News and Information for the 412th Theater Engineer Command

Commander Talks Priorities, Way Forward

401st Chemical Company Wins Sibert Award see story page 8 see story page 16

M a g a z i n e

October 2014

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Commander Maj. Gen.Commander

Maj. Gen. Tracy A. Thompson

Command Sergeant Major Command Sgt. Maj. Ronald Flubacher

412th TEC Public Affairs Capt. Maryjane Falefa Porter

Staff Sgt. Debralee Best Staff Sgt. Roger Ashley

Public Affairs Officer/Editor-in-Chief Capt. Maryjane Falefa Porter

Design/Layout Betty Watson, ACE-IT

The Castle is a quarterly, unofficial publication authorized under the provisions of Army regulation 360-1. The opinions and views expressed in this publication are not necessarily of-ficial views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, Department of Defense or Department of the Army.

Letters and comments are welcomed by the staff and should be sent to:

The 412th TEC Public Affairs Office

ATTN: The Castle 1265 Porters Chapel Rd.

Vicksburg, MS 39180-5790

To contact the 412th TEC Public Affairs staff: Call the PAO at (601) 631-6103 or

the NCOIC at (601) 631-4176 or Email

usarmy.usarc.412-eng-cmd.mbx.public-affairs@mail.mil

About the Front Cover: U.S. Army Reserve engineers with the 412th Theater Engineer Command, simu-lating opposition forces, cross the completed improved ribbon bridge as part of Operation River Assault 2014 at Fort Chaffee, Ark., July 23. The annual training exercise focuses on collective and mission-essential training involving multiple nations and branches. The mission, to erect an improved ribbon bridge across a 300-meter expanse of the Arkansas River, required 42 segments and took 3 hours to complete. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Rigo Cisneros)

About the Back Cover: Sgt. Carlos Lopez, a reconnaissance sergeant, from Vancouver, Wash., with the 671st Engineer Company out of Portland, Ore., and Canadian Sgt. Isaac Anderson, 33rd Canadian Brigade Group from Ottawa, Ontario, attached to the 671st Eng. Co., begin carrying their mock casualty forward as Sgt. Christopher Manley, a general equipment operator and Portland, Ore., resident, also with the 671st Eng. Co., clears a wall while competing in an obstacle course competition as part of Operation River Assault at Fort Chaffee, Ark., July 16.

October 2014

Contents

A Word from the Commander .................................................................................................................4The Command Sergeant Major’s Corner ................................................................................................5Thompson Takes Charge .........................................................................................................................6Commander Talks Priorities, Way Forward for the 412th TEC ...............................................................8Traditional Knowledge: What You Don’t Know About Promotion Boards Can Hurt You ..................14401st Chemical Company Wins Sibert Award as Best Army Reserve Chemical Unit ..........................18Engineers Compose Bridge Across Arkansas River .............................................................................20Deployable Command Post Trains for Real-world Contingency at UFG ..............................................22 U.S. Army Reserve, Macedonia Soldiers Improve Kindergarten .........................................................24Army Engineers Take Another Step Toward Unity with Second ENTAPE Conference ......................26Ready Warrior Prepares Soldiers for Future Operations.......................................................................30Our Northern Cousins: U.S., Canadian Reserve Engineers Train Together .........................................32Guard, Reserve Integrate as Team at NTC ...........................................................................................34Photospread: 412th Theater Engineer Command . . .‘Build to Serve’ ...................................................36Soldier Takes Joy in the Pain, Suffering of Army Competition ............................................................38Soldier Relies on Combat Experience to Push Through Best Warrior Competition ............................40441st Engineer Company volunteers for Training in Afghanistan-type Environment ..........................42Succeeding at ‘in between’ Assignments: Serving as a Platoon Leader Or Company Commander Is Easy ......................................................................................................44476th Engineer Detachment Goes Back-to-Basics ................................................................................46Shrinking Army Looking to Fill Its Reserve Component .....................................................................48854th Engineer Battalion Strives to Provide Professional, Quality Products ........................................50CSA: Ethical Dilemmas Pose Tough Calls for Soldiers .......................................................................52Combat Engineers Practice Demolition at WAREX .............................................................................54Developing Soldiers, Teamwork through Training ...............................................................................55926th Firefighters Participate in Vibrant Response ...............................................................................57Training Provides Essential Support during River Assault ...................................................................58417th Engineer Company Prepares Lots for Paving ..............................................................................60Soldiers Build Roads, Buildings, Skills at Operation Essayons ...........................................................62One Team: Building Bonds through IED Defeat ..................................................................................64674th Engineer Detachment Continues Civic Improvements for 5th Year .............................................67Soldiers Gain New Experiences on Weapons, Vehicles ........................................................................68Best Warrior Competition Throws a SHARP Curve-ball at Soldiers before Events Begin ..................70

412th Theater Engineer Command ‘Build To Serve’

I want to thank everyone at the 412th TEC Headquarters in Vicksburg for welcoming my family and me during the change of command weekend. It was a great event and I am thankful to be a part of such a storied unit and its time-honored traditions. In recent years, I have had several opportunities to train with and observe many 412th units. Some of you have seen me at those events and it is clear to me that we have top notch Soldiers and civilians throughout our formations.

I have met with most of the senior commanders and have given them my guidance and laid out my vision of where I think we should be and how we can get there. Talk with your leaders for the details, but I also want you to hear a short version from me as we begin this mission together:

This is my vision: To become the best Command in the Army Reserve. To get there, we are going to create a Culture of Professional Excellence that is unsurpassed in the Army. Period. That means we do things – everything from our core missions to the everyday things – better than the others. We must have better discipline, better uniforms, and better haircuts and take more pride in our work than other units out there.

Some of you are already in units like this, but they can always get better. If you are in a unit like this, you recognize it. It means you are part of something great, and that you don’t want to let your team down by being less than great. It’s a culture where an E5 doesn’t walk by an E4 with his hands in his pockets without stopping him and correcting him. It’s knowing that no other unit can build a better road, or a build bridge faster or more safely, or clear a route more efficiently, or fight fires more effectively or perform decon more thoroughly. It’s

pride in yourself and your unit. These things might seem hard to measure, but the results will be easy to see.

The core of this culture requires us to build units where everyone in the unit knows – without question – that our leaders take care of the 4 to 8 Soldiers they lead. They mentor those Soldiers and discipline them. But they also ensure they get to schools early and maintain their medical readiness. They coach them on how to improve their diet or weekday PT workouts. They know where they work or go to school and who their closest family members are.

The numbers we measure will follow the culture. I’ve seen it in small units where they attain 90% or better in everything we measure. These small units create that culture where everyone wants to be good or great, and where they know they are cared for by their leaders, and where they don’t want to let their small unit down. Large units can accomplish this same thing – because every squad or section is a small unit. You can get there. Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

I also want to talk about leader development. I just finished attending several senior leader events that included the Chief of Staff of the Army (CSA) and the Chief of Army Reserve (CAR). I can tell you that a common theme throughout those events– and one that you will hear me talk about whenever I visit – was leader development. In the next year or two, our budgets will be much tighter than they have been in recent years. We have a tremendous amount of combat and deployment experience, but we know that experience will fade quickly. We have learned the only way to preserve the quality of our force is by focusing on our leaders – from the new E5 who must attend the Warrior Leader

Course early, through the lieutenant colonel who should be in War College. We must also carve out time to spend with our leaders. This means not just a “drive by” during a battle assembly, but dedicated time to mentor and grow the bench. I ask every leader out there to spend time mentoring at least one of your Soldiers every day you are on duty – aim for at least 15 minutes. You can cover a lot in 15 minutes. I also ask every Soldier out there to reach out to your mentor if they are not taking the time to come to you. I promise if you take the time to remind them, they will make the time to mentor you.

This command has an incredible history. Take a look at your trophy cases and the walls of your Reserve Centers. Most of them are filled with awards recognizing the commitment to professionalism and excellence I’ve been discussing. Now look at the dates on those awards. If most of those were earned before you were in the unit (or before you were in the Army), let’s change that. We are professionals, so let’s be the best. The next time you walk by someone whose hands are in their pockets, what will you do? Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

ESSAYONS!

Major General Tracy Thompson Commanding General, 412th TEC

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A new season is upon us and with autumn comes with children going back to school. I want to remind you to stop for school buses as they pick up and drop off school kids and be wary of kids that walk to and from school as well. So drive safe and be aware and expect the unexpected. Our children are the future of our country.

I had the pleasure of attending River Assault at Fort Chaffee in July and really enjoyed my visit. The exercise is a Training Year 1 event that brings in Engineers, Military Police, Mechanics, Supply Sergeants from across all three components and International Soldiers. I spoke with several Soldiers from the Canadian Army Reserve as well as a senior NCO from England. What an experience for our Soldiers to learn and grow from this experience. I was able to watch the crossing from a great vantage point, from both on a Bridge Boat and from the bridge itself. This was far better than viewing from the barge that we have done in the past. It gave me a better opportunity to see what these outstanding Engineers do firsthand, up close and personal. The crossing was the best I have seen in my career and thanks for the efforts of the 420th Engineer

Brigade out of the 416th TEC. They did an outstanding job. Please see more articles within this issue of “The Castle”.

I saw some statistics from our G-1 that was pretty disturbing, that only 15% of our Staff Sergeants who meet the Time in Service and Time in Grade requirements will be boarded for Sergeant First Class this coming board. Of those that meet these requirements 81% won’t be boarded due to not meeting or completing NCOES / or SSD3. This does present a great opportunity for our young SSGs who want to get promoted to SFC, but you have to complete the Advanced Leadership Course and SSD3. If you are close to completing these requirements then keep going and get them done, if not, then get going so you too can get promoted and continue serving our great Army. The remaining that won’t be boarded is flagged for APFT failure, failing to meet height / weight standards or other adverse action. If you are in this group, then work at meeting them to become fully eligible for promotion to SFC.

This may be my last article as the end of my tenure is in November. I want to thank all of you for the support that you have given me

during the last three years. I will not be looking for a follow on assignment and will be getting back to my civilian employer as I have been on a Military Leave of Absence for the last five-plus years. I will miss you all. Thank you and your Families for the sacrifices that you make everyday in order to serve our great Army and Nation. If I write another article it will be to introduce the new CSM of the 412th TEC.

In closing I want to remind you again to watch out for children getting on and off school buses, walking to and from school. Stay safe, Build to Serve and Army Strong.

ESSAYONS!

Command Sergeant Major Ronald Flubacher Command Sergeant Major, 412th TEC

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VICKSBURG, Miss. – U.S. Army Reserve Brig. Gen. Tracy Thompson assumed leadership of the 412th Theater Engineer Command in a change of command ceremony held here June 29.

The ceremony represents the changing of the guard between the outgoing and incoming commanders and is the epitome of ceremony.

Ranks form. Flags unfurl. The band plays and cannons blaze, but put aside the pomp, the cer-emonies and traditions a change

of command entails, it all comes down to two commanders and their visions of today and tomorrow’s 412th TEC and the Army.

Maj. Gen. William M. Buckler Jr., the outgoing commander, has served the 412th proudly, leaving a legacy on those he leaves behind as those before him have done. Now, Thompson is ready to make his mark as well.

Thompson is like many career Soldiers today. He was born and raised in Wisconsin, but lives in Virginia and traveled to his previous command in Texas. He has a private practice as an attorney. He joined the Army Reserve in 1981 as an enlisted combat engineer, joined the officer ranks and served in various roles as construction officer, company commander and inspector general while juggling a family life with his wife, Sheri, and their two children, Jacob and Sarah. The term well-rounded comes to mind and Thompson’s

life and career certainly reflect it.

Thompson comes from the 420th Engineer Brigade, out of Bryan, Texas, where he crafted his leadership style while serving as commander for three years.

“The brigade has such outstanding people, it almost ran itself,” said Thompson. “The preparation for this job [412th commanding general] came from watching people at the 416th TEC such as my mentor Maj. Gen. David Conboy, 416th’s commanding general, and seasoned staff officers like Jim Murphy.”

Thompson said his toughest challenge and best experience builder at the 420th was standing up a command and headquarters for 310 Soldiers.

“I made dozens of mistakes and learned hundreds of lessons regarding hiring, being bamboozled, resume’ embellishment, counseling

Thompson Takes Charge

Story by Staff Sgt. Roger Ashley

Brig. Gen. Tracy A. Thompson (left),accepts the 412th Theater Engineer Command’s unit colors from Lt. Gen. Jeffrey W. Talley, Chief of Army

Reserve and Commanding General, U.S. Army Reserve Command, symbolizing his assumption of command in a ceremony at the

Vicksburg Convention Center in Vicksburg, Miss., June 29. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Roger Ashley).

Lt. Gen. Jeffrey W. Talley (right), Chief of Army Reserve and Commanding General, U.S. Army Reserve Command, administers the oath of office to Brig. Gen. Tracy A. Thompson, Commanding General, 412th Theater Engineer Command. U.S. Army. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Roger Ashley)

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sub-standard performers early and the importance [and politics] of money in getting things done in a large command,” he said.

One of the lessons Thompson learned as a commander is the value of a good staff.

“It’s indescribable the difference a highly competent staff makes on your [commander’s] life,” said Thompson. “Versus when you have a staff that is green and doesn’t properly screen the items not meant for the commander’s decision and attention.”

Thompson feels all entities: the Army, corporate, non-profit or any other, are all about people. During his command at the 420th, Thompson made his first priority encouraging and helping key leaders.

“If you get the right people in the right

positions and treat them well, great things will

happen,” Thompson said.

His second priority was providing trained and ready units for mobilization.

“We averaged 10 to 12 percent of the brigade mobilized during my time in command. That’s about 400 to 450 [Soldiers] mobilized at any given time,” said Thompson. “Without exception, every unit successfully mobilized and completed its mission. We had a few leadership stumbles,

but the missions were resounding successes.”

Thompson is proud of the 420th’s mission successes down-range and the high promotion rates of noncommissioned officers and officers as well as the positive command climate.

“We have improved in nearly every category by which we are measured … which most often beat the Army average, particularly in our headquarters,” he said.

Thompson says one of his greatest strengths is his “fear of failure.”

“That always keeps me searching for and open to new ideas,” he said.

So for the 412th TEC, a two-star Army Reserve command headquartered here in Vicksburg, Miss., a new commander with new ideas takes the lead and it’s Thompson who is at the helm.

Sarah Thompson, Brig. Gen. Tracy A. Thompson’s daughter, places the two-star patch on her father during his ceremonial promotion to major general as his wife, Sheri, son, Jacob and Lt. Gen. Jeffrey W. Talley, Chief of U.S. Army Reserve and Command-ing General, U.S. Army Reserve Command, look on. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Roger Ashley)

Lt. Gen. Jeffrey W. Talley (right), Chief of Army Re-serve and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Reserve Command, encourages Sarah Thompson, Brig. Gen. Tracy A. Thompson’s daughter, to fling her father’s one-star patch away as he dons major general during his ceremonial promotion. Thomp-son will begin wearing his two stars on July 1 when his promotion orders take effect. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Roger Ashley)

U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers of the 412th Theater Engineer Command fire 75mm Howitzers for ceremonial presentation of the shell casings during a change of command ceremony at the Vicksburg Convention Center in Vicksburg, Miss., June 29. (Photo by Sgt. Devin Wood)

Commander Talks Priorities, Way Forward for the 412th TEC

In his first interview since taking command on 29 June, Major General Tracy A. Thompson spoke in length about priorities, soldier readiness, relevance and support to the ASCCs, lessons learned, role models and much more. A lawyer by profession, Maj. Gen. Thompson was interviewed for this piece during his travels to the Pacific for the Ulchi Freedom Guardian Exercise, where approximately 80 Soldiers from the Deployable Command Post and TEC-Main deployed to Korea, Japan and Hawaii to provide engineering expertise and logistical support functions to US Army Pacific, US Forces Korea and Eighth Army. – CPT Maryjane Falefa Porter, Public Affairs Officer, 412th TEC.

You have 13,000 Soldiers and subordinate units spread out in 20 states, available to accomplish a complexity of missions here at the home front and overseas. What priorities are being emphasized to your staff to ensure the job gets done?

MG Thompson: For one, we have to support our subordinate commands, to prepare them to fight and deploy as operational and functional commands. We also have to support the Army Service Component Commands to which we are aligned, namely U.S. Army Pacific, U.S. Army Europe and U.S. Army Africa. Thirdly, as a TEC headquarters, we have to train to deploy ourselves and to perform our essential tasks in the theater where we are deployed, including performing mission command over the units that are assigned to us and offering engineering expertise to the theater commander.

Where do you see this command three years from now?

MG Thompson: For it to be the best operational and functional command in USARC. And the way we determine that is by measuring how much we improve our readiness indicators – the metrics. They measure what gets us to the fight. Those metrics are what allow us to get out the door and to the fight, like medical readiness, dental readiness, duty qualification, and professional schooling. Evaluations count, too, because they lead to on-time promotions and Soldiers filling the right grades. At the breakout of the last war, we lost almost a third of our people because they were not medically ready. We thought we had these great teams built, and we started to mobilize them and realized large numbers of them had medical issues that couldn’t be fixed, or that couldn’t be fixed in time to deploy with their units. So from a readiness perspective, the goal is for the 412th TEC to be the best in the U.S. Army Reserve, which means we are trained to do our core missions better than our counterparts, and we are the most ready from all the other metrics standpoints – so that when mobilized, all those units mobilize just as they trained.

In 2009, the 412th TEC went from being an engineer command (ENCOM) to a ‘theater’ engineer command. How did that change the way of doing business for the unit?

MG Thompson: A few big things. First of all, the ENCOM didn’t have anything like the mission command structure we have today. Back then it was responsible for about 500-600 soldiers, much of it in the headquarters itself, and existed primarily in an engineering expertise role. In that design, it had a lot of seasoned engineer expertise within it. However, when it became a theater engineer command, the size of the headquarters was greatly reduced (along with its built- in engineer expertise), and it assumed mission command of almost 13,000 subordinate soldiers and their units. It also made the TEC very expeditionary – with the creation of two deployable command posts. It was created during Army Transformation, which means it also gave the TEC access to many sets of additional capabilities through a concept called “modularity.” So the job of the theater engineer didn’t change much, which is to provide engineer expertise and advice to the theater commander, but the ability of the TEC to provide mission command to the Engineer units in their theater,

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and to offer them engineer expertise from within our formation and through reach-back to resources at home or elsewhere, expanded greatly.

