Forced to shrink, Army National Guard gets picky

By Meghan Barr, Associated Press
Posted September 3, 2009 at 12:05 a.m.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Suffer from a bad case of acne? That could disqualify you from joining the Army National Guard. Too many speeding tickets? In today's slimmer, smarter Guard, that could keep you out, too.

Under pressure from the Pentagon to trim its ranks, the Guard has been quietly phasing in new restrictions that make it harder to enlist.

"To get in now, you have to be the cream of the crop," said Sgt. 1st Class Brian Clum, a recruiter in Ohio.

Military officials portray the cutbacks as an effort to trim excess from a Guard force that was bloated from years of successful recruiting, especially during the recession.

Under restrictions issued by the National Guard's top recruiting commander early this year, the maximum enlistment age was lowered from 42 to 35. And the minimum score on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Test, the exam required by all branches of the military, was raised for the Guard from 31 to 50 out of a possible 100.

Also, the Guard stopped forgiving potential recruits for offenses such as theft, assault, driving under the influence or chronic lawbreaking. And it stopped issuing medical waivers, which allowed recruits to be admitted despite health problems as serious as an extreme food allergy and as minor as a painful bout of acne.

In addition, the Guard's budget for bonus money has been cut. While most recruits since 2006 got $20,000 just for signing up, now only a precious few are eligible for any bonus money at all.

Col. Mike Jones, the Guard's top recruiting commander, said a higher percentage of applicants are being turned away compared with just a few years ago, though he would not give precise figures.

For some recruiters, the shrinking Guard is a source of frustration and envy, particularly since the regular Army is growing.

"We literally turn people away every day that want to serve and we can't take them," said Lt. Col. Anthony Abbott, recruiting commander for the Georgia Army National Guard.

It's an about-face from just a few years ago, when the Guard embarked on a recruiting rush with the start of the Iraq war. In 2003, the Guard was at its lowest strength in history with about 330,000 members, down from an all-time high of 457,000 in 1989.

In May, the Guard accepted 3,026 recruits, compared with 5,311 in May 2008. But the Guard gave no figures on how many men and women applied.

John Pike, director of the military think tank Globalsecurity.org, said the government is trying to reduce the outcry over the heavy use of the Guard in the Iraq war and wants to return the force to its original part-time status.

"They used the Guard a lot more than they had planned several times in Iraq just because that was all they had," Pike said.

The tougher enlistment standards may have worked all too well. In June and July, the Guard failed to meet its recruiting goals because of what Jones said may have been a combination of the worsening bloodshed in Afghanistan and the higher standards.

In fact, over the past couple of weeks, Jones told Guard commanders in 40 states they are free to reverse some of the restrictions.

"We might have cut a little too deep, too fast," Jones said.

Is Pentagon responding to public anger?

There are suspicions inside the Guard and out that the reductions are part of an effort to shift the burden of fighting overseas onto the active-duty Army and ease the public outcry over the way that Guard units -- part-time soldiers normally called into action during hurricanes and other disasters at home -- have been sent on long, repeated combat tours in Iraq.

In fact, while the Pentagon has cut the National Guard by about 9,000 soldiers to 358,200 over the past six months or so, the nearly 549,000-strong active-duty Army is under orders to recruit 70,000 new soldiers by the end of September and 22,000 more in the coming fiscal year as the fighting in Iraq winds down and the war in Afghanistan escalates.

— Associated Pr

Georgia Soldiers engage Afghan tribal leaders

NANGARHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Dec. 2, 2009 – Soldiers of Calhoun’s 1st Battalion, 108th Cavalry and their Afghan partners bedded down for the night on Nov. 18 at the Afghan National Police Achin District Center here in preparation for a meeting with Shinwari tribal elders and Afghan security personnel.

Guard plays host to Cobb ‘commanders’

MARIETTA, Nov. 10, 2009 – Guardsmen at General Lucius D. Clay National Guard Center and Dobbins Air Reserve Base, played host recently to members of the Cobb County Honorary Commanders Class of 2009.

This is the second time the two organizations have gotten together since the Guard’s move to the former Naval Air Station (NAS) Atlanta last year. As a Cobb County Chamber of Commerce program, The Honorary Commanders have been visiting the Guard and Reserves for at least a decade branch to become more familiar with each.

