CLEVELAND — Soldiers from across the country are strengthening their skills in Ohio.
The Camp James A. Garfield Joint Military Training Center provides military members a chance to practice their skills hands-on, learning to properly and safely detonate explosives.
“It’s a lot nicer to have it right here in our backyard, instead of going to another state to fire it off,” said Sgt. 1st Class Ronald Fry, an instructor at the facility.
The demolition range at the Ohio Army National Guard facility went into service last year and is used by soldiers from all branches of service, including active duty and reserves. Fry said it’s an important part of military readiness training, simulating conditions out in the field.
“It’s a pretty prestigious thing. There’s not many of these in the entire country,” he said. “So, the soldiers that are coming here are getting training that could potentially save lives.”
Fry has served in the military almost 30 years and spent time overseas in Iraq. He knows first-hand the importance of this training.
“If the charge doesn’t go off right, the mission’s a failure,” he said. “And that can be life and death.”
Pfc. Devan Rios is attending this session of the 147th Regiment Regional Training Institute. He’s looking forward to becoming a certified combat engineer at its completion. Combat engineers are trained to problem-solve solutions to obstacles in the field.
“You see like booby traps, or something like that, you learn to deal with those types of explosives,” Rios said. “And you also learn how to set them up.”
“I just hope I get to go on deployment and I get to use my skills,” he said.
Wednesday was the first time he and his classmates handled explosives like TNT and C-4, which can be a little nerve-wracking.
“Holding the C-4, yes, I didn’t want to get that on me,” Rios said. “I didn’t know how that would react to my clothes or any of that.”
He said seeing the successful explosions in person is helping him gain the confidence to take on a future real-life mission.
“It was a really cool experience,” he said. “Definitely not gonna forget it.”