Through theater security cooperation, what does a Reserve force like the engineers bring to the table to support the combatant commanders in those regions?

In our peace time role, we have responsibility for three ASCCs – U.S. Army Pacific, U.S. Army Europe and U.S. Army Africa. Through theater security cooperation, combatant commands are trying to promote peace and stability by doing things like improving people’s access to basic necessities like clean water, shelter, education and medical care. As a Reserve force and with our unique capability and expertise, this is where we come in to support combatant commanders when they request our assistance. We can help design and build schools, roads and clinics, as a few examples. An example of how we might provide that support starts with a COCOM and its ASCC identifying that type of work as a priority. Then their staff looks at what resources they have to design and build (for example) a farm-to-market road. For any resource shortfalls, we try to fill that gap with Reserve Component Engineers.

Army Reserve Engagement Cells (AREC) or Army Reserve Engagement Team (ARET) is a fairly new concept. How will that benefit the 412th and the Army Reserve as whole?

MG Thompson: It should be a great benefit to the ASCCs and to the Army Reserve as a whole. In the past, there were often many different ways combatant command (COCOM) commanders might use Reserve units to fill the gap between their need and their internal capability. Lieutenant General Jeffrey Talley, Chief of Army Reserve and Commanding General, U.S. Army Reserve Command, created a Cell or Team at each Army Service Component Command (ASCC) within every COCOM, to be the one- stop-shop for accessing Reserve capability and expertise. The Pacific Theater is standing up the first full Cell, which will eventually have a brigadier general leading it, and which already has a full-time officer as our Engineer liaison, a great officer named CPT Gary Rabatin. So if an engineering need comes up, he will try to fill it. First he tries to find a solution close to home in the Pacific, because that’s the smartest, least expensive thing to do. The Army Reserve has the 9th MSC in Hawaii assigned to USARPAC, and it has organic Army Reserve units of all different types, including engineers. If the 9th MSC can’t fulfill the need, then they come to us. The Pacific is our area of responsibility as a theater engineer command. If we don’t have a capability or capacity, he will then go to the 416th TEC and then to the Army National Guard. The AREC is there to help plan fill those USARPAC gaps, and the other ARECs and ARETs at the other ASCCs have the same mission – the “one-stop-shop” for USAR capabilities access.It will make the process much more efficient than in years past.

The ARFORGEN five-year cycle requires units to continuously train and prepare for deployment, yet when mobilized they are held up at a Mob site for additional weeks, months before going out the door. Your thoughts on this process.

MG Thompson: From a risk perspective, we don’t think we can afford the time to continue with the old model of long periods of post-mobilization training, where something kicks off like Iraqi freedom and we notify unit to go the Mob station, train up for 45 days, hop on an airplane while your stuff is on a ship floating over there, and 60 days later you’re there. So much of our active fighting force depends on the Reserve Component, that we just don’t think we’ll have the luxury of that time frame for much of the force. So the question becomes how to shorten that time frame. First Army is working on several great concepts to shorten this process. Also, we have to work the concept from both the training and readiness end (getting our metrics in order) and eventually from a policy end to change some of the mobilization policies. In my opinion, the ideal end state would be that units have trained through a readiness cycle (similar to ARFORGEN), and they are well-manned and medically ready to a point where they might be able to mobilize and actually deploy on very short notice – perhaps even be mobilized while on a training mission in their available year if the need arose. Let’s say they’re

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a horizontal engineer unit on annual training in Guam building a runway, and some big event kicked off somewhere else in the Pacific theater. Think how much more quickly they could get to the fight if the ASCC commander could just designate that unit to mobilize because they are already there as a unit, with an equipment set, having met the health and deployability standards and that complete set (Soldiers & equipment) is already forward deployed. So let’s have them do some minimal additional training and get them up to where the combatant commander requires to them be and get them on a plane. And there you’ve already cut several weeks off of the old paradigm. It’s just a concept at this point.

What advantage do we bring to the fight as Army Reserve Soldiers?

MG Thompson: One of the advantages that we bring to the table as an Army Reserve is…as I often say, a colonel isn’t just a colonel. A colonel or master sergeant might have 25 years of service as an Army engineer, but as a civilian, they might have 25 years as a city planner or town utilities expert. And think of the expertise that those Soldiers can bring to bear, whether the TEC is deployed to assist in a disaster or a war. That master sergeant or colonel, when you combine their vast experience in uniform and as civilians, would be invaluable in adding to the theater commander’s ability to solve the difficult engineering problems that arise in disaster relief or war. That’s why I often say a colonel isn’t just a colonel in the Reserve or Guard, as often they are much more. Those are the kind of things that we bring to the table to support the theater commands, not just what we bring on a MTOE or in a paragraph or line number for the TEC.

Based on our experiences from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, what are some lessons learned to help shape the way forward for the command?

MG Thompson: One of the biggest problems we struggle with is simple individual readiness. Virtually all of these units have proved that they will eventually arrive in theater and do their mission extremely well. That’s a lesson we’ve all learned. We are good at our core missions in the Army Reserve. Where we continually struggle is getting to the fight. The thing that hurt us in OIF and OEF is getting there – getting the team that you’re training with to the fight – because commanders often make the same mistakes I did as a captain. As a captain, I thought “I’m a combat engineer and all this admin stuff can wait until I mobilize.” I thought if I just trained my team to fight and build bridges and live to fight another day, I had done my job. I was too naïve to realize this was totally wrong. Because if I had been mobilized, it’s likely that about one in every three would not have gone with me. That’s the average of how many fell out medically at the start of OIF. So I thought I had trained the perfect team, but what kind of a team is it if I left 1/3 of them at home? I left company command in 1994, so I did not have to learn that lesson the hard way. So build your team while keeping all your readiness requirements as high as you possibly can.

Overseas you’re aligned to support theaters of operation in the Pacific, Europe and Africa. In the U.S. you have subordinate units in 20 states, from Florida to New Hampshire, How do you stay visible, engaged given the vast footprint you’re working with?

MG Thompson: I’m nowhere near where I want to be. You have to prioritize. Regarding our own units, I haven’t had nearly enough time to visit as I would like. Since taking command, most of my time has been taken up by higher command requirements and Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG), but that will change. I will get to visit the first units in early September in West Virginia, when I will visit the 458th EN BN (411th EN BDE). Also, regarding ASCC support, I’ve only been to the Pacific during UFG so far. I’ve met with GEN Vincent Brooks, commanding general, U.S. Army Pacific, and LTG Bernard Champoux, commanding general, Eighth Army. I’ve also met with key staff for both those commanders,

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including their engineers. I’ve also spoken by phone with MG Mark McQueen, deputy commanding general for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, US Army Europe, but I’ve got to get out there and do the same thing I’ve done in the Pacific, which is to talk to the commanders and key leaders and get down to the engineers and find out what their needs are, tell them what we capabilities we have because they often don’t know, and to let them know that they are our customers and that we’re customer friendly.

You’re an attorney by profession in the civilian world. How does that play into your thought process, decision-making as a military commander?

MG Thompson: I would hope that it makes me deliberative but not slower in my decision making. I hope it makes me think through issues and problems in a thoughtful way. I think it helps me make decisions in a timely manner also, since there is always a deadline looming as a lawyer. It has also taught me there are two (or more) sides to every story, so don’t judge too quickly.

How can we make greater utilization of our Reserve units as an operational force?

MG Thompson: It’s a balancing act. ASCCs will have many requirements and we will have many demand signals, and we will have to synchronize the right units to fill these needs. In the ARFORGEN five-year cycle, for example, units in their third and fourth years (TR1 and TR2) have collective training requirements. TR1 is normally a WAREX or something like it and TR2 is CSTX or CTC. Those are the training events in the last two years before the available year designed to get the units in their highest states of readiness. For this discussion – TEC support to our customers - that leaves three other years. The available year, the year a unit can be used for a deployed mission, whether it’s Afghanistan or a Kuwait deployment or a contingency. Theoretically, theater security cooperation deployment is an option if there is funding. Those are examples of available year missions. Currently, most units are not utilized by a contingency in their “available” year, which makes them a good candidate for ASCC support. Reset is the next year, TR1 is next. Those are all in the pool of units that we can potentially use to satisfy these ASCC demand signals. However, there are demand signals from other places. USACE would like us to do certain troop construction portions on some of its missions. Army installations have construction missions with limited budgets, and those installations would like us to do troop construction for them. Examples include roads, buildings, rehabs for buildings, and other similar work. So we can’t put all of our units into the category of ASCC support, although ASCC support is in the top of our three main TEC missions, as I discussed above, so they will receive priority. It will be the G3’s job to work with the ARECs and ARETs, and with USACE and the installations to prioritize all these demand signals. For the ones we can’t fill, we will work with the 416th TEC to try and get their units to fill the requirements, and after that, with the National Guard. Whether we satisfy all those demand signals internally, or with our brothers and sisters in the 416th TEC and National Guard, our simple goal will be to meet all their Engineer needs. With respect to support from the 412th TEC, we hope to do that with units drawn mostly from those in the ARFORGEN years of Available, Reset and TR1.

Who are your role models?

MG Thompson: One of my big military role models is retired General and former Secretary of State Colin Powell. In my opinion, he may be our modern day Eisenhower. In the Gulf War, he was able to manage this huge mission, where he had these gigantic egos, and the politics that went in to it – first helping to build a large coalition of support and getting them to work together, keeping our own services working together through the planning and the attack, then managing all those forces and egos when we had to quit after 96 hours. He was able to deftly juggle these different forces and still accomplish that mission, keeping everybody reasonably happy. He’s very Eisenhower-esque. I thought he was just a magician at it and always kept his cool, at least in public. I have nothing but deep admiration for him. More recently, Major General David Conboy, who was a really a good mentor for me as a general officer, because although I felt I had learned a lot and knew my way around, every time he pushed you, you came away having learned something. And I couldn’t say that for many people I had worked for. And he’s the guy who lives the Army values, not only talks the talk but walks it as well.

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What are your expectations of your staff and the 13,000 Soldiers under your command?

MG Thompson: I really want to build a culture of excellence. With that said, professionalism as our watch word is what I expect from everyone, because it’s universal no matter what your job or rank is. It means different things in each rank, so of course I wouldn’t expect the same knowledge base, briefing abilities, or the ability to dive into a mission and produce a product from a specialist as I would a master sergeant, or from a lieutenant as I would a major. But I would expect the same dedication and drive going after a mission at each level and the same desire to produce a great result at each level. Professionalism isn’t asking anyone to do

something that’s beyond their ability, doesn’t mean working an 18-hour day, and doesn’t mean something superhuman. It just means knowing your job well and doing it with skill and honor and dignity, and conducting yourself with those things in mind – on the job and off duty. So when we talk about things like sexual harassment, things that should be a given – professionals do not act that way. Show up and do a really good job, get to know your job and execute it skillfully. Honor the job and the uniform and those who serve with you by treating others the way you would want to be treated, and the way you would want your daughter or son to be treated. That shouldn’t be too hard for anyone to do.

Physical fitness continues to be a struggle for many in the military. What keeps fitness as priority on your plate?

MG Thompson: Our greatest struggle with fitness is that in the U.S. we’re surrounded by people who don’t want to make an effort to stay fit because it’s hard. And they don’t want to eat right because our portions are too big, and there’s too much fat, salt and sugar in our diet, all of those things which I love, by the way. And so I don’t have very good will power to not eat more than I should, just like most of America.So I always counter that by exercising. I’m not a great fan of exercise, but I exercise so that I don’t get fat, so I can do activities with my family (now and in the future), pass the APFT and set a good example for my soldiers. It goes back to professionalism. In the short term, a Soldier should ask themselves how professional do they want to be – to make rank, to set the example, to meet and exceed the standard – because part of being professional is looking like a fit soldier. More importantly, in the long term, everyone should ask themselves how badly they want to run on the beach with their grandchildren and enjoy life into their old age. Soldiers should think about the cumulative effect of being overweight and unfit.

What keeps you awake at night?

MG Thompson: Overall, young commanders out there make the same mistakes I made as a company commander, where I dismissed what we now call the metrics as an administrative hassle when it really is the key what opens the door for you to mobilize as you trained. As I said earlier, you can train your unit to be the best road builders, firefighters, bridge builders, or whatever their core mission is, but if you lose a third of them before you get to the war, you’ve really missed the mark. This is not the 20th century anymore, this is the 21st century. The good news is that there is a magic solution for how you can do both these things – train hard on your core mission and complete all the readiness requirements: The solution is our First Line Leaders. Until they buy into that, until the light bulb goes on, it’ll be a struggle. But once a few of them start using the 21st Century version of a “job book” – it can be an app on a smart phone or a few sheets in a notebook – other leaders will see how effective it is, and they will start using it, too. I guarantee it.

You had a chance to meet and discuss pertinent issues with GEN Brooks, LTG Champoux, BG Kim and others in your travels to Korea and Hawaii during UFG. What was the biggest take away for you?

MG Thompson: The degree to which they consider the Army Reserve integral to the fight and how they’ve essentially embraced that. They all have concerns about important things like how quickly we can get there, how we might be able to get more there more quickly, which are great questions and for me to help answer. But I think it’s in great contrast to where we would’ve been before the era of OIF and OEF, where I think you might have found a much cooler reception to those ideas of reserve components playing this integral and deeper role in the fight. The bottom line is they just couldn’t perform these missions without the reserve components, all the reserve components.

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What are you biggest pet peeves?

MG Thompson: When someone doesn’t have the courage to counsel someone who is not meeting the requirements – not meeting the standard. I understand it, because it’s the hardest thing in human nature. Most of us in the Army are decent people, and that’s why we’re so bad at doing negative counseling. Because it’s hard to look someone in the eye and say “you don’t meet the standard. I ask for A and you hand me B, C and D. Sometimes no one has ever told you you’re bad because no one has had the courage to do it, and you really are not very good. And that’s just the bottom line.” Think about how hard that is to do, and – luckily – how rarely we practice it. But we need to do it when it’s necessary, even though the person on the other end will be defensive at first and may even file a complaint against us. Another big one is unprofessionalism. Take for instance sexual harassment. We’re supposed to be about professionalism and being professionals, and where does that type of behavior enter into the equation anywhere. Even the lighter stuff, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen an investigation where some senior person, their excuse is I was just telling a joke, I was just repeating a joke, or I was just forwarding a joke that had been sent to me by a friend. And I thought to myself, where is your sense of being a pro, because that is not professional for us to do that, not ever, not in your setting as a uniformed Soldier.

14 October 2014

The Castle 15

16 October 2014

Reprinted from Engineer, May-August 2014.

The Castle 17

ALWAYS

TEXTING

WEARING

h t t p s : / / s a f e t y . a r m y . m i l

VICKSBURG, Miss. – As the 401st Chemical Company out of Boston prepared to deploy, they shone as a top unit in their field.

The unit, currently deployed to Kuwait, was awarded the 2014 Major General William L. Sibert Award in the Reserve category, recently at the 2014 Chemical Corps Regimental Ball in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

“It feels great to win this award. This is the first time in unit history to receive this award,” said Capt. Aaron J. Salter, commander of the 401st Chemical Company, in an email. “The Soldiers put in a tremendous amount of time

and effort to complete all of the required (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) training prior to the mobilization.”

The Sibert Award is an annual acknowledgment of the best chemical units in the Army.

The competition is broken down into active duty, Reserve and National Guard categories. Its objectives are to recognize excellence in the U.S. Army Chemical Corps and to instill pride and reinforce mission readiness, leadership, discipline and organizational excellence.

Earning this achievement took a lot of commitment from the Soldiers in the unit.

“Some of the Soldiers have been actively engaged and away from their families and civilian jobs since October 2013,” said Salter.

But that drive is what, according to Salter, set the unit apart.

“The hard work, dedication, and sacrifice of the Soldiers, family, and friends of the 401st Chemical Company is a true testament to the Army Reserve and its mission by ‘enabling the Army to do more with fewer resources, by

providing a flexible, well-trained, complementary force that can expand and contract to meet the specific needs and challenges of each new mission,’” said Salter.

Commitment from the unit members wasn’t the only reason for their success, according to Salter. They also had other support to make sure they were successful.

“The unit had the support of (U.S. Army Central); 1st Army; the 371st Chemical Company; leadership from the 412th Theater Engineer Command to include the 302nd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade and the 479th Chemical Battalion; Fort Leonard Wood; and the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense to find the funding, equipment, and training resources to meet the requirements of the mission,” said Salter.

To earn the award, the 401st was evaluated on individual training, collective training, maintenance and inspections, organizational excellence and a narrative summary from the commander.

In individual training, the unit was evaluated on all 15 Army Warrior Tasks and averaged a

401st Chemical Company Wins Sibert Award as

Best Army Reserve Chemical Unit

By Staff Sgt. Debralee Best

Soldiers of the 401st Chemical Company, while deployed to Kuwait, received word of the unit winning the Sibert Award 2014 in the Army Reserve category.

Soldiers of the 401st Chemical Company, 479th Chemical Battalion, 302d Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, attaches the unit’s newest streamer for its recognition through the Sibert Award 2014 as the Best Chemical Company in the Army Reserve.

18 October 2014

first time pass of 99.4 percent. Additionally, they were the first Army Reserve unit to complete two months of training on the M1135 Nuclear, Biological, Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle with 25 Soldiers earning an additional skill identifier to operate the vehicle. They also certified more than 100 Soldiers as hazardous materials technicians.

In collective training, the unit was able to evaluate all their mission essential task list tasks as trained. These tasks evaluate a unit’s specific skill set, as well as combat skills, to assess if a unit is prepared for deployment.

The unit stood out in the maintenance category by sustaining more than 99 percent of their equipment as mission capable for the past year.

In organizational excellence the unit’s Soldiers earned six Army Achievement Medals, eight coins of excellence, eight Physical Fitness Excellence Badges and a certificate of achievement.

Additionally, the unit routinely conducts joint exercises with other units in Kuwait. They have also initiated a partnership with the Chemical Defense Unit, Kuwait National Guard and have conducted two leader engagements.

This achievement means a lot to the 401st and shows their dedication.

“This award allows the 401st Chemical Company to be recognized by the rest of the CBRN and Army Reserve community,” said Salter. “It also

immortalizes the hard work and dedication this unit has shown to towards this deployment and the Army.”

Soldiers in the unit agree hard work was key to accomplishing this.

