Troopers take to the tropics
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”1562″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center” css_animation=”fadeIn”][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeIn” css=”.vc_custom_1500478185542{margin-top: 0px !important;margin-bottom: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;border-bottom-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;padding-bottom: 0px !important;}”]By Staff Sgt. John Higgins, 29th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”fadeIn” css=”.vc_custom_1500478758938{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”]Maryland Army National Guard soldiers from the 1st Squadron, 158th Cavalry Regiment, recently showed how quickly and efficiently they can project their capabilities during a weekend training mission to Puerto Rico.
No matter what the weather is, for some reason, it’s worse on a military flightline. It’s colder or hotter and always windier.
Soldiers from the squadron’s B Troop, C Company and Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, were reminded of this curious fact on a Friday morning in late February as they boarded air craft at both Hagerstown Airfield, Md., and Warfield Air National Guard Base, Md. National Guard units from four other states took the Marylanders on a five-hour flight to the commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Several Soldiers remarked the dramatic temperature change was like their most recent trip to Kuwait, the traditional gateway to U.S. Central Command’s area of operations.
They settled into barracks on Camp Santiago quickly, setting their gear out for the next morning and checking maps of the training area. C Company would leave at 1 a.m., and B Troop would step off at 6 a.m.
Soldiers trained in land navigation, known as “land nav” in military slang, with a twist: each squad not only had to find their points on a map, but should they see another squad moving, that squad’s movements would be called in as enemy movement.
“We chose this mostly because it’s new terrain to the soldiers, and the topography is great for orienting yourself without too many electronic accoutrements,” said Staff Sgt. Erik W. Rittler, a team leader with B Troop. He spat the word “accoutrements” with extra emphasis, like most people would use the phrase “bells and whistles”, with a sneer through his tightly maintained regulation mustache.
He went on. “It’s small training area, we’re kind of confined. With boundaries and mountainous terrain all around us and with six separate teams operating in this area, they have to be tactically proficient in moving through the area.”
“Everyone wants to get it over with; moving fast as [they can] like ‘I’m done with this.’ I’m the same way, so I know, but everyone should be patient.” said 2nd Lt. Michael C. Herrera to several of his troops during the exercise.
They discussed how people were moving and how the low-moving Soldiers were much harder to spot, as the training area had experienced a wildfire the day before removing much of the higher-growth vegetation that would have concealed troop movements.
That kind of “tactical patience” is important in urban environments, like the Battle of Fallujah in Iraq and in rural environments, like the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan.
Later that day, Herrera elaborated,“the basic idea is to ‘make a scout a scout’ back to basics, the core stuff that all scouts need to know. In such a small area, it could take 40-50 minutes to move 100 meters.”
Patience is just one part of the training, and Capt. Eric Nelsen, commander of B Troop, found that getting to the training area held broader military lessons.
“With minimal preparation, we are able to extend ourselves from Maryland out to probably anywhere in the United States – very quickly and be ready to provide a service or services to another host country – or National Guard entity.” said Nelsen.
This training will help the 158th soldiers qualify this summer in the Army National Guard’s eXportable Combat Training Capability or XCTC, a system to evaluate military units to be sure they are ready for deployment, Nelsen said.
And while the Maryland Guard prepares for the XCTC, the “big picture” benefits of this training were apparent to the unit’s commander, Lt. Col. Bradley Martsching.
“The fact that we deployed simultaneously from multiple locations using aircraft from four different Air National Guard units increased the complexity of the event but also the training value.” said Martsching. “Additionally, we demonstrated a rapid employment capability by establishing both digital and voice communications via our tactical [high frequency] and [satellite communication] radios with our home locations over 2,500 kilometers away.”
The 158th’s place and capability within the National Guard’s multi-level mission has only expanded in the past decade, and the training reflected this, said Martsching. “The ability to quickly deploy and establish operations is essential in our role as military first responders, but it also applies to other civil support operations as well as offensive and defensive operations associated with war-fighting.”
The next day, the Soldiers packed up their gear and got on their military flight back to Maryland.
Back from the heat and into the February cold again, some of them were already discussing future deployments, the next drill and what the future might hold for them, their unit and their place in the National Guard.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_raw_html]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[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]