.

When the 3rd Battalion deployed to Iraq, as part of Idaho’s 116th Brigade Combat team, it did so without its tanks.

Instead, 3rd Battalion citizen-soldiers switched to an infantry role and operated in Humvees.

In the process, the unit was forced to learn a whole new set of combat skills.

When Charlie Company returned from Iraq it, and the rest of the 3rd Battalion, stepped into a massive reorganization that included a long process to relearn the M1-A1.

Now that rebuilding phase is over.

“This AT is important because it is the first one since returning from deployment. It’s the first opportunity for Charlie Company to get out and prove our worth,” Vandewalle said.

A new phase

The entire focus for Charlie Company at the Orchard Training Area for the next two weeks will revolve around tank gunnery exercises that will culminate in a qualifying tank range called Table 8.

On the qualifying range, each tank crew will wade through a series of different target engagements — at night and during the day — in an effort to acquire a passing score.

The qualification process can be time-consuming, stressful and difficult.

Vandewalle said, though, he is confident his unit is ready to meet the challenge.

“Charlie Company is excited to be back on tanks. We’re prepared to complete AT successfully,” Vandewalle said.

While the deployment to Iraq remains firmly lodged in the past, Vandewalle said the combat tour for the Ontario Guardsmen changed the unit.

“This unit is quite a bit different. We are a much closer-knitted company. We know each other like family. We know each others strengths and weaknesses. I feel we are a stronger unit,” Vandewalle said.

That hard-earned experience in Iraq will pay dividends on the high desert landscape of the Orchard Training Area, Vandewalle said.

“I think we’ll use past experience in Iraq, even though our mission in Iraq was totally different,” he said.

The deployment also set a benchmark for the Guardsmen in terms of meeting, and then overcoming, challenges.

“There is stress, but we know we can handle it. This AT should be a piece of cake compared to Iraq,” Vandewalle said.

While the Orchard Training Area is in no way comparable to Iraq, the training cycle for the next two weeks will be hectic and offer its own set of potential problems, Vandewalle said.

One obvious challenge, Vandewalle said, revolves around the separation of Guardsmen from their families.

“Families hate to see their soldiers away. Even though two weeks does not compare to a deployment, it is always a stress,” he said.

The environment at the Orchard Training Area, Vandewalle said, especially the heat, also plays a pivotal role.

“To prepare for (annual training) is both mental and physical. In terms of physical, for example, I’m coming from Seattle. I’m a little hesitant to say I’m ready for the 100 degree heat,” Vandewalle said. “But we’ll make sure everyone drinks a proper amount of fluids.”

The mental aspect to the job of leading Charlie Company out onto the desert is also critical, Vandewalle said.

“Making sure everyone is prepared before going out is important,” Vandewalle, who commanded a platoon from the Ontario Guard unit during the Iraq deployment, said.

The 2007 annual training session will also present new challenges to Charlie Company’s First Sergeant, Wayne Chastain.

Chastain, a Baker City Police Department officer, steps into the position formerly held by Ontario resident Les Sissel, who recently retired from the Guard.

Chastain, who stepped into the top-enlisted man slot of the Charlie Company last winter, said he takes his job seriously. The top sergeant in the company holds down a key position, one Chastain said he is ready to fill.

“If I screw up, someone could go without food or something they need,” he said.

Chastain conceded the training pace at annual training will be intense.

“We’ll hit the ground running. But you prepare by doing your best to have a plan,” he said.

Chastain echoed Vandewalle regarding how important it will be for Charlie Company to discharge its tank gunnery phase during the next two weeks.

“Tank Table 8 — the tank gunnery qualification course — that’s the big mission. We’ve done everything we can to prepare for it,” he said.

Chastain said he is not worried about how Charlie Company will perform during the next 15 days.

“I’ve got a group of good guys, a good company,” he said. “I think the tank crews will be challenged to get qualified, but I’m confident they’ll be able to do it.”

The next two weeks will be filled with hot, long days with plenty of stress tacked on for Vandewalle and Chastain and the rest of Charlie Company as it grapples with a complicated tank gunnery qualification course.

But that’s just fine with Vandewalle.

“I miss the whole tanking lifestyle. That’s what I signed up to be. I’ve personally been looking forward to this occasion for a long while.”

Pat Caldwell is the editor of the Argus Observer. He can be contacted at PatC@argusobserver.com Follow the progress of Charlie Company throughout the upcoming week online at www.argusobserver.com or in the print edition of the Argus Observer.