“When you speak of the unit as a whole, you have to take in to account all the long days, late night, planning, trials, failures and accomplishments and coming together as a team to accomplish an end state,” Staff Sgt. Shafeek Karamat, 401st CBRN Reconnaissance noncommissioned officer and 2014 CBRN NCO of the Year said in an email. “The Sibert Award embodies the overall hard work and dedication each Soldier demonstrates to the unit and the imprint they wish to leave in their Army career and their legacy.”

There is no higher level to compete at, but Salter wishes there was because, “We would win that award as well.”

Soldier proudly shows off the unit’s streamer as the best chemical company in the Army Reserve this year.

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20 October 2014

Engineers Compose Bridge Across Arkansas River

U.S. Army Reserve engineers with the 416th and 412th Theater Engineer Commands standby as fellow engineers continue to work on the improved ribbon as part of Operation River Assault 2014 at Fort Chaffee, Ark., July 23, 2014. The annual training exercise focuses on collective and mission-essential training involving multiple nations and branches. The mission, to erect an improved ribbon bridge across the 300 meter expanse of the Arkansas River, required 42 segments and took 3 hours to complete. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Rigo Cisneros)

FORT CHAFFEE, Ark. – The 412th and 416th Theater Engineer Commands alongside aviation and army diving assets combined forces to meet the challenges of crossing the Arkansas River at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, July 23.

Operation River Assault is an exercise executed with coordination, communication and precision. The building of an improved ribbon bridge is similar to a composer assembling conductors and musicians with instruments to create a masterpiece.

“This exercise is the primary engineer exercise of the Reserve component where we actually give our units an opportunity to practice building an improved ribbon bridge over a river which will enable the movement of Army assets across it,” said Col. Kirk Claunch, 420th Engineer Brigade commander, and a Fort Worth, Texas, resident. “Detailed coordination of this

U.S. Army Reserve engineers with the 416th and 412th Theater Engineer Commands maneuver a bridge bay segment into place with a bridge erection boat as part of Operation River Assault 2014 at Fort Chaffee, Ark., July 23, 2014. The annual training exercise focuses on collective and mission-essential training involving multiple nations and branches. The mission, to erect an improved ribbon bridge across the 300 meter expanse of the Arkansas River, required 42 segments and took 3 hours to complete. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Rigo Cisneros)By Staff Sgt. Peter Ford

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River Assault is actually done by the crossing force commander who ensures the bridge companies and aviation assets coordinate in ways necessary to get the number of bays and boats into the water at the right time.”

In the early morning hours, Soldiers staged their equipment and stood ready to engage in the task like musicians of a symphony who anxiously wait for the signal from the conductor to start playing so their music can be heard. At the break of dawn, the crossing force commander gave the order to the commanders to begin building the improved ribbon bridge.

“There is a huge component of leadership and I can’t directly conduct a bridge boat or a bridge bay to go in a certain location at a certain time but I can lead leaders or company commanders,” said Lt. Col. David R. Skavnak, 397th Eng. Battalion commander and the crossing force commander of Operation River Assault. “Most of the orchestration is between the companies and company commanders.”

After receiving the order from the crossing commander to build the improved ribbon bridge, the company commanders lead their units, moving equipment with precision. Bridge erection boats dropped into the water from the shore followed by bridge bays from land and air with no breaks between the insertions of the equipment. The motivation of the engineer units was much like the emotion and passion of musicians in a symphony giving the audience a performance. The engineers exceed the standards of the river crossing increasing their esprit de corp with a memorable performance.

“Our unit erected 11 bays in 22 minutes and 39 seconds; exceeding the Army standards of six bays in 20 minutes,” said Staff Sgt. Charles Elliott, a multi-role bridge engineer with 401st Engineer Company, out of Mustang, Oklahoma. “The more we train, the better we get.”

The 412th and the 416th Theater Engineer Command’s engineer Soldiers assembled the bridge to cross the Arkansas River in a little more than three hours.

FORT CHAFFEE, Ark. - A CH-47 Chinook helicopter drops a bridge bay during the assembly of the improvised ribbon bridge across the Arkansas River as distinguished visitors look on, July 23 at Fort Chaffee, Ark., during Operation River Assault. Forty-two bays were used to construct the bridge across a 300-meter gap. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Debralee Best)

FORT CHAFFEE, Ark. - Bridge erection boat crews await CH-47 Chinook helicopters to drop bridge bays into the Arkansas River for the assembly of the improvised ribbon bridges across the Arkansas River at Fort Chaffee, Ark., July 23. The bridge was contructed as the culmination of Operation River Assault - an annual training exercise focusing on col-lective and mission-essential training. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Debralee Best)

U.S. Army Reserve engineers with the 416th and 412th Theater Engineer Commands maneuver a bridge bay segment into place with a bridge erection boat as part of Opera-tion River Assault 2014 at Fort Chaffee, Ark., July 23, 2014. The annual training exercise focuses on collective and mission-essential training involving multiple nations and branches. The mission, to erect an improved ribbon bridge across the 300 meter expanse of the Arkansas River, required 42 segments and took 3 hours to complete. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Rigo Cisneros)

October 201422

VICKSBURG, Miss. – Soldiers should train for any contingency and be trained and ready to support their missions. One way to ensure this is with annual training exercises based on these contingencies. An exercise that does this is Ulchi Freedom Guardian, an annual defense-oriented exercise held in August and designed to enhance readiness, protect the region and maintain stability on the Korean Peninsula.

During this year’s UFG, approximately 80 Army Reserve Soldiers form the 412th Theater Engineer Command headquarters and its Deployable Command Post deployed to Korea, Japan and Hawaii to provide engineering expertise in support of mission requirements for Eighth Army, U.S. Forces Korea and U.S. Army Pacific.

The exercise had a variety of participants, but the 412th TEC is unique with its mission as a command post, focusing on possible scenarios.

“We trained on mission command, mission planning and execution, and current operations,” said Col. Matthew Russo, Chief of Operations, 412th Theater Engineer Command.

These are important tasks to ensure in any contingency the staff and DCP can support the Eighth Army’s mission “to deter North Korean aggression against the Republic of Korea. Should deterrence fail, 8th Army leads non-combatant evacuation operations and generates combat power for decisive operations in the Korea Theater of Operations. On order, 8th Army forms a Combined Joint Task Force and conducts Unified Land Operations.”

“As troops flow into the country they’ll need extra staff to manage those troops to make sure they’re in the right place at the right time to support the combatant commanders,” said Sgt. Maj. Terry New, chief engineer noncommissioned officer, DCP 2.

Deployable Command Post Trains for Real-world Contingency at UFG By Staff Sgt. Debralee Best

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This is where the 412th TEC comes into play, providing that extra staff. The 412th participates in the exercise to maintain their skill in that management.

“The 412th Theater Engineer Command has a real-world mission to support the Korean Theater of Operations. We provide direct support to Eighth Army so it’s important that on a regular basis we have a presence out there, and that we train and we understand our real-world mission in order to maintain our capability to be able to accomplish it,” said Russo, a Greensboro, North Carolina, native.

Maintaining this capability is important and participating in this training allows the DCP to adjust their personnel to improve their success.

“That’s what we do, we go over there and support Eighth Army, but it also trains us for any real-world contingency,” said New, a Mena, Arkansas, native. “It teaches us that we have the capabilities of working as a team, we learn people’s strong points and weaknesses so we can adjust to put the best person in the best slot.”

This training not only allows better personnel management, but also improves Soldier skills.

“Training, regardless of whether it’s an individual training exercise or it’s a collective training exercise, the troops always benefit from it, any quality training

will benefit the troops,” said New. “It makes them better Soldiers, more proficient in their assigned duties and tasks.”

On top of Soldier skills and personnel, this exercise also improves teamwork.

“Training always benefits the unit. It prepares us to work as a team

regardless of what [Unified Combatant Command] we go to. We get more

training to work together as a staff in case we’re ever called up to do it in a

real-world situation,” said Sgt. Maj. Terry New.

The 412th improved their operations through this exercise, but Russo felt the limits of the exercise didn’t allow the unit to truly show their capabilities.

“While we do a good job integrating with Eighth Army there is certainly room for improvement,” he said. “In terms of engineer planning and engineer expertise there is more the 412th Theater Engineer Command can offer the Eighth Army. I think we can go beyond the confines of the exercise.”

While Russo felt the 412th TEC was limited, he also said the 412th Soldiers showed how important the engineer assets are to the mission.

“I’d say it went well,” said Russo. “I’d say the 412th

Theater Engineer Command did a very good job of demonstrating our value as engineers to 8th Army.”

The 412th TEC and DCP continue to train to be ready for any contingency they may encounter.

Seven U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers, nine Macedonia soldiers and two Macedonia contractors went back to kindergarten Aug. 4-26.

The 412th Engineer Company, out of Scranton, Pennsylvania, under the 365th Engineer Battalion, 411th Engineer Brigade, 412th Theater Engineer Command, worked alongside Macedonia Soldiers and contractors to renovate the doors and windows of the kindergarten Femo Kulakov in Negotino, Macedonia.

“It’s been a pleasurable experience with our part-nership with the Soldier’s of the Army of Republic of Macedonia to include civilian contractors,” said Mas-ter Sgt. Darryl Cheatham, project noncommissioned officer in charge, 412th TEC, in an email.

“This humanitarian civic assistance mission is a great example of how two countries and military are jointly advancing the capabilities of engineers.”

The 412th TEC, headquartered in Vicksburg, Mississippi, coordinated this humanitarian civil assistance operation for the U.S. Army European Command. In Macedonia, the Army of the Republic of Macedonia and the Office of Defense Cooperation at the U.S. Embassy Skopje were instrumental in ensuring the project was a success.

The team of U.S. and Macedonian Soldiers were provided materials and on-the-job training on the proper installation of 120 frames, 250 window panes and 14 doors from two Macedonian contractors. The Soldiers also painted and sealed the windows and fascia and installed security bars over select windows.

“Working with the Macedonians has reshaped a common understanding that no matter who we are, working together as a team to overcome challenges for a common goal can bring out the best in us all,” said

U.S. Army Reserve, Macedonia Soldiers

Improve Kindergarten By Staff Sgt. Debralee Best

U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers with the 412th Engineer Company, out of Scranton, Pa., work alongside Macedonia Soldiers and contractors to renovate the doors and windows of the kindergarten Femo Kulakov in Negotino, Macedonia, Aug. 4-26. (U.S. Army photo by Master Sgt. Darryl Cheatham)

24 October 2014

Macedonian Lance Cpl. Pepi Gorgiev, army of the Republic of Macedonia, installs a frame while working with U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers with the 412th Engineer Company, based Scranton, Pa., to renovate the doors and windows of the kindergarten Femo Kulakov in Negotino, Macedonia, Aug. 4-26. (U.S. Army photo by Master Sgt. Darryl Cheatham)

25 October 2014

Lt. Col. James M. Lewis, assistant planner, 412th TEC, from Hayward, Wisconsin, in an email.

The Soldiers accomplished their goal and the renovations of the kindergarten were complete. But, the renovations were only part of the experience.

“I have not only earned a greater view of my job, but I have also earned a greater global view,” said Spc. David Mannheimer, in an email.

Some Soldiers also took away a connection with their Macedonian coworkers.

“I developed new relationships with Macedonian soldiers and civilians that will last a lifetime,” said Spc. Jeffrey Grimes, another 412th Soldier in an email.

The Soldiers who worked on the project enjoyed it and are hoping for another chance to hone their skills and create more international bonds.

“Soldiers from the 412th TEC were very excited at this opportunity, and look forward to future engagements,” said Cheatham.

Macedonia Lance Cpl. Amed Kalajdziev, U.S. Army Reserve Spc. Philip Mack, and Ifran Ceka, Macedonian contractor, unload materials for a school improve-ment project. (U.S. Army photo by Master Sgt. Darryl Cheatham)

26 October 2014

Army Engineers Take Another Step Toward Unity with Second ENTAPE ConferenceBy Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret

DARIEN, Ill. – Duct tape is a wonderful invention. It’s strong. It’s durable. It holds things together.

That’s what the Army Engineer community hopes to achieve with ENTAPE: To hold together a very complex engineer community as a unified front.

ENTAPE is actually not tape at all, but hopefully its ideas are sticky enough to motivate leaders to carry out the plans.

The acronym stands for Engineer Total Army Planning Exercise, the second one of its kind. It’s a three-day conference that brought engineer leaders from across the Army community – Reserve, National Guard and active component – to figure out ways to work together and overcome common challenges.

The conference was hosted in Darien, Illinois, from June 19-21, by the 416th Theater Engineer Command (TEC), which is an Army Reserve command.

“It’s great that we have our partners here from different organizations,” said Maj. Gen. David Conboy, commanding general of the 416th TEC.

“It’s important that we’re working together as a team to accomplish our nation’s mission. … We can’t accomplish that vision, the tough solutions for our nation, without

working together. Certainly our nation has lots of tough challenges,”

Maj. Gen. Conboy said.

The bulk of the officers who attended were colonels, but ranks varied from captain to major general, plus their indispensable right hands: senior noncommissioned officers.

So. Great. Army leaders hosted another planning conference, but how is this newsworthy?

Maj. Gen. David Conboy, commanding general of the 416th Theater Engineer Command (TEC), gives his opening remarks during the Engineer Total Army Planning Exercise (ENTAPE) hosted by the 416th TEC in Darien, Ill., from June 19-21. ENTAPE is a conference organized to find solutions to integrate the engineer community from the National Guard, Army Reserve and active component for training and global missions. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret)

Brig. Gen. Miyako Schanely, deputy commanding general of the 412th Theater Engineer Command, listens to a presentation during the Engineer Total Army Planning Exercise (ENTAPE) hosted by the 416th Theater Engineer Command in Darien, Ill., from June 19-21. ENTAPE is a conference organized to find solutions to integrate the engineer community from the National Guard, Army Reserve and active component for training and global missions. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret)

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The entire global community will be affected by the ideas shaped during this conference, because Army engineers are everywhere.

“I think what’s very unique about the engineer community is … engineers always leave something better than (how) they found it, and that’s really the case here because what we’re

doing is nothing less than building our legacy,”

said Col. Adam Roth, chief of staff of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,

living in Crystal City, Virginia.

The Army Reserve has roughly 23,000 engineers across the states and the National Guard has 38,500. The number of active duty engineers is harder to pinpoint due to ongoing and aggressive cuts. However, it is estimated that the combined reserves own more than 80 percent of all engineers.

They’re not just building “stuff” at military training sites, but doing construction projects in Africa,

humanitarian missions in Central and South America, building waterways in the Middle East, and the list goes on and on.

“That’s some pretty amazing stuff that we’re doing,” said Roth.

For years, they’ve been executing projects that improve the lives of their global neighbors. But here is where it gets complicated, because the Army is a very complex institution.

Throughout the world, the Army has various commands in charge of large geographical areas. These are known as Army Service Components Commands (ASCC), not to be confused with college football conferences with similar acronyms.

ASCCs work with international governments and their militaries on different missions. In order to accomplish those missions, they request support from troop units to do the work. To get the work done, it’s not as simple as tagging a Reserve company from North Dakota, a National Guard battalion from Texas and an active brigade from Washington to work on a project.

There are chains of commands and structures involved. The challenge is that the chain of command in the Reserve is different from the Guard, which is different from the active component. Even though they are all Army, each component has a different culture. So the goal is to figure out how to get units from across the force to work together as a single entity.

Additionally, the ASCCs are not the only party involved with engineering missions. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employs 36,000 civilian and military engineers for projects throughout the U.S. on public and government lands. Sometimes they handle international missions, which causes overlap with ASCC. Then there’s IMCOM, which stands for Installation Management Command. IMCOM handles construction projects for military installations and bases.

None of these report directly to one another.

So when all three organizations need support on a combined mission, who is in charge of whom?

Col. Adam Roth, chief of staff of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, living in Crystal City, Va., gives a presentation on construction projects during the Engineer Total Army Planning Exercise (ENTAPE) hosted by the 416th Theater Engineer Command in Darien, Ill., from June 19-21. ENTAPE is a confer-ence organized to find solutions to integrate the engineer community from the National Guard, Army Reserve and active component for training and global missions. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret)

28 October 2014

That’s hard enough to answer, but wait, it gets more complex.

Aside from ASCC requests, the Army Reserve and the National Guard engineers already have partnerships with international countries. Except, their alignments differ from one another.

For instance, in the National Guard, each state partners with one (sometimes two) specific country under the State Partnership Program. Maryland, for instance, partners with both Estonia and Bosnia. These partnerships revolve around humanitarian aid, civil assistance and building infrastructure.

The Army Reserve does its partnership differently. It matches its major commands to various ASCCs. So the 416th TEC handles North America, South America and the Middle East, while the 412th TEC partners with Europe, Africa, Asia and the Pacific countries.

So here’s the challenge: While the 416th TEC has units in Ohio, and it could decide to send them to the Dominican Republic, the Ohio National Guard actually partners with Hungary and Serbia, on the opposite hemisphere.

Not only is that confusing for the average person to follow, but it’s just as complex for the Army to manage its global missions. On top of that, engineers don’t have the authority to reinvent the wheel. They must work within the same Army structures already in place.

For this very reason, ENTAPE hopes to establish a few solutions.

The primary solution is making sure all three components train together during major exercises. The second is to integrate their efforts in real-world missions around the globe.

“We’ll look at troop construction. We’ll look at regionally aligned forces. We’ll look at exercise and look at training and validation. (We need) people that will be the champions for that cause,” said Roth.

Warning: More Army acronyms ahead.

The ENTAPE leaders will draft a Training Integration Working Group (TIWG). The TIWG will be an umbrella organization that coordinates engineer

efforts. Whether that’s construction, training or whatever, TIWG will oversee the entire engineering landscape. The group must be able to understand the infrastructure across all components and identify missions or projects that could integrate their efforts. They will also shape the training of engineer units.

Another step to achieve integration is to partner brigades with one another across components. That means an active duty engineer brigade will be paired with a National Guard and Reserve one. The challenge is that the National Guard and Reserve have more brigades in the U.S. than the active component does. While there are three active engineer brigades in the continental U.S. (plus one in Germany and one in Hawaii), there are four in the Reserve and seven in the National Guard. These brigades are not always next to each other. One partnership between three brigades links an active duty unit in Washington state to a Reserve one in Minnesota and a National Guard one in Missouri. Plus, while a National Guard brigade keeps all of its units within the same state, the Reserve does not. A brigade in Texas could have units in Colorado, Arizona and others.

