{"id":10866,"date":"2025-09-17T20:36:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T20:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/?p=10866"},"modified":"2025-09-17T20:36:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T20:36:26","slug":"mddf-troop-command-establishes-advance-base-camp-for-field-training-exercise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/2025\/09\/17\/mddf-troop-command-establishes-advance-base-camp-for-field-training-exercise\/","title":{"rendered":"MDDF Troop Command Establishes Advance Base Camp for Field Training Exercise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Maj. (MD) Stephen Rice\"\"<\/span>The Maryland Defense Force 231st Troop Command\u2019s Charlie Company established and operated an advance base camp and tactical operations center on the remote islet of Long Point on the Chesapeake Bay for three days, on July 11, 2025.\u00a0 Long Point is connected to Janes Island via a sandbar and is located within the Janes Island State Park.\u00a0 Troop Command\u2019s Charlie Company established the base camp to both test unit capabilities and to support Operation Island Hop II, which was a simulated evacuation of Smith Island located within the Chesapeake Bay.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To establish the base camp, a backcountry camping permit had to first be secured from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.\u00a0 At the Long Point site, Charlie Company pitched tents for operations, sleeping quarters, and a mess kitchen, started a generator, deployed a 60-foot portable radio antenna, and connected to Starlink for internet access.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cWe wanted to test our unit\u2019s capabilities and purposely looked for an opportunity to work in a challenging and austere environment,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 (MD) David Smith, commander of the 231st Troop Command\u2019s Charlie Company. “<\/span>This was a great training opportunity for our volunteers and they performed magnificently.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to the commander, the base camp team included an operations officer, a communications officer, and a forward observer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf and when needed during an emergency, our volunteers have to be ready to deploy and become operational in every corner of the State,” said Lt. Col. (MD) Mark Schroeder, commander of the 231st Troop Command. “<\/span>This was a great environment in which to learn and grow.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Once the base camp was established, the team was able to provide command, control, communications, threat assessments, and situational awareness to the 231st Troop Command\u2019s Delta Company and other state and local agencies participating in Operation Island Hop II.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis was an important training element for the 231st Troop Command,” said\u00a0 Brig. Gen. (MD) Gregory J. Juday, commanding general of the MDDF. “We\u2019re going to continue training and stretching our capabilities so that we will remain ready when called.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Maryland Defense Force is the state\u2019s uniformed volunteer militia unit providing competent, supplementary, professional, and technical support to the Maryland Military Department and the State of Maryland as needed. Established in 1917, the MDDF consists of nearly 200 personnel who perform legal, engineering, finance, medical, chaplain, field support, and ceremonial services for the State of Maryland.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Maj. (MD) Stephen RiceThe Maryland Defense Force 231st Troop Command\u2019s Charlie Company established and operated an advance base camp and tactical operations center on the remote islet of Long Point on the Chesapeake Bay for three days, on July 11, 2025.\u00a0 Long Point is connected to Janes Island via a sandbar and is located  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":161,"featured_media":10867,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10866"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10870,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10866\/revisions\/10870"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/ng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}