Shilo exercise tests soldiers’ mettle

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/05/2012 (5112 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

“Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.”

As a helicopter hovered overhead and mortars exploded in the distance, the simple sound of a buzzer was the most dangerous noise a soldier could hear on Saturday at CFB Shilo.

“If you hear that sound you know you’ve been shot,” said Nathan Guiboche, warrant officer for the 38th Brigade.

All of the nearly 400 reservists from 18 units across northern Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan were outfitted with a personal “Weapons Effects Simulation” system that informed them when they had been shot by enemy fire as part of the 2012 Bison Warrior exercise.

The ten-day training exercise, which is designed to test reserve soldiers’ training, culminated with a victory over enemy forces.

“It’s about getting together and confirming all of the training that we have done because we are not full-time soldiers,” Guiboche said. “For the last four days we’ve been fighting an enemy, coming in from the south and advancing foward to contact, clearing routes, setting up our patrols and using intelligence with all of elements to plan an attack.”

The exercise is an important aspect of training for reserve soldiers as it is one of the only times the units are brought together to work in association with each other. Guiboche said communication is just one of the skills that is paramount to ensure a successful attack — skills that were put to the test and further developed during the exercise.

“We really got a lot better over the course of the field training that we did here, and when we hit the last one we confirmed a lot of battle task standards,” Guiboche said.

Soldiers slept under the stars during rainy, miserable May and April conditions, something that Guiboche said will only make them more battle tested should they ever see combat.

“No one ever brags about an easy exercise, it’s the hard ones where you know you’re good to go,” Guiboche said. “The conditions mean you have to be sharp because there is a lot of pressure put on them. We put stress on the troops and it teaches them how to react.”

The hardships of 10 prairie days were worn on each soldier’s painted face, but it was something Cpl. Domenik Heine relished.

“You’ve got to embrace the suck,” Heine said. “It is all designed to make you a better soldier and you have to keep that in mind.”

The 22-year-old Heine, who is currently a political science major at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ont., joined the reserves four years ago. The exercise was an opportunity for Heine to further his training; it was also and opportunity for Heine to prove himself, with the hope that he is asked to go overseas and serve his county.

“I’d love to go,” Heine said.

And should he ever get the call, Guiboche knows he’ll be ready — because of exercises like the Bison Warrior.

“This is so important to these soldiers because in combat, you do not rise to the occasion, you fall back on the drills,” Guiboche said.

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