Lt. Col. Scott Sendmeyer, director for U.S. Army Africa Command, conveys his command’s mission purposes and needs during the Engineer Total Army Planning Exercise (ENTAPE) hosted by the 416th Theater Engineer Command in Darien, Ill., from June 19-21. ENTAPE is a conference organized to find solutions to integrate the engineer community from the National Guard, Army Reserve and active component for training and global missions. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret)

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To throw in another wrench into the mix, paired units might not follow the same training cycle. That means they might have different or even conflicting priorities form one year to the next. The goal will be to synchronize and level out the training field.

Already there has been improvement since the engineers met last year at the first ENTAPE. For one, a total of 80 leaders met this time around, including more involved parties to the discussion. Additionally, the first ENTAPE was geared more to theory and strategy, while this one expect to produce actual plans.

“We’ve convened a much broader audience than last year,” said Brig. Gen. Miyako Schanely, deputy commanding general of the 412th TEC, headquartered in Vicksburg, Mississippi. “We’ve been able to bring in more people together to try to prioritize and synchronize the efforts of the whole engineer regiment.”

This includes the total force in ways that enhance the training of all the different components, Soldiers and units while also achieving the nation’s priorities around the world, she said.

“I think this is going to be huge,” said Schanely.

As the conference concluded, Conboy stressed the importance of continued engagement among the participants after they return to their commands to keep building on the progress ENTAPE achieved.

None of those plans will be worked out overnight, and it might take one or two more conferences to resolve all the current issues. The problems the engineers face are not neat and tidy and mathematically simple to equate.

But that’s what engineers are for:

“That’s what we tend to do as a regiment, because quite frankly, as engineers, we solve things.

That’s what we like doing,” said Roth.

Col. Jeff Peterson, senior National Guard advisor to the the Chief of Engineers, gives his remarks during the Engineer Total Army Planning Exercise (ENTAPE) hosted by the 416th Theater Engineer Command in Darien, Ill., from June 19-21. ENTAPE is a conference organized to find solutions to integrate the engineer community from the National Guard, Army Reserve and active component for training and global missions. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret)

30 October 2014

The 391st Engineer Battalion, out of Greenville, South Carolina, and the 926th Engineer Battalion, out of Birmingham, Alabama, both under the 926th Engineer Brigade, 412th Theater Engineer Command, facilitated training for nearly 300 Army Reserve Soldiers on Army Warrior Tasks and Troop Leading Procedures during Operation Iron Castle Ready Warrior 2014, Aug. 3-16 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

“What we termed it as was back-to-the-basics,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Michael T. Boyd, senior enlisted leader, 391st Engineer Battalion. “It was kind of a back-to-the basics focus for the Soldiers on individual warrior tasks and battle drills.”

The event trained multiple company-sized elements from the 926th Engineer Brigade, according to Lt. Col. Steven D. Hayden, com-mander, 391st Engineer Battalion.

“It was diverse in company make-up and I think ultimately everybody pulled together and went around to provide some great training for Soldiers,” said Hayden, an Atlanta resident. “We had over 80 trainers in the event and almost 300 participating, so we’re pretty excited overall and think it was a success. I think motivation of the Soldiers walking away was very high.”

Brig. Gen. Lewis Irwin, commanding general, 926th Engineer Brigade, envisioned and

laid out his thought of training on warrior tasks and battle drills, according to Command Sgt. Maj. Michael T. Boyd, senior enlisted leader, 391st Engineer Battalion.

While the vision was Irwin’s, the execution and selection of tasks was left up to the 391st Engineer Battalion.

“We went out and took a look at Fort Jackson and what it had to offer, just taking into consid-eration we are going back to the basics,” said Boyd, a Bryan, Texas, resident. “This is something that should be done during a normal battle assembly. However, at a normal battle assembly, you don’t always have the training aids and the training facilities you need to conduct a realistic training event: For example, a true land navigation course, a shoot house to where you can fight and clear a room, an area that’s wooden to go out and cre-ate your hasty fighting positions. Basically we took all those into consideration into what we thought would be important to the Soldiers: Survivability on the battlefield as an individual. That’s how we se-lected the warrior tasks and battle drills we wanted to train on.”

The individual and team-level training included resilience, leadership training and development, a fitness challenge, shooting tasks, movement, communication and survival.

In resiliency training, Soldiers were given classroom

instruction on three topics: Sexual harassment and assault response and prevention, nutrition and resiliency. These focused on the impact of sexual assault on the Soldier, team and community, the American Plate for planning and improving their nutritional lifestyle and Master Resiliency Training to help them bounce back from challenges they face in life.

Leadership training looked at troop leading procedures, which Soldiers were evaluated on at each task. To evaluate this, instructors issued verbal or written operations orders and observed the squad leaders’ reactions and performance.

The Leadership Reaction Course evaluated performance of missions through obstacles. Another obstacle event was the Warrior Fitness Challenge, a timed event of Physical Readiness Training exercises.

The Soldiers also participated in marksmanship fundamentals and qualification on the M16A2 and M4 rifles as part of their shoot tasks. After ensuring they were proficient in the fundamentals, the Soldiers participated in a scenario-driven “shoot or don’t shoot” mission. They also expanded their shoot tasks by entering and clearing rooms in four-man squads.

In their movement task, Soldier conducted dismounted movements including moving dismounted, movement under fire and move-ment as a team and squad. Another

Ready Warrior Prepares Soldiers for Future OperationsBy Staff Sgt. Debralee Best

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portion of this training was land navigation in which Soldiers honed their map reading and navigated through wooded terrain using a map, compass and protractor.

The task of communicating was evaluated through the setup and use of a secure-network radio. They also trained in first aid as part of survival.

Conducting this training was important because for most of these Soldiers, the facilities needed are not available during a normal training weekend.

“We take it for granted that training at company level is being done to the proper standard and what we learned from this event is we are conducting training at company level, but not quite to the task, condition and standards we should be,” said Boyd. “A lot of it based again on the troop facilities

not being available at the local Reserve centers.”

The event was also essential for increasing awareness of the Soldiers for future missions.

“The more knowledgeable your individual Soldiers are in their warrior tasks and skills, the more prepared your Soldiers are for future deployments,” said Boyd.

Boyd also hopes this training will be passed on by the Soldiers who participated in the event.

“What I hope they took away is they became more proficient in their individual warrior tasks and battle drills, but also that they gained confidence in the map read-ing. I hope it was a team-building experience for them,” said Boyd. “I hope what they took away was the troop leader process for rely-ing on their Soldiers and having a successful mission and being able

to take that back to the unit and implement tasks, conditions and standards and troop leading proce-dures at the unit level.”

The future of this event is uncertain and is being evaluated for the possibility of becoming an annual training event. But that doesn’t stop Boyd from seeing its potential in establishing groundwork for units in the reset year of the Army Force Generation cycle, a five-year training cycle to prepare units for mobilization and possible deployment.

“I think it was a really good exercise, and I think, as the future of the Army evolves with reduction in fund, this is something that is not a great cost and can be done at a local training facility or Army installation nearby,” said Boyd. “I think it’s something the units in their reset years could consider doing as part of their training.”

U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers from companies under the 926th Engineer Brigade participate in Operation Iron Castle Ready Warrior 2014, Aug. 3-16 at Fort Jackson, S.C. The 391st and 926th Engineer Battalions facilitated the training of more than 275 Soldiers on Army Warrior Tasks focusing on troop leading procedures, during the exercise. (Courtesy photos)

32 October 2014

Our Northern Cousins: U.S., Canadian Reserve Engineers Train Together By Staff Sgt. Debralee Best

FORT CHAFFEE, Ark. – Eighteen Reserve members of the Canadian Armed Forces, Royal Canadian engineers imbedded with the U.S. Army Reserve’s 412th and 416th Theater Engineer Command engineer units for Operation River Assault at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, July 14 to 26.

“Our mission here is to observe how you guys train, as in the U.S. combat engineers,” said Canadian Cpl. Unyun Ni, 41 Canadian Engineer Regiment, out of Edmonton, Alberta.

“Training will mainly focus on how you build bridges, demolition and get a little bit of weapon handling time in there as well.”

The Canadians said they were well received by the U.S. Soldiers they are working alongside.

“(The Canadian Soldiers) have been welcomed by the American forces here,” said Canadian Maj. Steven Boychyn, commander of the Canadian contingent, with the 32 CER, and a Toronto resident. “We’ve integrated our corporals, sergeants; all levels have been fully integrated.”

The Canadian Reserve decided to send forces from all across the country due to availability and other training commitments.

“We are all volunteers who came here on this exercise,” said Boychyn. “I think a lot of us recognized the opportunity with the scope and scale of this exercise.”

The Canadians were mixed into units just like any other Soldier.

“Right now one of my sergeants is leading the recon team for one of the companies, so he’s in charge of the small detachment that’s out there,” said Boychyn. “Most of my corporals, as that is the vast majority of what I have here, are actually just imbedded into the different platoons and squads

so they are doing everything from the demolition, the crew-serve weapons; they did the individual qualification on the M16 (rifle). They will be participating as a boat crew and probably driving some of the boats as we build the bridge across the river. Everything from a little squaddie digging trenches to my lieutenant leading the entire platoon and doing all the planning as well.”

The equipment training available during River Assault is impressive for the Canadian Soldiers, said Boychyn, as well as the training opportunities and the grand scope of the exercise.

“Just the number of bays, number of bridges, all the different equipment, the size of the river that’s being crossed and the size of the floating bridge that’s being created,” Boychyn said. “We don’t get to see that type of opportunity almost ever in our careers up north.”

The Canadian group expressed similarities, more so than the differences between their military and the much larger American one to the south.

Members of the Canadian Armed Forces, Royal Canadian engineers, Cpl. Cameron Bigsby (left) from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and Master Cpl. Brendon Gogo from Winnipeg, Manatoba, both combat engineers with the 38 Canadian Engineer Regiment, review the manual for the Gizmo metal detector in preparation for the improvised explosive device lane. Eighteen Canadians were imbedded in 412th and 416th Theater Engineer Command engineer units during Operation River Assault at Fort Chaffee, Ark., July 14 to 26. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Debralee Best)

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“I think it was one of the colonels here who mentioned, ‘we’re all the same,

with just a slight difference,’ and it has proven to be absolutely true. This is an

opportunity to share knowledge and just see the slight differences between how we do things and (the American

Soldiers) do things. It has been a great learning opportunity,”

Boychyn said.

Boychyn said the one major difference is the time spent at the unit.

The Canadian Reserve usually spends one to two nights a week conducting training and preparing for an exercise, followed by one weekend a month in the field. Annual 10- day exercises are usually in the summer, as opposed to the U.S. Reserve’s one weekend a month and two to three weeks a year.

“That’s the primary difference,” said Boychyn. “Otherwise I think the Canadian Reserve and the American Reserve are very similar in that we bring a vast experience from our civilian side that only augments our abilities to do our military jobs.”

This experience was important for the Canadian Soldiers for the training, but also because of the

possibility of being deployed in the same location. The networking is one of the most integral parts of the exercise.

“Any opportunities we have to train here at home in North America together is just an excellent opportunity and I personally fully plan on keeping contact with the people we’ve met here, those who are close to the border at least, inviting them north to some of our events, even if it’s just a social event, to keep up the ties,” said Boychyn. “I think these types of cross-border opportunities are invaluable. You can’t put a price on it when we’re actually working together like this.”

Eighteen members of the Canadian Armed Forces, Royal Canadian engineers, were imbedded in 412th and 416th Theater Engineer Command engineer units during Operation River Assault at Fort Chaffee, Ark., July 14 to 26. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Debralee Best)

FORT IRWIN, Calif. – Army Reserve and National Guard Soldiers usually train one weekend a month and two weeks a year. This training is normally not done side-by-side, but two units integrated this year for their extended combat training.

The Kentucky National Guard’s 1123rd Engineer Company (Sapper) and a platoon from the U.S. Army Reserve’s 441st Engineer Company (Route Clearance) out of Millington, Tennessee, came together as one unit at National Training Center rotation 14-09 at Fort Irwin, California, Aug. 2 to 22.

“We actually had planned to have three [route clearance packages]. They were going to be the third one,” said Capt. Robert, McWhorter, 1123rd Engineer Company commander. “They were going to bring 34 folks here, but ended up only able to bring 21 so our mission had to change and this is the neat part: we integrated them with us.”

Combat engineers from the 441st Eng. Co., 467th Engineer Battalion, 926th Engineer Brigade, 412th Theater Engineer Command, were integrated into two packages as drivers and gunners. The mechanics and medics were also assigned within the 1123rd in their respective areas.

McWhorter said the change of mission was good for the 1123rd.

“For us it’s good because the 21 people they had basically get pushed into our two RCPs and that actually benefits everybody so we get to work side-by-side by them instead of mission-by-mission,” he said.

The 441st Soldiers said they felt accepted by the 1123rd.

“It’s a little interesting. I’ve never actually worked with National Guard, but they welcomed us with open arms from the get-go,” said U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Waters, 441st Engineer Company, platoon sergeant from Harrison, Arkansas. “What I

like about them is they said, ‘I don’t want you to feel like the misfits because they’ve been in that situation themselves before.’”

Not only did the 441st feel accepted, but they saw the efforts made by the 1123rd for their integration.

“They accepted us with open arms. As soon as we got boots-on-ground in the box they put us in like they were one of theirs,” said U.S. Army Reserve Spc. Matthew Cooper, Field Maintenance Platoon, 441st Engineer Company, mechanic and vehicle recovery specialist, from Brighton, Tennessee. “I can’t complain. Capt. McWhorter is doing his best to make us feel at home and so are the [noncommissioned officers].”

McWhorter said he isn’t surprised the 441st was able to integrate so well. He attributes it to the cordiality of his Soldiers.

“We’re from Kentucky so that’s like hospitality 101,” he said. “They’re just honing skills they already had.”

While the units integrated well, they did have some growing pains while on missions.

“The question we had asked is, ‘hey, guys, how’s it going?’ and I think because it was [so early in the training], they said, ‘well, we’re still working it out. It’s still confusing who belongs to who, who is doing what.’ I think that makes sense. You have to build muscle memory,” said McWhorter. “When they actually showed up we had drawn 90 percent of the equipment. We were already there for a whole day

Guard, Reserve Integrate as Team at NTCBy Staff Sgt. Debralee Best

34 October 2014

Combat engineers from the Kentucky National Guard’s 1123rd Engineer Compa-ny and U.S. Army Reserve’s 441st Engineer Company return from a situational exercise lane at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin.

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and then they show up. We’re like, ‘alright, cool, all of our minds are blown. Let’s just go to sleep.’ Then we wake up and are trying to meld. So coming out here, having the couple days to set, I’d say if I asked the question again it would be a little more straight-forward to say, ‘we’re not confused because we’ve been on route clearance missions, we know who each other are now.’”

After a few missions, the units did work out the kinks.

“I think they’re becoming a team,” said Waters. “They’ve been out running mission and it always takes a few days to get to know people, understand where they’re coming from. There is always that concern your going to butt heads with people at certain points, but I haven’t seen a whole lot of that. From what I’ve seen, they work pretty decent together.”

While becoming a team is important, the training received is essential because the units need the experience.

“You’ve got two companies where 40 percent of the experienced people left. Now you’ve got 60 percent of the folks who, including me and most of my lieutenants, are new,” said McWhorter. “So, I think that’s actually a great place for us to be because we’re all learning together.”

Not only will this training help prepare the inexperienced units, but it is also helps the units learn to work with other components and other services.

“I think it’s beneficial to work with National Guard, active duty, Marines, other coalition forces, because

you don’t know who you’re going to be integrated with, especially in an RCP,” said Waters. “You’ve got to be able to understand and develop relationships with all different types of military units.”

McWhorter said he also believes building relationships is important, but he thinks the Soldiers of the 441st who didn’t attend the training at NTC will be disappointed they didn’t build those relationships and attend the training during this exercise.

“What I’m looking forward to is seeing the training value of this place because I’ve heard it’s great, I’ve heard stories about it. We are at the end of a long road. I think both these units are going walk away a lot better,” said McWhorter. “Then for 441st when they go home they’re going to have a really strong RCP platoon and they’re going to benefit and the others are going to wish they went.”

But, Waters has been so impressed by the training that he is already planning to try to bring the rest of company to NTC.

“I know these guys are getting good training out here. It’s going to be good for the unit when we get back. What I’m hoping for is that we bring this training back to the 441st Engineer Company and bring back some different ideas we’ve gathered from the 1123rd and we can move forward in getting prepared for a deployment,” said Waters. “Getting better prepared for actually deployment, then hopefully within a couple years, maybe we can bring the company out here as a whole.”

Opposing forces fire on a route clearance package consisting of Soldiers from the Kentucky National Guard’s 1123rd Engineer Company and the U.S. Army Reserve’s 441st Engineer Company during a situational exercise lane at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin.

Spc. James McCarty (right), with the Kentucky National Guard’s 1123rd Engi-neer Company (Sapper), asks Spc. William Wilson, 441st Engineer Company (Route Clearance) of Memphis, Tenn., about the fluid levels in their vehicle.

36 October 2014

37 The Castle

38 October 2014

Soldier Takes Joy in the Pain, Suffering of Army Competition

Spc. Gregory P. Doty, resident of Lake Peekskill, New York, an allied trade specialist with the 854th Engineer Battalion, fires a 9mm pistol at pop-up targets during a marksmanship range at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, for the 2014 Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition June 23. Doty is competing in the Soldier category, representing the 412th Theater Engineer Command. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret)

JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. – Fun is hardly a word associated with pain, suffering and sleep deprivation.

For most other 22-year-old college students, fun comes inside a room filled with rowdy friends shouting cheers or groans at the game on TV, stacks of pizza boxes on the table and plenty of beers making their rounds from the fridge.

But for Spc. Gregory Doty, fun comes inside a military uniform, tackling the challenges of the 2014 Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition.

“I’m going to go there and have as much fun as I can with it, and my competitive spirit will do the

rest for me,” said the native of Peekskill, New York.

His favorite quote is from Mark Twain:

“The secret of success is making

your vocation your vacation.”

From waking up in the dead of night, to being tossed into the woods, half asleep, with just a compass, protractor and a map, having to find his way out in the light of the moon, that’s where Doty finds his fun.

So for every day this week, Doty is on vacation in the muggy woods and dusty ranges here.

Doty represents the 412th Theater Engineer Command (TEC) in this year’s junior enlisted category.

