CAMP MURRAY, Wash. - Whether on land, in the air or on water, Guard members train to adapt to any mission. The Washington Army National Guard Soldiers of the 1st Squadron, 303rd Cavalry Regiment demonstrated that adaptability during their August 2–3 drill by conducting a Combat Water Survival Test, or CWST, and boat operation training at Ike Kinswa State Park on Mayfield Lake, Washington.
The CWST assesses a soldier's ability to operate safely in a water environment, even while wearing full military gear. It consists of a series of events designed to build confidence and evaluate water survival proficiency.
“The training culminated with an excursion up the Cowlitz River, as well as capsize drills using Charlie Troop’s Zodiacs,” said Lt. Col. Eric Seeb, commander of the 1st Squadron, 303rd Cavalry Regiment. “This prepared soldiers to assist 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry Regiment the following weekend with a helocast event at Captain William Clark Park on the Columbia River.”
From August 8–9, squadron soldiers launched five Zodiacs and one safety boat from Parker’s Landing in Washougal, Washington, and traveled upriver to Cottonwood Beach. There, they recovered about 200 soldiers who had helocast from a CH-47 Chinook, transporting them safely back to shore.
“Training on the Zodiacs supports collective training at the troop level for conducting a waterborne insertion—a key task for a long-range surveillance unit,” Seeb said.
Zodiacs are inflatable boats critical for inserting and extracting troops during amphibious operations, including helocast missions. Helocasting is a military insertion technique where troops are deployed from a helicopter into a body of water.
“A helocast insertion is another method for maritime infiltration that aligns with one of the squadron’s mission-essential tasks—conducting an air assault,” Seeb said. “Helocasting isn’t a typical air assault operation, but it could become vital for future operations in the Indo-Pacific region.”
Earlier this year, 200 members of the squadron joined soldiers from the Oregon National Guard for a rotational deployment to the Horn of Africa in support of Combined Joint Task Force–Horn of Africa, or CJTF-HOA. Their mission includes countering violent extremism, building partner capacity, strengthening regional security partnerships and providing crisis response to support collective security efforts.