LATHAM, N.Y – New York Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Thomas Carpenter, an infantry Soldier assigned to Headquarters Company of the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry, is headed to Brazil for six weeks of jungle warfare training.
Carpenter, from Prospect, N.Y., will train at the Brazil Army Jungle Warfare Training Center in Manaus Oct. 20 to Nov. 30.
The physically demanding Jungle Operations International Course, which Brazil offers to Soldiers from around the world, involves learning to survive in a jungle environment.
Before he gets to that training, Carpenter will be expected to demonstrate proficiency with a map and compass, run six miles in 60 minutes, disarm an opponent in hand-to-hand combat, and swim 400 meters in uniform.
He will also have to demonstrate basic knowledge about helicopter operations, river crossings, intelligence collection, tracking techniques and combat first aid.
The New York Army National Guard was invited to participate in the jungle school's international course, offered once each year, because of a recent partnership agreement with the Brazilian military.
Maj. Gen. Ray Shields, the adjutant general of New York, signed the agreement in May with Brazilian Rear Adm. Guilherme Da Silva Costa, formalizing the relationship through the National Guard's State Partnership Program.
The program links a state's National Guard with the armed forces or equivalent of a partner country in a cooperative, mutually beneficial relationship.
New York Army National Guard Command Sgt. Maj. David Piwowarski selected Carpenter to attend the course based on the military schools he's attended and his performance in the field.
"I asked for candidates that were physically strong, smart, and could shoot," Piwowarski said.
Carpenter was selected "because he is a consummate professional that has always been willing to accept challenges throughout his military career," Piwowarski said.
Carpenter has deployed to combat zones twice. He is a graduate of the Army Ranger School and Army Airborne School and competed in the Army's demanding Army Best Ranger Competition in 2015.
Carpenter, 38, is the company training sergeant. He enlisted in 2006 and has served as a full-time National Guard Soldier since 2014. He said he is looking forward to the jungle survival part of the course.
"It is something that I have never really done and it will be another tool in my tool box," he said, adding that it is important to pass what he learns on to members of his unit.
"What good is it if somebody goes to a school if they are just going to use it for a shiny thing on their uniform," he said.
Carpenter acknowledged that at 38, he might be older than many of those attending the school, but he doesn't intend to let that slow him down.
"Age is a number. It is what you do with those amount of years that make you that number. I can still run with the young dogs," Carpenter said.
He is a bit concerned about the swimming requirements for the class.
"I am trying hard to grow some gills," he joked.
As part of the SPP, New York National Guard Airmen of the 109th Airlift Wing in Scotia, N.Y., also visited their counterparts in Rio de Janerio, and Lt. Gen. Achilles Furlan Neto, the Brazilian Army's operations officer, visited New York.