During his last Best Warrior competition in April, Doty slept barely three hours between a land navigation course that forced him across three miles of mountainous landscape at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, and the next morning’s six-mile road march with a ruck on his back and ballistic vest strapped to his chest.

This was after the competition had already wrung him through a physical fitness test, a 200-meter swim and a gruesome obstacle course among other events he faced in just 48 hours with many more to go. At one point during

By Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret

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his hilly and wooden traverse, Doty’s legs actually buckled. He slipped a few times climbing a 45-degree slope carrying a rifle and combat gear.

Those hills were no roller coaster rides.

That word – “fun” –

starts to sound like a bit of an embellishment.

But Doty actually likes this stuff, and remains unshaken despite the dirt and bruises.

At the end of the TEC competition, Doty was at his best when he stepped into a room full of sergeants major wearing a neatly pressed dress uniform and spit-shined shoes. Most Soldiers find this to be the most intimidating part of the journey: Not the long miles or worn muscles, but the mental demands.

The dreaded appearance board can make sharp-minded Soldiers forget words to the creeds they’ve been reciting for months.

Instead, Doty rocked it with crisp facing movements and confident answers.

“The sergeants major want to see that you’re confident even when in a simple situation, like standing in a room talking. They want to know that you’ve got absolute confidence, and if you can’t have that then, then you can’t do it in [combat] or anything else,” said Doty, who is an allied

trade specialist – a mix between machinist and welder – for the 854th Engineer Battalion.

He’s barely spent two years in the Army Reserve and was promoted from private first class to specialist in March, only adding to his accomplishments.

Yet, despite his lack of time in the military, Doty stays sharp as Army ROTC cadet at Fordham University. As a cadet, he spends six hours a week learning land navigation, troop movement, leadership and military knowledge. Plus, he invested another hour each day studying field manuals and army regulations, while in full swing of his college semester.

However, the Army Reserve level competition is more intense than anything he has done yet. Doty knows Soldiers were good at the last level. Here, he will be

up against the best of the best competitors from each reserve command.

“I expect a lot more of a competition from these guys … I know

a big competition [like this] is going to be way

more intense,” Doty said.

And yet, he doesn’t plan on changing his outlook, nor his preparation.

“I’m just not going to really worry about how the competition is because that’s only going to demoralize me. I like to think of it as just another training event. I get to shoot a pistol. I get to go shoot a rifle. A ruck march,” he said. “Stuff that I love.”

Spc. Gregory P. Doty, resident of Lake Peekskill, New York, an allied trade specialist with the 854th Engineer Battalion, receives a safety briefing prior to a 9mm pistol marksmanship range at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, during the 2014 Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition June 23. Doty is compet-ing in the Soldier category, representing the 412th Theater Engineer Command. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret)

40 October 2014

Soldier Relies on Combat Experience to Push through Best Warrior Competition

416th Theater Engineer Command By Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret

JOINT BASE McGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. – When Staff Sgt. James Thornton reported to Fort Jackson for his battalion’s Best Warrior competition, he got a surprise.

“Where’s all your stuff? You’re competing!”

they told him.

Originally, that wasn’t the plan.

He thought he was coming to serve as cadre: to help run the weapon qualification range as the safety officer.

Instead, he drove back home (fortunately, just an hour away), packed his combat gear and rushed back. Someone gave him a copy of the Army study guide, and he did his best on the fly.

He won that competition and moved up to the Theater Engineer Command (TEC) competition, hosted by the 412th and 416th TECs at Fort McCoy, Wis., in late April.

“I got to do absolutely zero train-up for the TEC level,” said Thornton, living in Spartanburg, S.C.

That would make two competi-tions in a row: something that might seem like a troublesome pattern.

Lazy. Distracted. Procrastinator.

How is such a Soldier expected to compete in the 2014 Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition?

Except, Thornton is anything but those things. Rather, he’s a portrayal of what an Army Reserve Soldier’s life often looks like.

In his civilian life, Thornton works 15 to 19-hour days as an emergency tire technician.

“I’m the guy who goes out on the side of the interstate and change

tractor and trailer tires,” Thornton said.

Sometimes, he gets calls for a job late into the night after he

thought his day was done. Plus he has a 9-year-old son and another baby girl on the way.

When asked about his personal interests on his data sheet, Thornton wrote: “All work, no play.”

After the battalion-level competition, Thornton went straight into a three-week annual training with his unit conducting route clearance and base defense. Again: no time to study. He woke regularly at 4:00 a.m. and rarely went back to sleep before midnight. He’s a platoon sergeant for the 323rd Engineer Company, keeping his life busy with administrative requirements even after battle assembly is over.

“It really is (hard to train) to be honest with you. Sometimes I get home, and if I’m lucky, I get home by 5:30, 6 o’clock, and be able to go running, but most of the time, I get a phone call interrupting my run to go do other work,” he said.

His ambitions have changed over time. Life will do that. When he

Staff Sgt. James Thornton, a combat engineer with the 323rd Engineer Company, resident of Spartanburg, South Carolina, endures an early morning road march

that spanned eight miles while carrying a 35-pound ruck and a rifle during the 2014 Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst,

New Jersey, June 25. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret)

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first joined the Army, he had high hopes to collect as many specialized tabs he could fit on his shoulder. Unfortunately, those school seats are very limited, even more so for reserve Soldiers. Yet, competing as a best Warrior has given him a new perspective of the Soldiers around him.

“All I ever wanted to do was special forces (type)

stuff … and getting up here with these guys is like a dream come true. I’ve always wanted to be the best, and nowadays, it’s getting where I can

get deployed and try out with the best, you know?

And I love it,” Thornton said.

These Soldiers really do represent the best of all the commands across the Army Reserve. Unfortunately, this has been the third competition in a row where Thornton has barely had a chance to study or prepare. While his competitors were disas-sembling and reassembling rifles and 9 mm pistols for practice, Thornton watched his baby girl on the ultrasound monitor. Or forced a wheel lug loose as traffic blazed past him a few feet away.

Some competitors have been training for months. Thornton had to rely on a different edge to compensate for his lack of studying.

Three deployments.

His first one was to Iraq in 2004-2005, barely six months out of high school. His second was

back to Iraq in 2007-2008, where he performed route clearance missions as a combat engineer.

Then a third one to Afghanistan in 2010-2011 where his unit ranked in the top two percentile of units with combat interaction during that period.

“All the little individual skills stuff, like treating

a burn, searching a vehicle, I’ve done that in real world operations,”

said Thornton.

Despite that, the TEC competition was a tight one through the end. The winners for the 416th and 412th were decided by just a few points. There were a few occasions when Thornton wasn’t sure he’d actually come out on top.

“My (physical fitness) test absolutely sucked. Like, I was nowhere near 270. I think I might

have gotten a 210. And I don’t know if you saw, but I was dead last on the ruck march,” said Thornton, of his last competition.

Still he persevered and pushed through the end. He made up the points with combat experience where he lost them due to lack of preparation.

He made it to the Army Reserve level where he fared better on his run and march times. Just before coming here, he managed to squeeze in a modern Army combatives course. Between ultrasound appointments and changing tires on the highway, he tried to keep his knowledge fresh as much as possible.

This week, Thornton will find out if his deployed experience still counts enough toward the competition’s challenges.

At least, this time, he didn’t have to drive back home to grab his gear.

Staff Sgt. James Thornton, a combat engineer from Spartanburg, South Carolina, with the 323rd Engineer Company gets ready to fire his M16 rifle on a zero range during the 2014 Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, June 25. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret)

42 October 2014

By Staff Sgt. Debralee Best

FORT IRWIN, Calif. – U.S. Army Reserve units usually only attend one extended combat training event each year. This year, one unit was able to participate in two.

The 441st Engineer Company (Route Clearance), 467th Engineer Battalion, 926th Engineer Brigade, 412th Theater Engineer Command, attended Combat Support Training Exercise 14-02 in May at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. Three months later, some of the Soldiers volunteered to attend another training event, National Training Center rotation 14-09 at Fort Irwin, California Aug. 2 to 22.

The 441st Eng. Co., out of Millington, Tennessee, were alerted to deploy to Afghanistan in October. They were able to schedule training for a small element at NTC for additional training in preparation for their deployment. The unit was removed from the deployment, but a platoon element was still able to attend the training.

“National Training Center! You’re not going to get anything equivalent in the U.S,” said U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Waters, 441st Engineer Company, platoon sergeant from Harrison, Arkansas. “We got off-ramped, but we still got to keep the mission to go to NTC. Essentially we got two [annual training missions] and then some of the guys did too. There are a few

who didn’t go to CSTX so they came here with me.”

Water said it was very important to him for the unit to keep the mission, so he worked on making sure he had the personnel for the training.

“Most of them volunteered to come out here. Some we persuaded to come out here,” he said. “You have the mission and don’t want to miss out on the training. So, we had to find the selling points: you’re not going to find any better type of training for your job except at the National Training Center.”

A majority of the Soldiers volunteered for the mission. According to Waters, this was because they saw the training value.

“Most of the volunteers came for more experience. There is a lot of inexperience with a lot of the younger guys,” he said. “I have four Soldiers who just got out of basic training, [Advanced Individual Training] this year who didn’t have to come, but they wanted to get a jump on learning how route clearance operates because they just don’t get that at basic training or AIT.”

One of the volunteers said he just wanted to change up his training experience.

“I wanted to see what it was like because I had heard so much about NTC,” said U.S. Army Reserve Spc. Matthew Cooper, Field Maintenance

441st Engineer Company Volunteers for Training in Afghanistan-type Environment

Soldiers with the Kentucky National Guard’s 1123rd Engineer Company (Sapper) and the U.S. Army Reserve’s 441st Engineer Company (Route Clearance) participate in a situational training exercise lane at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin.

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Platoon, 441st Engineer Company, mechanic and vehicle recovery specialist, from Brighton, Tennessee. “You get tired of doing the same training every year. I just like to do ATs: the more training the better.”

The training value of the location was apparent from the beginning when the Soldiers stepped foot on Fort Irwin.

“As soon as I got off the bus I literally thought they had messed up and sent me back to Afghanistan,” said Cooper. “The sounds are the same, the smells are the same, and the terrain is really close to southern Afghanistan. The heat is pretty close as well.”

The environment is a close approximation and helps create accurate training.

“It is more realistic as far as the recovery situations and the route clearance situation. I’ve been to McCoy a whole bunch of times. This has better simulated terrain, better-simulated [improvised explosive device] placement,” said Cooper. “As far as my recoveries go I can’t really say there is a difference because if it’s broke down, it’s broke down and I have to recover it. But as far as getting drivers experience for new troops who have never driven a [Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck], it’s great because this is going to prepare them for the tight-winding passes in Afghanistan.”

Training on recovery equipment is important for the mechanics, and training on the route clearance is important for the combat engineers.

“I’ve got a lot of inexperienced guys so big feature is getting them really acquainted with the equipment,” said Waters. “ This is very expensive, high tech equipment these Soldiers don’t get to see hardly ever at home station. Having them get on this equipment, get familiarized, understanding how it works, understanding it’s role in the route clearance mission, is not only vital for the platoon, but for the company because they can bring this back to our other Soldiers at home station and train them up as well.”

Waters said he not only wants to bring back the training when the unit returns, but also would like to bring the entire company in the future.

43

The 441st Engineer Company, 467th Engineer Battalion, 926th Engineer Brigade, attended Combat Support Training Exercise 14-02 in May at Fort McCoy. Three months later, some of the Soldiers volunteered to attend another training event at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin.

Spc. William Wilson, a combat engineer with the 441st Engineer Company, cleans his weapon after returning from situational training exercise lanes at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin.

“I know these guys are getting good training out here. It’s going to be good

for the unit when we get back. What I’m hoping for is that we bring this training back to the 441st Engineer

Company and we can move forward in getting prepared for a deployment. Getting better prepared for actually deployment, then hopefully within a

couple years maybe we can bring the company out here as a whole,”

said Waters.

44 October 2014

The Castle 45

Reprinted from Engineer, May-August 2014.

46 October 2014

Pfc. John Curley, of Marion Heights, Pa., and a technical engineer with the 476th Engineer Detachment, ties pink engineer tape onto a stake to mark it for visibility while the detachment finds an elevation point during Castle Installation Related Construction at Fort Hunter Liggett.

FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, Calif. – Technology is often used to make jobs more efficient and run more smoothly. One unit providing support for Castle Installation Related Construction at Fort Hunter Liggett, California, has found going back-to-basics more convenient for their projects.

A team from the 476th Engineer Detachment (Survey and Design), 365th Engineer Battalion, 411th Engineer Brigade, 412th Theater Engineer Command, is providing land surveys, elevation measurements and project planning in support of the engineers providing civic improvements at Fort Hunter Liggett, Aug. 6 to 19.

For the survey and design team this is a mission like any other they would perform, with one slight difference.

“The only thing different is the survey equipment,” said U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Tyler Pongrazzi, 476th Engineer Detachment, technical engineer from Hazleton, Pennsylvania. “The equipment we got in the schoolhouse was more advanced than this, but that’s the only difference.”

While the equipment the technical engineers trained on was more advanced, the Soldiers said they find the older equipment more relevant for missions at Castle IRC.

“We’re using an old-school auto[matic] level and [Philadelphia level] ‘Philly’ rod. Not many detach-ments use this method,” said U.S. Army Reserve Pfc. John Curley, 476th Engineer Detachment, technical en-gineer, from Marion Heights, Pennsylvania. “It’s cool we get to because this is the basics and it’s really the most practical way to do this site [the law enforcement Humvee parking lot]. It tells us which way we need to slope the grade.”

These tools are used to calculate the elevations, which is then used to calculate the correct grade.

“It’s important because if you don’t know the elevations, then you’re not going to know if the grade is right, if it needs to slope to a certain spot,” said Pongrazzi.

Elevations and grades are important to Pongrazzi because he wants his Soldiers to be accurate. He also wants them to use their time at Castle IRC to become more adept in the technical aspects of the job.

“I want them to be able to be proficient, to go out there and have it done without anyone having to micromanage them and look over their shoulder all the time,” said Pongrazzi. “To be able to do a project from start to finish without any hiccups and they don’t have to ask anybody else any questions. Just be able to do it right there.”

To do this, Pongrazzi ensures his Soldiers are getting as much experience as possible.

“We switch them out on every project so they all get hands-on on every aspect of our job,” he said.

The hands-on training is paying off, according to Curley.

“I hope to be able to, next time we come out to survey, just come out and do whatever the [noncommissioned officer-in-charge] needs of me,” he said. “Before I was like, ‘oh, I don’t really know how to do this,’ but this [extended combat training] we have the time to train me on everything. I would just get bits and pieces before, but here I can see from setup to tear down.”

Competence is critical to Pongrazzi, but he said in survey and design it’s also essential to be flexible.

476th Engineer Detachment Goes Back-to-BasicsBy Staff Sgt. Debralee Best

“The aspect that things are changing right away is good, good training so they know things are going to change and you’re going to have to go back and switch things on a project to make things work,” he said.

While the technical aspects and the flexibility is important, Curley said he enjoys that part of survey and design, but the best part for him is the Soldiers next to him.

“My team is great. These guys are like my best friends. I think it’s easier

working in a detachment where it’s only 10 to 15 people because it’s the same people I deal with all the time. It just gets easier and easier to deal

with them. You get to know how each person works,”

Curley said.

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Sgt. Matt Morris, of Quakertown, Pa., and a technical engineer with the 476th Engineer Detachment, adjusts the automatic level to calculate the elevation for a project during Castle Installation Related Construction at Fort Hunter Liggett.

Spc. Anthony Brown (far), of Bethlehem, Pa., holds the Philadelphia level rod while Sgt. Matt Morris, of Quakertown, adjusts the automatic level to calculate project elevation during Castle Installation Related Construction at Fort Hunter Liggett.

48 October 2014

Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Talley meets with Soldiers at the new Urban Assault Course training site at Camp Santiago on Puerto Rico Dec 15, 2013. Talley said he wants to retain and recruit talented and quality Army Reserve Soldiers.

Shrinking Army Looking to Fill Its

Reserve ComponentBy David Vergun

WASHINGTON – Whenever unemployment increases, there are always media stories about CEOs and small-business owners desperately seeking workers skilled in high-demand occupations.

The CEO of the Army Reserve said he’s scouting for talent as well.

All the time, people tell Lt. Gen. Jeffery W. Talley how the recent drop in force structure end strengths must mean that recruiting and retention must no longer be a problem, he said.

But that just isn’t the case, said Talley, who is chief of the Army Reserve and commander of the U.S. Army Reserve Command. He was speaking at the 2014 USARC Commanders Conference in Alexandria, Virginia, July 21.

“We have a crisis in manning the Reserve. It’s a lot harder to recruit and retain than it used to be,” Talley said, acknowledging the irony of the situation.

About three out of four men and women ages 17 to 28 are not even eligible to be recruited, he said, particularly since requirements have been tightened. Some of

those requirements have to do with education and criminal records and others have to do with weight and fitness standards and even certain visible tattoos.

Besides private-sector businesses and industry, “all of the services and components are competing for these talented young men and women,” he said.

Many Soldiers are also leaving the Reserve.

“During the last quarter we lost around 15,000 Soldiers. That’s a division worth,” Talley noted, adding that some of those retired, and some of the others didn’t meet the standards for retention.

The personnel needs of the Army Reserve are particularly challenging because many positions require a high level of skill in the science, technology, engineering and medical fields.

“A significant portion of the Army’s technical enablers – in-cluding 90 percent of civil affairs; 65 percent of logistical units; 60 percent of doctors, nurses and oth-er health professionals; 40 percent of transportation units; 35 percent

of engineers; 24 percent of military police” are provided by the Army Reserve, Talley told members of the Senate Armed Services Com-mittee during testimony on the ac-tive and Reserve force mix April 8.

Talley also told the senators that many of those Reserve occupational specialties include “capabilities not found anywhere else in the active Army, Army National Guard or sister services.”

One glimmer of hope, he said, is to recruit some of the active-component captains who are leaving the Army.

“The regular Army is downsiz-ing significantly,” he said. “Just recently, 1,100 captains were let go. A large percentage of them had perfect OERs. We’re trying to get about 400 of those captains and re-cruit them by name,” he explained.

But that will be a tough sell, Talley admitted.

