By Mary Barczak
Staff writer
When it comes to safety, the Army has the ultimate tool to help ensure Cadets’ safety in the summer heat:
The wet bulb.
A wet bulb is a device typically set up on a tripod and has three thermometers. The wet, dry and black bulb sit on a tray.
Maj. Don Green, LTC training operations officer, said the Army uses the wet bulb as a method of determining the amount of humidity in the air.
He said the bulb is an important tool for training sites because it protects and ensures Cadets’ safety while in constant heat.
“We use it to know how hard to train and not to train the Cadets,” Green said.
Humidity is a concern during training and is closely monitored. A high humidity will cause the body to sweat in an attempt to cool off. Excess sweating can cause the body to dehydrate and become a heat casualty.
There are three levels of work loads Cadets can undergo while in heat. The first level is an easy work load, such as marksmanship training and weapon maintenance. The second level is moderate work load, such as patrolling, field assaults and individual movement techniques. The third level is hard work, such as walking on a hard surface at 3.5 mph while carrying less than or equal to 40 pounds or walking in loose sand at 2.5 mph with no load.
All of these levels of work can be instituted in each of the five heat categories depending on the temperature at the time of training.
Wet bulbs are located at every training site on post, including LTC’s tactical operations center and range control.
Green said the wet bulb is fairly easy to read, and anyone who wants to be trained can be trained.
“We don’t turn anyone away,” he said.
Green said the training is easy and takes less than an hour, depending on how quickly people catch on. Cadets in general are not trained because they have no need for it.
Green said they do train committees on site and the LTC company cadre.
Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth McKinney, a drill sergeant for Co. A, said the wet bulb reading at 2 p.m. Monday was 81 degrees at the Team Development Course, which meant the wet bulb and heat index was at a category one.
He said the wet bulb is checked every hour.
McKinney said the Cadets’ training won’t change when it gets hotter outside.
“They need to watch their intake of water and they will possibly have longer breaks, but we are not going to lessen their requirements,” he said.
Master Sgt. Ken Basely (right), Maj. Charles Gaskin (center), and Sgt. 1st Class Hector Rivera (left) set up the wet bulb behind the building of Headquarters U.S. Army Cadet Command Saturday morning for the Cadets in Leader’s Training Course. Photo by Chen Wang