Kip's Khyber Khronikles

Goodbye Dallas, see you next year!

Camp McCrady

My first stop on the road to deployment in Afghanistan was Camp McCrady, which is located on Fort Jackson, a U.S. Army post near Columbia, South Carolina. Camp McCrady is a training facility that is also headquarters for the South Carolina National Guard (SCNG). This is the site where the SCNG provides refresher training for their reserve members. Since January 2006 it has been also the site for Navy Individual Augmentee Combat Training (NIACT).

I spent some time Googling around the Internet in an attempt to learn for whom Camp McCrady is named. I found nothing on the Fort Jackson website. (Fort Jackson is named for Andrew Jackson). My guess is that Camp McCrady is named for a South Carolina militia leader who was also the proprietor of McCrady’s Tavern and Long Room, which still stands, in Charleston. According to the Wikipedia entry for the tavern, Edward McCrady purchased the tavern in 1778. He was captured by the British with the surrender of Charleston in 1780.

Camp McCrady is operated by Task Force Marshall, which is “named in honor of Citizen-Soldier and trainer General George C. Marshall.” The task force “was formed with the sole mission of providing basic skills refresher training to mobilized Individual Ready Reserve Soldiers. Task Force Marshall is a battalion-sized training force comprised of mobilized Army Reserve units across the United States and operates now as a member of Victory Brigade, United States Army Training Center, Fort Jackson, SC. http://www.jackson.army.mil/IRR/TFM.htm

In January 2006 the Camp McCrady became the central training facility for Individual Augmentees (IAs) of the Navy and Air Force. The IA training program is modeled closely after the refresher training conducted for SCNG personnel. Prior to using this facility, personnel were trained at a number of locations, including Fort Lewis, WA; Camp Shelby, MS; Fort Bliss, TX; and Fort Benning, GA. According to the website, Camp McCrady is capable of processing up to 600 students at once with an annual budget of $16.7 million.

Since the events of September 11, 2001, IAs have been used to fight in various contingency operations around the world. An IA is an individual who is deployed individually to augment U.S. military forces overseas. IAs can be active duty or reserve personnel who receive, typically, six-month to one-year tours of duty. For the active duty, an IA assignment may come while they are in the midst of a two- or three-year duty assignment on a ship or base. Because of the rigorous nature of IA assignments, and all the accompanying hardships of being deployed in-country, boots-on-the-ground (BOG), these assignments usually last no more than a year, running concurrently with an active duty member's regular duty assignment. For reservists, IAs require mobilization and a military leave of absence from their civilian jobs – and families. Most Navy Reserve units do not deploy in their entirety, all at once. Rather, individuals are mobilized when and where needed. An exception to this might be a Navy Reserve Cargo Handling unit, an F-18 squadron, or a Seabee battalion. Personnel in these types of units operate most effectively in their entirety, instead of as individuals. Those units deploy as a team. With respect to the National Guard, those types of reserve units usually mobilize as a whole.

As mentioned above, being in-country, BOG, can be rigorous, full of hardships, and dangerous. Traditionally, most sailors serve on ships or bases, eating three hot meals a day, sleeping in a bed, and working in an office or shop -- where firearms are not needed! Also, after basic training or Officer Candidate School, most sailors do not touch weapons. The Navy's primary offensive capabilities consist of jets and missiles -- and the ships that convey them. Therefore, an M4 carbine or an M9 pistol may be somewhat unfamiliar to a sailor.

This is where NIACT helps the sailor: NIACT helps sailors by familiarizing them with the land combat environment. During NIACT sailors fire small arms and crew weapons, receive weapons qualifications, wear the equipment of a soldier, and participate in small unit infantry tactics. NIACT teaches about land navigation, first aid, convoy procedures, rules of engagement, and radio communications. Because many of us will be serving beside soldiers and Marines in a land combat environment, it is important that we have a basic understanding of how to survive as infantry.

Task Force Marshall (TFM) members train the NIACT units at Camp McCrady. TFM is staffed by an outstanding crew of Navy and Army personnel. The Navy personnel handle the administrative end of things while the Army folks handle the combat training. The Navy staff makes sure the blocks are checked for our required training, medical records, and equipment issuance. They did a great job making sure our administrative needs were met.

The training was managed by Army drill sergeants, and they imbued in me a deeper respect for the Army as a professional organization. Training safety was their number one priority -- especially since they were working with a bunch of sailors with fire arms! I was very impressed with their devotion to duty and professionalism. If I was an 18 year-old I may have thought differently, but, as it was, I thought they were an outstanding bunch. It took a few days to get back from the Army "hooaah!" to the Navy "Aye Aye!"

My class consisted of around 180 sailors. We were divided into two training groups: Company B and Company C. I was in Charlie Company, 4th Platoon. We didn't see a lot of Bravo Company except in the galley and barracks. My shipmates included doctors, lawyers, construction contractors, paralegals, and pilots. We were a mix of active duty and reserve, officer and enlisted. There was no saluting, and the only significant recognition of rank was barracks segregation. I was in Building 3915, a forty-man barracks, with a dozen or so O-4s (lieutenant commanders).

Training lasted from January 1 until January 18. The Army drill sergeants made sure everyone was good-to-go with the weapons qualifications. They provided us plenty of ammunition, one-on-one training when necessary, and the time needed to get it done. I'll get two new ribbons -- one for rifle and one for pistol (with an "S" for sharpshooter on the pistol) qualifications.