“They’re not going to be par-ticularly receptive to staying in the Army after they’ve dedicated seven years of their lives with multiple deployments, and then were asked to leave,” he acknowledged. “But

they have to remember why they stayed in the Army. They love their jobs and they love helping other Soldiers. They love serving Sol-diers’ families.”

During a town hall with Soldiers of the 412th Theater Engineer Com-mand June 29, in Vicksburg, Missis-sippi, Talley said another draw for service in the Reserve is the Private-Public Partnership Initiative.

The initiative created a partner-ship with more than 6,000 private-sector companies, which invest

resources in the Reserve to make Soldiers more marketable. These companies also provide resources for financial fitness, physical fit-ness and leadership training.

“I encourage you to find out more about the Private Public Part-nership Initiative, let that program help you and your family members become more marketable in the civilian sector as you become more ready as an individual, a Soldier and a leader so you can contribute to your unit,” said Talley.

The other hot-button issue Talley emphasized during the town hall was Tricare Reserve Select. Talley sees this as a very important program for taking care of Soldiers still in the ranks and encourages Reserve Soldiers to enroll.

(Staff Sgt. Debralee Best contributed to this story. For more ARNEWS stories, visit http://www.army.mil/ARNEWS, or Facebook at www.facebook.com/ArmyNewsService)

49 The Castle

By Staff Sgt. Debralee Best

FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, Calif. – “It’s good enough for government work” a phrase heard throughout the military, but at one exercise, the battalion staff wants to change the meaning of the phrase.

“I’d like the companies to take away that they need to understand the product they give the customer has to be of the highest quality, has to be a professional product,” said Command Sgt. Major John Walsh, a native of New Paltz, New York, and senior enlisted advisor for the 854th Engineer Battalion, 411th Engineer Brigade, 412th Theater Engineer Command. “At the end of the day, we stamp the U.S. Army’s name on it. If someone says the U.S. Army is going to come build, they know they’re going to get a quality product at the end.”

Pride and legacy for the battalion are also forefront in the staff’s minds.

“I would echo that to say, we’re going to stamp the 854th’s name on it, and we want our reputation to endure. We want to come back and do more in the future,” said U.S. Army Reserve Lt. Col. Edward Pesce, 854th Engineer Battalion commander from Plymouth, Massachusetts. “There will be exercises for us to conduct here in the future.”

“When they hear the 854th, they know they’re going to get a quality product in the end. They know they’re not just going to get a couple blocks slapped together and some mortar thrown on it and a piece of tin and call it built,” added Walsh.

The 854th Engineer Battalion out of Saugerties, New York, provided mission command to units and Soldiers who attended Castle Installation Related Construction Aug. 6-19 at Fort Hunter Liggett, California.

For a majority of the units in attendance, this exercise was a train/ready one year in their Army Force Generation cycle. The ARFORGEN cycle is a five-year plan to prepare units for deployment. The cycle allows the unit to build up their training each year.

“The 854th Engineer Battalion is in ARFORGEN cycle year one, train/ready one, which focuses on individual skills training,” said Pesce. “So, this effort is to work on engineer individual skills to get ready for the follow on collective training tasks in follow-on ARFORGEN years in anticipation of future mobilization.”

While this is the first training year in their cycle, this is an important year to establish a baseline.

“It is the intention to build the foundation for the follow-on collective training years that involve a collective exercise,” said Pesce. “That’s the purpose: to build on the skill levels, the management, leadership and [military occupational specialty] skills training to feed to those collective tasks that will be in the follow-on year.”

Lt. Col. Edward Pesce, commander of 854th Engineer Battalion, discusses how best to remove a sidewalk with Soldiers of 674th Engineer Detachment (Asphalt), 479th Engineer Battalion, during Castle Installation Related Construction at Fort Hunter Liggett.

854th Engineer Battalion Strives to

October 201450

For the battalion and companies, this year is the time to solve issues and ensure operations can run smoothly.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say this exercise is for [battalion operations] to shine, but learn from their mistakes and fix what’s not working well and just improve upon it. That’s what this exercise is all about,” said Walsh. “This is actually the same thing for all the companies. This is where we’re going to make mistakes, this is where they need to work out how they’re going to conduct operations. This is where their lieutenants and [noncommissioned officers] learn how to do construction work, learn how to plan a project. They’re going to need to work out these things this year for next year when they go into that [Combat Support Training Exercise], they can start executing that stuff and refining their collective tasks.”

This training not only helps prepare the units for their future training exercises, but also for future real-world operations.

“Some of the [companies and detachments] now have different headquarters to report to, different leadership to report to, so it helps them adapt to what may be real-world someday, either in a deployed environment or in a national emergency,” said Pesce. “It allows them to see how we do things, to maybe take some helpful hints and/or good lessons learned to bring back to their home units and their battalions to execute in the future as well. But those lessons learned work both ways, so we learn from them and they learn from us.”

This experience is also beneficial for the Soldiers of the 854th Engineer Battalion to also take those lessons learned home.

“We have some companies that are not within our battalion that are now part of our task force,” said Pesce. “That forces the staff and the organization to look at the big picture, and this is exactly what might happen in a national emergency or a deployment scenario.”

“They get to oversee and manage some diverse units they don’t always see, so they’ve had to show up and work with perfect strangers,” he added. “This helps them because it forces them to teach and

coordinate these other units, explain to them what their expectations are, what reports they want, and they now have new customers, because a battalion staff is there to support the companies. They have new customers who may have different needs than they’re used to seeing and different skill-sets so they have to adapt to that too. It helps the battalion staff to manage projects and personnel in a new environment and different conditions.”

In addition to learning lessons and adapting to new customers, this year’s Castle IRC is also helping the battalion staff find ways to solve issues. One of these according to Pesce, was shortage of Army Combat Helmets for the Soldiers.

“They did something pretty innovative, too,” said Pesce. “I was very concerned in a tactical environment, in tactical vehicles, we have to have all Soldiers in a helmet. Well, my staff were able to call and coordinate with the Sierra Army Depot personnel and had those helmets shipped to home station just prior to departure. Just a minor success story that I think it’s cool to say, ‘OK, they thought outside the box.’”

This is another important aspect of this training: Learning to fix any issues that arise.

“This exercise is teaching a lot of people to solve problems,” said Walsh. “The Army doesn’t have a box with everything you’re going to need to go to war. It teaches them to solve problems, it teaches them to think around issues to solve them, and critical thinking I think is probably the U.S. Army’s biggest strength.”

While critical thinking is a strength of the Army, it’s not something inherent.

“It is a skill set you need to develop,” said Pesce. “I have a saying about engineers, ‘We are problem-solvers.’ That’s what we do best. This is teaching them how to figure things out.”

The Soldiers at Castle IRC did just that while working on their construction projects, according to Pesce. While this years projects are complete and the Soldiers say farewell, there is still more to be done at Fort Hunter Liggett in the years to come.

Provide Professional, Quality Products

51 The Castle

October 201452

CSA: Ethical Dilemmas Pose Tough Calls

for SoldiersBy David Vergun

WEST POINT, N.Y. – One of the hardest things a Soldier will face in his or her career isn’t necessarily the enemy. It might well be telling another Soldier that his or her behavior is ethically or morally wrong, said the Army chief of staff.

Gen. Ray Odierno shared his opening remarks with general officers and command sergeants major from across the components at the first CSA Army Profession Symposium, held here today and tomorrow.

The reason it’s so hard, he continued, is because Soldiers are deeply committed to each other.

“That’s integral,” he explained. “In combat, you have to depend on the person on your right and left. Your life is in their hands. But it’s also about being committed to the institution.”

Odierno then provided some hypothetical examples of why ethical dilemmas are so difficult to grapple with:

After returning from a deployment, Alpha Company takes the Army Physical Fitness Test. A certain sergeant is considered the best sergeant in the platoon. He served admirably in combat and always scored a perfect 300 on the APFT. He’s now up for promotion to staff sergeant.

But on this particular day, he scored a 240. That score will result in him not earning enough points for promotion to staff sergeant and the next opportunity for promotions may not be for a long time.

The platoon leader wants to look out for his Soldiers, particularly for this non-commissioned officer who did incredible things in combat. So he gives the sergeant a 300.

The platoon leader might get away with that but what about next time? Odierno asked, continuing with the example:

Down the road, that same platoon leader has become a battalion commander. He’s been bragging about his battalion and how well it’s been doing and how well it will perform at an upcoming National Training Center rotation.

But, the battalion ends up having a “lousy rotation.”

But instead of admitting as much, he gets his battalion certified “T-1, fully trained and ready for combat, yet everyone knows it’s not true.”

Two months later, that battalion deploys to combat and Soldiers are killed.

“Now your ethical dilemma is growing,” Odierno said, continuing:

Ten years later, he’s a general officer providing congressional testimony. Lawmakers are asking about the readiness of his division. He’s been told that the politically correct thing to say is “we’re ready to do whatever you ask.”

But, his division is lacking in training and modernized equipment. Yet, he tells Congress that they’re combat-ready.

“So the dilemma grows and grows and builds and builds,” Odierno said. “Once you start down that path, it becomes easier and easier to make those decisions.”

The ramifications of those decisions won’t necessarily “fall on you,” he said. “It will fall on those Soldiers put in harm’s way.”

Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Ray Odierno addresses leaders from all com-ponents at the first CSA Army Profession Symposium, held at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., July 30, 2014. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Mikki L. Sprenkle/Released)

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The vast majority of Soldiers understand the importance of commitment to the institution as well as commitment to one another, Odierno said he believes, “but we can’t rest on our laurels.

“We have to have those discussions, about character, that’s who we are. Our character has to represent what our country stands for,” he continued. “It’s about doing what’s right when nobody else is watching.”

Citing another example – an actual one – Odierno recounted how an officer was brought in for counseling after a minor incident that occurred after hours.

The officer told his commander something to the effect of, “I’m in the Army nine to five and what I do afterward is my business.”

“That’s not the Army I know,” Odierno cautioned. “And that’s not the type of leaders the Army wants. It’s a 24-hour-a-day, seven-days-a-week job. You’re always representing this profession.”

An important part of this symposium, he said, is discussing the Army profession and how to more effectively inculcate ethics across the service.

Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond F. Chandler III, who spoke following Odierno’s remarks, said he seriously doubts the effectiveness of the Army’s ethical training delivery methods.

That delivery might take the shape of PowerPoint slides or briefings – check-the-block type training.

It has to be more than that, Chandler said.

“We need to have a culture shift,” he said. “People need to be passionate about this, and we all have to take on this responsibility.”

He noted that “young people are thirsty for leadership” and the method most effective for delivery of ethics training, he thinks, is through mentoring other Soldiers.

Chandler provided his own example of being mentored:

Back in the 1970s, he said his own moral compass wasn’t always oriented in the right direction and he wandered aimlessly from job to job, and his grades in high school were pretty dismal.

Then he saw the movie “Sahara,” starring Humphrey Bogart. In that movie, he said, Bogart and the men in his tank crew bonded and looked out for each other even as the going got tough.

“That taught me commitment,” and was the impetus for joining the Army and becoming a tanker, Chandler said.

In 1981, his first tank commander was Staff Sgt. Lou Tahini, an American Samoan and a Vietnam veteran, who “couldn’t read, but was a professional,” Chandler said, noting that the average grade level for reading in the Army at the time was eighth grade.

“He taught me everything I know about competence – how to operate that tank and deal death and destruction – and about commitment to that crew and the platoon,” Chandler said of his tank commander.

“He also taught me about character and what it means to be a person of character,” he continued. “He’s a big reason why I’m still in the Army today.”

In closing, Chandler said that same sort of mentor-ship has to continue. “Don’t allow this to die out.”

54 October 2014

Sgt. Leah Dicke and Cpl. Jerome Goforth, combat engineers with the 368th Engineer Battalion, prepare a brick of C-4 for detonation by placing a strip of detonation cord between two blocks of C-4, and then taping it all together into a brick with tape July 24 at Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif. (U.S. Army Reserve Photo by Pfc. Brian N. Lang / 205TH Press Camp Headquarters)

Combat Engineers Practice Demolition

at WAREXBy Pfc. Brian Lang

FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, Calif. – The 744th Engineer Battalion, 744th Engineer Company and 368th Engineer Battalion came together for training on essential combat engineer tasks and skills, including using explosives to remove obstacles, unexploded ordinance and removing obstacles in a unit’s path of travel during the Warrior Exercise 91 14-03.

“Combat Engineers improve the lives, and establish security for the local population when deployed,” said Sgt. Benjamin Heiner, a combat engineer with the 744th Engineer Battalion, based in Ogden, Utah. “However, to get to an acceptable level of muscle memory it takes lots and lots of practice.”

This training allowed the Soldiers to observe how to set up, arm and fire a Mine Clearing Line Charge (MICLIC), and practice packing, setting up, and firing a variety of plastic explosives.

“This training is priceless,” said Capt. Steven Keister, Operations Officer for the 368th Engineer Battalion based out of Londonderry, New Hampshire. “These skills are perishable. Without constant and vigilant training the Soldiers are at risk of losing their proficiency.”

The combat engineers started their morning by prepping a MICLIC, followed by the conducting of blast procedures and the blast countdown. Soldiers used the MICLIC brought for training with simulated explosives, because there are only two places in the U.S. where a live version can be fired off, because of how large the explosion is. The device has 350 feet of rope covered with blocks of simulated explosives.

“Valuable, massive and life-saving,” said Keister. “Is the only way I can think of to describe the training going on for the WAREX. There is a high pay off to this training, because of how valuable it is to ensure that you know what you’re doing when working with explosives.”

Soldiers from the 744th Engineer Battalion, 744th Engineer Company and 368th Engineer battalion prepare a M58 Mine Clearing Line Charge for detonation July 24 at Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif. MICLIC’s are used to clear danger areas troops need to travel through, that are suspected of containing explosives. (U.S. Army Reserve Photo by Pfc. Brian N. Lang / 205TH Press Camp Head-quarters)

Soldiers from the 744th Engineer Battalion, 744th Engineer Company and 368th Engineer Battalion detonate 45 pounds of high-intensity explosives known as C-4 July 24, 2014, at Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif. (U.S. Army Reserve Photo by Pfc. Brian N. Lang / 205TH Press Camp Headquarters)

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Combat Engineers from the 744th Engineer Battalion prep C-4 on a demo range by tying detonation chord onto transmission line, which is connected to the blast initiator July 24, 2014 at Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif. (U.S. Army Reserve Photo by Pfc. Brian N. Lang / 205TH Press Camp Headquarters)

One upside of this training is that the engineers get to ignite C-4, which they can rarely do.

“Combat engineers use specific methods and techniques to clear the battlefield of dangers that would otherwise injure a service member,” said Heiner. “There are very technical and detail-oriented parts of this job that we don’t always get to practice, but they’re just as vital to ensuring safety as blowing up battlefield obstacles.”

WAREX is helping to prevent loss of knowledge by shaping the way service members train permanently, which will lead to saving lives on the battlefield.

“There are three easy ways to both describe combat engineers and

the job they do,” said Heiner.

“Loud. Dangerous. Valuable.”

Developing Soldiers, Teamwork

through Training By Staff Sgt. Debralee Best

FORT CHAFFEE, Ark. – Soldiers are lined up, weapons ready; they begin to walk forward raising their weapons to engage their target. They stay on-line; a musical rhythm of rounds resonates as they fire their three-round bursts.

The U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers of the 477th Engineer Platoon, 388th Engineer Company, headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida, con-ducted reflexive fire July 16 during Operation River Assault 2014 at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas.

“Reflexive fire is individual movement designed to allow troops to fire on the move,” said 2nd Lt.

James Hardy, platoon leader of the 477th. “Most of the time in the past they had to fire from a standing, kneeling or prone position. This actually adds a little more realism in it where they have to fire from different angles, while moving as well as under stressful conditions.”

Reflexive fire is a vital skill for Soldiers to learn because it’s more likely in a combat situation.

“The reason it’s important is because in a combat scenario you’re not just standing and shooting,” added Hardy, a New Orleans native. “A lot of time you’re running and gunning, you’re out

of breath, you’re under stress and this is the best way we can simulate those conditions in a controlled environment: giving them the stress, out of breath, high heat rates, heavy

U.S. Army Reserve Soldier Sgt. Richard McClung, a combat engineer from Inverness, Fla., 477th En-gineer Platoon out of West Palm Beach, Fla., rods M16A2 rifles onto the reflexive fire lane as part of Operation River Assault at Fort Chaffee, Ark., July 16. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Debralee Best)

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56 October 2014

breathing and still having them able to maintain accuracy under fire and under stress.”

The Soldiers found the training enjoyable and said they felt it was good to train firing on the move.

“I think it was an awesome exercise,” said Spc. Boris Gorrita, 477th combat engineer from West Palm Beach. “I would say it was good for experience, especially considering when we qualify we always do one round, maybe controlled pairs and we’re never moving around so if we’re going out to the field or we’re deploying overseas anywhere we’d have no idea, you never know what it’s like.”

While the reflexive fire is an essential task, it’s not the only one the Soldiers will be learning

“What this is for us is a Soldier-first training as opposed to a mission-first training event so we are looking to develop our Soldiers,” said Hardy. “Through that we’ll being

doing some MOUT courses, some military operations in urban terrain, which will consist of breaching and clearing, as well as helo-casting, which is jumping out of helicopters into the ocean – it’s a quick insertion method – and a lot of individual Soldier tasks such as weapon drills, working on their (physical fitness), a lot of individual tasks.”

The unit plans to work hard on their training for the next two weeks, but also made time for Soldier care.

“We have some time built in to actually work with the Soldiers, not just on training, but with financial issues and make sure all the Soldiers are up-to-date on their schooling,” said Hardy. “It gets us to bring them together and really make sure everyone is on the same page; everyone is up-to-date.”

While all the Soldier care and training is important, what Hardy really wants is for the Soldiers to get a good feel for full-time Army life.

“What we want for them to get out of this whole River Assault is not just the training – the training is extremely important – but what it’s like to be in a garrison environment on an active-duty military base. Getting out of the mentality of a two-day a month type training,” said Hardy. “They have to eat, live, sleep and breathe the Army.”

The training has already reaped benefits for the Soldiers and the unit.

“This builds cohesion and helps us stand out as leaders,” said Hardy. “This is actually allowing us to truly bond through training and what the Army puts us through, but it builds a lot of camaraderie and team spirit.“U.S. Army Reserve Soldier Pfc. Sam Warren (right), a combat engineer from Port St. Lucie, Fla., 477th

Engineer Platoon out of West Palm Beach, Fla., fires his M16A2 rifle at his target during reflexive fire while Sgt. Richard McClung, a combat engineer from Inverness, Fla., also with the 477th, keeps him on-line July 16. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Debralee Best)

U.S. Army Reserve Soldier Sgt. Richard McClung, a combat engineer from Inverness, Fla.,477th Engineer Platoon out of West Palm Beach, Fla., assists Spc. Boris Gorrita, a combat engineer from West Palm Beach, Fla., also with the 477th, with the placement of his next magazine for a reflexive fire exercise. The 477th Eng. Plt. conducted a reflexive fire lane as part of Operation River Assault at Fort Chaffee, Ark., July 16. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Debralee Best)

Soldiers from the 493rd Engineering Detachment, firefighters, and urban search and rescue team render aid to a victim near the radiological control zone Aug. 4, 2014, during Vibrant Response training exercise. The detachment, assigned to Task Force 76, is currently supporting local and national agencies during initial response to a large scale attack near Muscatatuk Urban Training Center.

926th Firefighters Participate in

Vibrant Response By Sgt. Tanya Van Buskirk

MUSCATATUCK URBAN TRAINING CENTER, Ind. – The 92nd Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Battalion based out of Decatur, Georgia, is providing forces to conduct reconnaissance, mass casualty decontamination, and urban search and rescue operations in support of civilian authorities during Vibrant Response 2014.

Vibrant Response is a major field training exercise directed by U.S. Northern Command and executed by U.S. Army North. The training takes place yearly at the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center (MUTC), Butlerville, Indiana, and Camp Atterbury, Indiana.

“This operation is going really well. I had a chance to go into the disaster response area today, and it gave me a great respect for what the people on the ground are doing and how much work they are putting into it,” said 2nd Lt. George Edward Perez II, assistant operations officer from Atlanta.

Perez said that there is a great benefit to training for real-world disaster response.

“Working with civilians and other government agencies, role playing

scenarios, gives these Soldiers the ability to train all day in the chemical suits that are required

of a team like this,” Perez added.

The 92nd is running CBRN operations at a tactical operations center on forward operating base Panther where they are running operations for several down trace units including: 388th CBRN Company, 704th CBRN Company, 501st Area Support Medical

Company, 331st Area Support Medical Company, 659th Engineer Company, and firefighters from the 493rd Engineer Detachment, 683rd Engineer Detachment, and 379th Engineer Detachment of the 926th Engineer Brigade, 412th Theater Engineer Command.

The 493rd firefighters have been on the ground for over a week carrying out various missions related to urban search and rescue.

“We have been doing US&R missions in a hazardous waste environment during VR ‘14 and being able to employee all of our trailers into one exercise is beneficial training,” said Cpl. Jimmy Gregory, firefighter and team leader from Cartersville, Georgia.

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58 October 201458 October 2014

Soldiers from the 493rd Engineering Detachment, firefighters, and urban search and rescue set up operations at the radiological control zone Aug. 4, 2014 during Vibrant Response training exercise. The detachment, assigned to Task Force 76, is currently supporting local and national agencies during initial response to a large scale attack near Muscatatuk Urban Training Center.

“The scenarios were ran well and the MUTC setup made it feel real,”

added Gregory.

The exercise was created to prepare Department of Defense personnel to deal with any disaster on American soil. VR 14 takes place July 21 through Aug. 7.

U.S. Army North, U.S. Northern Command’s Joint Force Land Component Command, expects about 5,500 military and civilian personnel from across the country are participating in this major training exercise simulating the response to a terrorist attack in the United States.

Sgt. Kirk Jackson, job site supervisor, directs Spc. Mary Daniels, heavy equip-ment operator, while training on the motorized road grader. The 381st Engineer Company Soldiers from Valdosta, Ga., conducted equipment training and re-familiarization during Operation River Assault at Fort Chaffee, Ark., July 15. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Debralee Best)

FORT CHAFFEE, Ark. – When hearing about an Army exercise called Operation River Assault, most people would think of boats and bridges, but it takes far more to ensure this exercise is successful than just amphibious equipment.

The 381st Engineer Company, out of Tifton, Georgia, provides one of the pieces to make this operation run smoothly.

“Our job for this exercise, specifically we re-grade the roads so they can get the bridge down to the launch site safely and be able to have an area to stage their vehicles,” said Sgt. Kirk Jackson, 381st job site supervisor from Valdosta, Georgia.

“Some of them are in pretty bad condition because of the rain; they’re washed out. A lot of them are really dusty. That’s another one of our missions out here is to provide support with our water distributor to lay water

Training Provides Essential Support

during River Assault By Staff Sgt. Debralee Best

58 October 2014

59 The Castle

on the road and keep the dust down when convoys are coming in and out.”

To complete their mission, the 381st uses a variety of heavy equipment. It is vital for the Soldiers to be able to operate the heavy vehicles so the first training the unit conducted when they arrived at Fort Chaffee, was equipment training and re-familiarization. The vehicles they trained on included a roller, wheeled loader, deployable universal combat earthmover, motorized road grader and the D6K dozer.

“Today we’re doing equipment training; just getting re-familiarized with the equipment and getting some of the new Soldiers who haven’t been on this equipment

before, getting them trained up so when they go out to the job sites they’ll be good to go,” said Jackson.

The grader is a newer model, which replaced the seven levers and steering wheel to operate the vehicle with two joysticks. Most of the Soldiers said they were unfamiliar with the new design and were excited to learn how to operate the vehicle.

“It’s got two joysticks, but there is just so much you can do with those joysticks,“ said Mary Daniels, 381st heavy equipment operator, also from Valdosta, after operating the grader. “I prefer the new one. I just need a little more operators training to get a better understanding. This is my first time on the new one. If I have more time, I think I can get it. I can get it down pat, I’m sure.”

The Soldiers are not only excited about training on the new vehicles, but also because the opportunities have been rare at home.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve been on our equipment because it’s been raining back home so we really can’t do a lot of stick time,” said Daniels. “Being out here it’s really nice great weather. “

Not only is the weather a blessing, but the Soldiers also said getting this training is important for their mission.

“It helps us get ready and makes us feel more confident in our jobs so when we do deploy we won’t be lost,” said Daniels. “We’ll know what we have to do with all our equipment.”

Sgt. Kirk Jackson, 381st Engineer Company, job site supervisor, backs Spc. Justin Marshall, 381st equipment operator, into a parking spot on a roller while conducting equipment training and re-familiarization during Operation River Assault at Fort Chaffee, Ark., July 15. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Debralee Best)

Sgt. Kirk Jackson, 381st Engineer Company, job site supervisor, watches Spc. Justin Marshall, 381st equipment operator, drives a roller while conducting equipment training and re-familiarization during Operation River Assault at Fort Chaffee, Ark., July 15. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Debralee Best)

Sgt. Kirk Jackson (right), job site supervisor, reviews the controls of the vehicle with Spc. Mary Daniels, heavy equipment operator, while training on the motor-ized road grader. The 381st Engineer Company Soldiers from Valdosta, Ga., conducted equipment training and re-familiarization during Operation River Assault at Fort Chaffee, Ark., July 15. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Debralee Best)

60 October 2014

FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, Calif. – Finding a place to park can be a headache, driving though a lot, eyes peeled, looking for that one empty spot.

The 417th Engineer Company (Horizontal), 854th Engineer Battalion, 411th Engineer Brigade, 412th Theater Engineer Command, is helping to alleviate that issue for the law enforcement Humvees and the aircraft at Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif., by providing civic improvements during Castle Installation Related Construction Aug. 6 to 19.

The company, from Bullville, New York, is currently working on two projects preparing the ground so contractors will be able to pour concrete in the coming weeks for a hanger pad and a parking pad for Humvees.

One platoon is focusing on the preparing the ground at the hanger site.

“We’re currently working on the earthwork for the Tusi Army airfield trying to get the subgrade

compacted to where we can start building up our lifts of stone to start preparing for a pad for a hanger,” said 1st Lt. Mark Oakley, 417th Engineer Company, airfield project officer-in-charge from New Windsor, New York.

The other platoon is also performing earthwork, but for different vehicle storage.

“We’re building a parking lot for the law enforcement agency. They’re looking for a place to park their Humvees,” said 2nd Lt. Holly Fitzgerald, 417th Engineer Company, Humvee parking lot project officer-in-charge, from Middletown, New York. “They’re currently on the unpaved lot so, we’re prepping a lot to be paved for closer storage.”

Oakley and Fitzgerald said the projects are going well, while there have been small challenges, the biggest issue is the soil.

“It’s been a little tough. The soil is not good to work with but we’re getting it done,” said Oakley. “I’m adding a lot of aggregate to it and getting it taken care of so it will meet compaction standards and we can start building up on it safely.”

While the soil may not be ideal, Oakley says learning with different soil types trains the Soldiers for a variety of locations.

“They’re getting to see how different soil types can effect the construction site and what lengths we have to go to,” sad Oakley. “These are techniques we don’t get to do in New York because the soil is a lot different. We can compact it easier so now they’re learning how to blend in the aggregate and the binding material to where we can get our compaction.”

417th Engineer Company Prepares Lots for Paving

By Staff Sgt. Debralee BestSpc. Justin Woods, a heavy construction equipment operator and a Jersey City, N.J. resident, prepares soil for compaction at Tusi Army airfield on Fort Hunter Liggett.

Heavy construction equipment operators with the 417th Engineer Company (Horizontal) compact soil for the construction of two pads as vehicle storage during Castle Installation Relation Construction at Fort Hunter Liggett.

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Oakley said he wanted the difficulty the airfield project provided.

“I knew what the project was, I’ve been to all the planning conferences. I got to pick my project even. I took this one because I knew it would be the challenge,” said Oakley. “I like challenges and my team likes challenges. I know what to expect from my guys. I knew if I gave them something hard they’d relish in it.”

Due to the scope of the project, the airfield pad was not on schedule. To make up for this the platoon worked two shifts, starting early in the morning and ending late into the night.

“Everybody is highly motivated,” said Oakley. “Even when we said we’d have to work until 11 p.m. and had to split our shift up everybody was like, ‘let’s do it,’ and just tackling the mission.”

While the Soldiers have long days, the equipment training is invaluable due to weather considerations at the company’s home station, according to Fitzgerald.

“The crew is highly motived, excited to get on the machines and get that time in,” said Fitzgerald. “Being from New York, half the months are wintertime and they don’t get to do a lot of actual construction. So, this is a good opportunity for them and we have a wide variety of machines for them to use. They’re excited, gung-ho and working hard.”

This training is not only good for the training value, but because the unit may have these types of projects when they return home.

“It’s beneficial because we have a lot of drivers training going on, so they get to use a wide variety of vehicles, then this will help back home,” said Fitzgerald. “We possibly have some similar construction operations at our own home site of clearing roads and areas.”

The unit is currently in their train ready one year in the Army Force Generation Cycle. This is their first training year in the five-year cycle. In four years the unit will be available for deployment.

Since this is their first training year, Fitzgerald sees this exercise as a baseline to build on in future exercises.

“It’s the basics, we can focus just on our unit’s tasks,” said Fitzgerald. “So, we have this foundation going, now we can add in the outside factors, adding security and more difficult operations like night operations and having enemy presence. So, it’s a good foundation that we can just focus on construction without any outside factors, then build up on them.”

While Fitzgerald is looking at future training, she is also watching her Soldiers working on the pad and is pleased with the work her team is accomplishing.

“I’m really impressed with the motivation and the hard work they’re putting in,” she said.. “We’ve been receiving good feedback and I have to attribute it all to the platoon. It’s been fun so far and I’m looking forward to the end result.”

Sgt. Vinnie Kyzims, a heavy construction equipment operator, shovels a ditch to keep newly dumped soil from spreading onto the pavement during Castle Installation Related Construction at Fort Hunter Liggett.

A heavy construction equipment operator prepares soil for the construction of two pads as vehicle storage during Castle Installation Relation Construction at Fort Hunter Liggett.

Army engineers Sgt. Zachary Wheeler, Spc. Adam Duell, Spc. Steven Drury, Spc. Johnathan Gause and Spc. Troy Rasmussen, of the 727th Engineer

Detachment, grade and pave 6,825 feet, or about one and a quarter mile, of road at simulated village located in the South Post area of Fort McCoy, Wis.,

as part of their annual training that will be used in the training of Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen during this year’s training cycle. (Photo by Sgt.

1st Class Darrin McDufford, 416th Theater Engineer Command)

Army engineer Sgt. Kevin Elder, noncommissioned officer in charge of the 727th Engineer Detachment, drives an asphalt paver over a portion of the 6,825 feet, or about one and a quarter mile, of road that has been built at a simulated village located in the South Post area of Fort McCoy, Wis. (Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Darrin McDufford, 416th Theater Engineer Command)

FORT MCCOY, Wis. - Operation Essayons 2014 came together June 14-28 through months of planning that involved installation, engineer units, and the Army Installation Management Command support.

Though the engineer motto is “Let us try,’ during this training mission there is no trying, just doing.

Operation Essayons 2014 came together June 14-28 through months of planning that involved installation, engineer units, and the Army Installation Management Command support.

The mission has a couple of goals with the first enabling engineers getting real-time, challenging and quality training and an end goal is for improved Soldier deployment readiness at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin.

“There are about 800 Soldiers here from seven units providing support,” said Cpt. Lawrence Lee, civil engineer with the 411th Engineer Brigade.

“Projects are created a year out through a combination of sources at Fort McCoy through the Department of Public Works and the Directorate of Plans, Training, Mobilization, and Security.”

“Operation Essayons saves the Army money, has troops training and doing their military occupational skills, and provides installations product renovations with a tangible value,” Lee added.

These offices have the responsibil-ity to serve Soldiers, Sailors, Air-men, Marines, Families, and De-partment of the Army civilians with an array of services and programs to support joint, interagency, inter-governmental and multi-national training requirements throughout the Army Force Generation cycle.

The missions involved a shower facility, road paving, electricity rewiring of a ski lift, building extension, convoy trail upgrade, and range walkways.

“One mission involved replacing the tent showers for male and females to be in one building that would accommodate about 40 users at Forward Operating Base Liberty at Fort McCoy,” said Staff Sgt. John Severson, noncommissioned officer-in-charge with the 327th Engineer Company, 397th Engineer Battalion, 372nd Engineer Brigade, 416th Theater Engineer Command, based in Onalaska, Wisconsin. “This facility replaces an old tented shower that has outlived it’s life-span. This will allow for updated facilities for Soldiers’ training here.”

“This training is assessment of our jobs. We face training challenges and this allows us to get there,” said Spc. Carmen Peterson, an interior electrician with the 327th Engineer Company.

Another project aimed to enhance training is road paving in a simulated village located on the south post area of Fort McCoy.

62 October 2014

Soldiers Build Roads, Buildings, Skills

at Operation EssayonsBy Sgt. 1st Class Darrin McDufford

63 The Castle 63

“This is our 3rd day paving about 6,825 feet or about one and a quarter mile of road. We used nearly 14 tons of asphalt, “ said Sgt. Kevin Elder, noncommissioned officer-in- charge of the 727th Engineer Detachment, 479th Engineer Battalion, 411th Engineer Brigade, 412th Theater Engineer Command, based in Penn Yan, New York.

The 727th has travelled the country providing their expertise in asphalt and road paving. Last year they supported Fort Hunter Ligget, California, building and repairing roads, paving a bus stop, and other projects, according to Spc. Troy Rasmussen, concrete and asphalt equipment operator, 727th Engineer Detachment.

“It is our mission to pave this road leading to the village that is to be used for convoy training,” said Spc. Johnathan Gause, concrete and asphalt equipment operator, 727th Engineer Detachment. “This exercise gives us practical experience and hands-on training. It’s a great opportunity.”

Staff Sgt. Tim Yahnke, non-commissioned officer-in-charge of the concrete masonry unit building a building at the same village said, “We’ve laid seven layers of bricks on an existing structure, the added triangle roof supports and finally we’re add the roof and shingles. This structure has taken about five days to complete.”

“Next year we will be going to El Salvador for annual training and this is great experience for these Soldiers doing their job constructing buildings,” Yahnke added.

Another project involved replacing the electrical wires for the Whitetail Ridge Ski Area. This project involves updating the electrical wire and runs for a 60-year-old plus ski lift with 30-year-old wires.

“We’ve had to dig a trench up the hill two-and-a-half feet deep for 1300 feet,” said Sgt. Patrick Alder, noncommissioned officer-in-charge, 327th Engineer Company. “All the wires for the lights and rollers need replacement. This

system has experienced electrical shorts due the minimum 6 feet of snow cover required for the ground.”

These projects are just a few of the items Fort McCoy requested on a list of items that are approved as part of the Army Forces Generation cycle through the United States Army Reserve Command that affords units the ability to train and meet the individual, crew, squad, and team levels.

“Planning conferences discuss projects that are designed to give engineers training in their military occupational specialties,” said Larry Morrow, troop project coordinator for the Directorate of Public Works at Fort McCoy. “This gives more diversity in training.”

He adds, this benefits Fort McCoy by giving a good training environment for the nearly 128,000 Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen that will train at Fort McCoy this year.

“Future projects are in development connecting the planning design and materials of ammunition storage, range support and post infrastructure improvement,” said Lee. “The technical expertise lies within the engineers to accomplish these tasks.”

Army engineers from the 327th Engineer Company, Onalaska, Wis., construct a building that will be used for training at a simulated village located on South Post, Fort McCoy, Wis. (Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Darrin McDufford, 416th Theater Engineer Command)

Sgt. Patrick Alder checks wires at the base of the ski lift that carries of thousands of guests to the top of the hill. (Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Darrin McDufford, 416th Theater Engineer Command)

FORT CHAFFEE, Ark. – The Soldiers drive slowly down the road, watching on either side for any indication of an improvised explosive device. They must make sure this road is clear.

These Soldiers are not in Afghanistan. They are training at Fort Chaffee, Ark., during Operation River Assault.

Soldiers with the 689th Engineer Company, 420th Engineer Brigade and 412th Theater Engineer Command’s Deployable Command Post, formed a route clearance team July 20.

“Today, we’re out here at the IED lane range,” said Sgt. Richard Berryman, a reconnaissance sergeant from Vicksburg, Mississippi, with the 412th TEC’s DCP. “What it is, is for combat engineers, our primary job overseas is to search and find improvised explosive devices and get rid of

them as safely as possible, not only for military personnel, but also for the civilian population over there.”

The units conducted two route clearance missions as well as improvised explosive device awareness training, medical training, weapon familiarization and a dismounted patrol.

“The troops did really well,” said Staff Sgt. David Rosado, a platoon sergeant with the 689th Eng. Company and a Kissimmee, Florida, resident. “The communication was outstanding, which is really key for route clearance. The tactics are a little rusty, but they kept communicating and adjusting as they went along, which is really key in route clearance.”

Soldiers in the units said they worked very well together.

“It’s worked out really well having all three units together,” said Berryman. “The 689th is the host of this lane and having the 420th and then us, 412th combat engineers there, they’ve really accepted us. The great thing about being engineers we all just fall into place and do our jobs as a family. We know our basic jobs and then we just contribute as best we can here and there.“

Not only did they fall in as a family, but this is great training for when Soldier are pulled from other

units to support or cross-leveled when the unit deploys.

“We got to throw in Soldiers from the 420th and the 412th TEC into the line platoons,” said Rosado. “You get cross-leveled Soldiers all the time so it’s pretty important to know how to communicate and talk to others, build that rapport with other Soldiers who are not part of your unit. So, I hope at the end of this exercise, the Soldiers have a couple more friends, a couple more battle buddies they can lean on for information and training.”

The lane is designed for route clearance engineers to preform their tactics, techniques and procedures and prepare them for any environment.

One Team: Building Bonds through IED Defeat

By Staff Sgt. Debralee Best

64 October 2014

U.S. Army Reserve Cpl. Randall Bruce, a combat engineer from Orlando, Fla., with the 689th Engineer Company, practices wrapping a wound on Spc. Jorge Fonzalez (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Debralee Best)

U.S. Army Reserve Spc. Stacy Glover, a combat engineer from Lakeland, Fla., with the 689th Engi-neer Company, reassembles a squad automatic weapon during weapon familiarization training. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Debralee Best)

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“The 689th has been deployed twice within last six, seven years, once to Iraq, once to Afghanistan, so we’re pretty familiar with some of the newer tactics Afghanistan has to offer,” said Rosado. The lane mixes both Iraq and Afghanistan so it throws some of the old stuff back into play.”

Not only is there a variety of experiences on the lane, but also in the vehicles driving through the lanes.

“We had a lot of new guys,” said Berryman. “We did quite well today as far as their inexperience. We do have some experienced people, such as myself, who have seen IEDs over in Iraq and Afghanistan, the different types. As far as running though it, everything went extremely well for our first scenario.”

While there was a mix of experienced and inexperienced Soldiers, there were even some Soldier who were in the mix to get a feel for what a combat engineer does and decide if they want to pursue that field.

Pvt. Derrick Benson, an intelli-gence analyst with the 412th TEC’s DCP from New Orleans, is one of those Soldiers.

“I’m cross-training right now.,” he said. “It’s possible if I could re-class, 12B [combat engineer] would definitely be at the top of the list after this training. It’s just more of an on-the-ground type job and it’s just cool watching things explode. It’s the heat of the moment, a lot of adrenaline and it’s good training.”

The leaders who went though the lane think this training is valuable for their future in route clearance.

“Those who have never seen it before, I think it’s beneficial to them because the way we actually do it here in training is the same thing they’ll see downrange,” said Spc. Dakota Perez, a combat engineer from Dallas, with the 420th Eng. Bde. “It’s never easy but it’s not hard to spot something. As long as they can spot out the obvious and the small things, they can get a bigger picture out of it.”

Not only is the training important for application, but it also is important for the experience of emotions.

“[The adrenaline rush] is there, especially for non-experienced personnel,” said Berryman. “It can definitely be a rush as far as mentality and heart racing and definitely catches you your first time out and even every time after that it still does. Primarily, that first time is what usually breaks Soldiers in on how to deal with the pace, what to do and what to do if it actually does detonate.”

Some Soldiers experienced this rush for the first time, but the experienced engineers’ goal is to make sure that adrenaline doesn’t take over.

“When we did take some course of action when something

U.S. Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Morton Pegues, an acting platoon sergeant from Orlando, Fla., with the 689th Enginier Company, directs the arm operator of the Buffalo mine-protected vehicle while Soldiers hone their skills during Operation River Assault. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Debralee Best)

U.S. Army Reserve Cpl. Mark Melvin, a squad leader from Orlando, Fla., with the 389th Engineer Company, explains the workings of an improvised explosive device during IED awareness training. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Debralee Best)

66 October 2014

happened, knowledge just started pouring through my head of what to do, stay calm, keep my guys calm, make sure they weren’t putting themselves out there in danger,” said Perez.

Leaders at the lane hope this training helps the interaction among the Soldiers.

“I would like the junior [noncommissioned officers] to

begin that leadership spot and they do that especially on a lane like this,” said Rosado. “They have to make decision and the lower enlisted get to see these corporals and sergeants making decisions on the spot, learning how to communicate, learning how to lead Soldiers in basic Soldier skills, Army Warrior Tasks and training. For us it’s part of that mission essential communication that everybody needs to know. So, hopefully by the end of this exercise, they’re going to know the fundamentals of what it takes to make decisions, on the spot, on the go, especially if an event happens.”

U.S. Army Reserve Sgts. Elvin Algarin (right), a Orlando, Fla., resident, and Andrew Breaux, from Titusville, Fla., squad leaders with the 689th Engineer Company, discuss their route clearance plan using rocks to represent convoy vehicles during Operation River Assault.(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Debralee Best)

Do you like taking photos or writing articles? If so, then PAO is looking for you!

Become a Unit Public Affairs Representative (UPAR) and help us get your unit’s Story out to our Soldiers, Families and civilian communities.

So what’s a UPAR? It’s an additional but exciting duty taken on by someonewho enjoys telling the Army Reserve Story through photos or articles about your Soldiers and Families. As a UPAR, you’ll help to expand your unit’s visibility in your local community and throughout the Army Reserve. As a UPAR, you’ll have plenty of exciting opportunities to get it done – whether it be taking photos at every command event or managing your unit’s websites and social media networks.

If this sounds like something you’ll be interested in taking on, please contact CPT Maryjane Porter, at Maryjane.porter.mil@mail.mil or SSG Debralee Best at debralee.p.best.mil@mail.mil for more information.

Public Affairs

FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, Calif. – Seeing your accomplishments can bring you a sense of joy and pride. One U.S. Army Reserve unit relives those achievements almost every year they attend their annual training.

The 674th Engineer Detachment (Asphalt), 479th Engineer Battalion, 411th Engineer Brigade, 412th Theater Engineer Command, has provided civic improvements at Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif., as part of Castle Installation Related Construction five of the past seven years and they are back again this year.

“It’s pretty neat to see your work when you come back, especially these big projects that really make a difference on post,” said Spc. Matthew Brown, heavy construction equipment operator, from Alburg, Vermont. “It seems like we’re able to contribute a little bit and help everyone out.”

While seeing the work they’ve done is exciting for the unit, they also have the shock of seeing the damage from other improvements.

“Actually it’s ironic, most of the stuff we’ve done has been torn up and had pipelines put through the middle so we’re going back through and capping them again,” said Cpl. John Benway, heavy construction equipment operator and site foreman from Jay, New York.

While it is bittersweet for the 674th Eng. Det. to see the work they’ve done torn up for other improvements, they have seen the growth of the base through their projects.

“It’s good to see the improvement. When we first came here it was only about 25 percent paved and now it’s about 75 percent paved on cantonment,” said Benway. “We’ve done most of the major projects.”

This year from Aug. 6 to 19, the unit is at Fort Hunter Liggett removing sidewalks to blend the road and parking lots for two bus stops, assisting

in recapping the Sam Jones culvert and repaving a parking lot.

“We’re just here to improve the post,” said Brown. “We’ve had other projects here, such as we paved the headquarters parking lot, Sulfur Springs Road, the commissary parking lot and over by the daycare. Seems like they like us so we keep coming back.”

While the 674th Eng. Det., out of Fort Drum, New York, is responsible for asphalt operations, only four Soldiers in the unit are asphalt and concrete specialist. Most of the unit’s Soldiers are trained as heavy equipment operators. While this may seem counter-productive, members of the unit find it works well.

“It’s almost like a free re-class,” said Brown. “We end up doing the [asphalt and concrete specialist’s] job and it’s the same for them, they get to run some of the heavy equipment too.”

Not only is it helpful in learning each other’s job, but having both military occupational specialties also helps during missions.

“Most of the time when we do prep work, what it comes down to is heavy equipment and their expertise comes into play when the asphalt gets here,” said Brown. “So, we are able to trade off and bounce ideas off each other based on the training we’ve received.”

674th Engineer Detachment Continues Civic Improvements for 5th YearBy Staff Sgt. Debralee Best

Soldiers with the 674th Engineer Detachment (Asphalt) remove a section of sidewalk at a bus stop during Castle Installation Related Construction Aug. 6 to 19 at Fort Hunter Liggett.

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While working together and bouncing ideas off each other is vital, Benway would like the Soldiers to also come out of this training with more passion for their Military Occupational Speciality.

I hope they actually enjoy it enough to want to stick with the MOS,” he said. “It’s a dying breed in the Army. I hope they actually see the benefit in it and the

improvements that can be made in other areas other than just here. There’s an awful lot of road the Army owns and there’s a lot of opportunities to improve other posts besides here.”

While Benway wants the Soldiers to leave with that passion, Brown thinks it came with the Soldiers to Fort Hunter Liggett.

Spc. Orrin Duyssen, from Rochester, N.Y., guides Bobcat driver Spc. Adam Shoenacker from Waterloo, N.Y., in to lift and remove a section of sidewalk dur-ing Castle Installation Related Construction Aug. 6 to 19 at Fort Hunter Liggett.

Soldiers Gain New Experiences on Weapons, VehiclesBy Staff Sgt. Debralee Best

FORT CHAFFEE, Ark. – The Army has a variety of weapons and vehicles Soldiers train to fire and drive, but some are a bit more exclusive.

The 449th Engineer Company and Forward Support Company, 478th Engineer Battalion trained on some of the less common weapons and vehicles during Operation River Assault at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas.

Vehicles comprise of the M9 Armored Combat Earthmover, the

M60A1 Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge and the M113 Armored Personnel Carrier. Weapons include hand grenades, Mossberg 500 shotguns, Mark 19 40 mm grenade machine gun, M2 machine gun, M240 machine guns and demolitions.

The shotgun range, held July 19, was one of the more exciting ranges for the Soldiers.

“I loved it,” said Sgt. Lindsay Schwab, a track mechanic from

U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Evan Peul, a squad leader, acts as a wall for Spc. Andrew Gula, a team leader, to demonstrate the proper stance while using cover during a Mossberg 500 shotgun qualification range July 19 at Fort Chaffee, Ark., as part of Operation River Assault. Both Cincinnati residents with the 449th Engineer Company assisted in overseeing the range. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Debralee Best)

“Believe it or not, we actually have fun paving. We make it as enjoyable as possible. It keeps us tight. This is

what we look forward to throughout the year: coming out here and having

fun doing our job. I think it’s pretty valued among the troops,”

said Benway.

68 October 2014

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Cincinnati, with Forward Support Company, 478th Engineer Battalion. “It was a little harder than what I thought as far as the recoil goes, but I liked it. I would definitely do it again.”

To qualify on the shotgun, Soldiers fired from five positions, including standing exposed and behind a bar-ricade, kneeling, and crouching. They received 10 rounds, two per target, which contain six to eight pellets. Qualification consisted of placing 16 pellets in a silhouetted target.

“Shotguns are part of ballistic breaching so it’s important to have people qualified on how to use it,” said Staff Sgt. Ryan Wood, a platoon sergeant from Cincinnati, attached to the 449th Engineer Company. “It’s also a weapon issued to a lot of units. It’s primarily used in security as a gate guard and things of that nature.”

Ballistic breaching is the use of a slug to penetrate a metal door or anything thicker than can be breached manually. The shotgun is used to destroy the hinges or a deadbolt.

Wood said many of the Soldiers probably hadn’t qualified with a shotgun and thought only a few ever used the weapon in the Army during urban operations training. While the Soldiers may not be experienced with the weapon, Wood is convinced this training is important to build on, even if they don’t qualify.

The shotgun may not be as easy for beginners as it looks, according to 1st Lt. Aubrey Smoot, a platoon leader from Raleigh, North Carolina attached to the 449th Engineer Company. Smoot said the most

difficult part of qualifying with the shotgun as opposed to other weapons is “adjusting for the recoil. If you haven’t fired a shotgun recently, it’s a stark difference between your M4 [carbine] or your M16 [rifle].”

While the recoil may be challenging for some, others find it’s an adrenaline rush.

Schwab said her favorite part of shotgun qualification was “feeling the power of it – the whole recoil and everything.”

Wood thinks giving Soldiers training on less common weapons and vehicles encourages the Soldiers.

“Motivation is up. Everyone is having fun. Take shotgun for instance,” said Wood. “They are getting a chance to do things. Either shoot a weapon or drive a vehicle they haven’t touched before. As long as we can keep that up, they’re happy.”

The Soldiers should stay happy with more weapon ranges and a demolition later in the week.

U.S. Army Reserve Sgts. Allen Hines (left), a squad leader and driver trainer from Lawrenceburg, Ky., attached to the 449th Engineer Company and Lindsay Schwab, a track mechanic from Cincinnati with Forward Support Company, 478th Engineer Battalion, attaches the target Schwab used during qualification with the Mossberg 500 shotgun. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Debralee Best)

U.S. Army Reserve Pvt. Daniel Pyles, a fueler from Loveland, Ohio, with Forward Support Company, 478th Engineer Battalion, fires the Mossberg 500 shotgun at his target during a qualification range. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Debralee Best)

U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Timothy Flightmaster, a squad leader and driver trainer from Cincinnati, attached to the 449th Engineer Company for Opera-tion River Assault, counts buckshot holes in a target during a qualification range with the Mossberg 500 shotgun. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Debralee Best)

“I know a lot of them aren’t going to get it on

the first try and unfortu-nately I don’t think we

have the rounds to allow a second try, but even if

they don’t qualify, at least they get their hands on a weapon they haven’t shot before and they build a little bit of confidence so maybe next time they get

a chance to get it,” said Wood.

70 October 2014

JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. – “Immediately I was like, oh, oh, I want to intervene. I need to intervene right now. Then I was like, ‘Can we stop this?’”

Those were the words and thoughts of Sgt. Juan Jackson, of Lakewood, Washington, as he watched a sergeant first class pat the rear end of another male Soldier several times. But it got worse. The sergeant first class didn’t stop at touching.

“I’ll help you pass, get you promoted. And if I help you, you can help me out,” he said.

Fortunately, this was just a setup to see how Jackson and other competitors in this year’s Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition might react to the scenario.

Moments before the event began, a cadre member warned the Warriors they were about to watch a scenario related to Sexual Harassment/Assault Response & Prevention, commonly known as SHARP in the Army community. SHARP is one of the top five priorities in the Army. Soldiers are required to train annually on the topic to recognize signs of harassment and sexual assault in the workforce and know what to do about it.

“There’s a lot of incidents right now [in the Army] and I think it needs to be brought out … These competitors that are here are supposed to be the best of the best, so it’s a way of seeing how well they know how the SHARP process goes, and what actions they should take if it happens in their presence,”

said Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Gibson, of Pearl, Mississippi, who played the role of the harassing noncommissioned officer (NCO) in the scenario. Gibson is the appointed harassment and assault victim’s advocate for the 412th Theater Engineer Command (TEC).

Competitors arrived three at a time to watch the role-play, which lasted only a few minutes. As they watched, a senior NCO graded another Soldier performing his pushups while wearing a physical fitness uniform. At one point, the Soldier’s butt came up too high in the air, making the pushup invalid.

“You’re doing it wrong,” said the sergeant first class. “Get your butt down,” and he would smack him two or three times, clearly audible in the frozen room.

That’s when Jackson tried to step in and stop it, but the instructors told him to let it play out. The level of discomfort was visible on every one of the competitors’ faces.

“It was badness all over,” said Jackson of the harassing behavior. Jackson is a corrections officer with the 493rd Military Police Company, and is representing the 416th TEC in this year’s competition.

Finally, once the scenario ended, the Soldiers were divided and asked questions about what happened, and what they could have done to intervene. Each one answered, making the distinction between harassment and assault, a line that is often blurred when sexual contact is made. Then they answered the process of

Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Gibson, of Pearl, Mississippi, pretends to argue with Sgt. 1st Class Fredrick Conley, of Vicksburg, Mississippi, during a sexual assault and harassment presentation to test Soldiers from the 2014 Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition at Fort Dix, N.J., during the 2014 Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret)

Best Warrior Competition Throws a

SHARP Curve-ball at Soldiers before Events Begin

By Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret

The Castle 71

reporting an incident, the difference between a restricted or unrestricted report, and other steps they could take to protect fellow Soldiers from this behavior.

“I honestly had no idea it was going to happen. It was a shock,” said Spc. Rahman Gholston, of Lakewood, Washington, an air defense battle management systems operator for the 301st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, also representing the 416th TEC.

The event, in fact, was secretly known as “Mystery Event Zero.” It was thrown into the mix right after the first briefing as a way to keep competitors on their toes. According to the competition schedule, most Soldiers thought events wouldn’t start until the next morning. They were wrong.

The scenario was drawn up intentionally to involve two males to remind Soldiers that harassment doesn’t have a narrow field.

“From my experience, male on male sexual assault is the least reported because we’re in the Army, and it’s all about [being] macho. Many men do not report it, so we’re just trying to bring that to light,” said Sgt. 1st Class Fredrick Conley, who played the role of the harassed Soldier and is the sexual assault response coordinator for the 412th TEC.

When the term “Best Warrior” is tossed around, it’s easy to imagine Soldiers being tested on

rifle marksmanship, physical fitness and board presentation. SHARP knowledge is often overlooked in the mix of what makes up a complete Soldier. If forgotten, however, harassment and assault can destroy a unit.

“We operate as a team,” said Jackson. “The trust, the morale, it all goes to waste, and then the Soldier doesn’t want to work. The relationship he has with his peers is violated.”

Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Gibson, of Pearl, Mississippi, makes inappropriate sexual contact with Sgt. 1st Class Fredrick Conley, of Vicksburg, Mississippi, during a sexual assault and harassment presentation to test Soldiers from the 2014 Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition at Fort Dix, N.J., during the 2014 Army Reserve Best Warrior Competition. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Michel Sauret)

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