During their day-long tour, the group of 22 area businessmen and community leaders received briefings about the Army and Air Guard’s role – at home and abroad – and had the opportunity to meet, and talk, with Soldiers and Airmen.

“Thank you for what you do every day in supporting our organization, our Guardsmen and the military as a whole,” MG Terry Nesbitt, Georgia’s Adjutant General told the group during their morning briefings. Nesbitt, along with Maj Gen Scott Hammond, commander, Georgia Air National Guard; BG Maria Britt, commanding general, Georgia Army Guard; and COL Mike Scholes, Georgia Guard director of operations they spoke with the group about the Guard’s capabilities, its mission, vision and core values.

Staff members also discussed current and future operations and community support missions.

“I, we, applaud you for taking the time to be here, and for showing interest in who we are and what we do,” Britt told the group. “Thanks to all of you, and everyone else who, ‘gets it.’”

Once the briefings ended at Guard Headquarters, the honorary commanders boarded a bus and visited the 4th Civil Support Team and Georgia’s Counterdrug Task Force.

Later they received presentations on the Air Guard’s StarBase Program, which focuses on elementary students, primarily fifth graders. The goal of this program at Dobbins and at Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins, is to motivate students to explore science, technology, engineering and math as they continue their education through “hands-on, mind-on” activities.

The group also received information on the Guard’s Youth ChalleNGe (YCA) Program. With a campus at Augusta’s Fort Gordon and Hinesville’s Fort Stewart, YCA’s 22-week curriculum targets Georgia’s at-risk teens, age 16 to 18, through a program that teaches them such things as academics, life-coping skills and responsible citizenship. It helps them achieve their high school equivalency degree.

 Victoria Turkey, director of marketing and corporate relations for Prime Power Services Inc., in Austell, said she and many among her group learned much about the Guard during their visit.

“All of us [Honorary Commanders] are pro-military, and as much as every service member serves our state and our nation, we serve them,”said Turkey, a retired Marine Corps gunnery sergeant. “And as we support the service member, we also support his, or her family members.

“The more we know, , about the military, the better we can assist them all whenever they need us,” she added.

South Carolina Guardsmen Go Home for Christmas

COLUMBIA, S.C. - About 200 South Carolina Army National Guard men and women will come home for the holidays now that $35,000 has been raised for their bus transportation from Wisconsin.

A spokeswoman for Lowe's Home Improvement of Mooresville, N.C., says the firm chipped in $25,000 to bring the troops home for their 10-day leave.

Julie Yenicheck said Thursday the firm heard from its employees about the soldiers. Private donations are needed because federal regulations bar soldiers from traveling at government expense while they are on leave.

The group includes members of the 1222nd Combat Engineers from Fort Mill and individual volunteers who were training at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin.

LTC Anthony Abbott Commands 1-214th FA

Story by Spc. Curtis Porter III
124th MPAD

ELBERTON, Saturday, June 10, 2006 – Georgia’s 1st Battalion, 214th Field Artillery received its new commander and said “so long” to the officer leaving that position. Family, friends and officials, both local and state filled the drill hall of the Calhoun Highway armory to capacity.

Taking the reins of the 214th is Lt. Col. Anthony Abbott of Dacula. Abbott, full-time state training administrator for Joint Forces Headquarters Plans and Operations in Ellenwood, commanded the 170th Military Police Battalion headquartered in Decatur on the M-Day side before taking over the 214th. He’s been a Guardsman for a little over 18 years.

Lieutenant Col. Woodrow “Woody” S. Radcliffe, leaves the unit and moves on to Carlisle Barracks, Pa., where he will attend the Army War College. Besides having commanded the 214th, Radcliffe is the former commander of Savannah’s 3rd ID Detachment, which deployed to Iraq in 2003 to support Operation Iraqi Freedom.

With the passing of the 214th guidon from the old to the new commander, Abbott stepped to the podium and made it clear that he expects much from his Soldiers, especially his noncommissioned officers.

“While I’m here, we’re going to train for war, prepare for disaster and take care of soldiers,” he said to the audience and the Soldiers assembled before him. “Everything we do in keeping ourselves physically and mentally prepared for whatever the mission may be is of the utmost importance.

“But to be ready also means making sure our Soldiers and their families have their problems dealt with because each is important to accomplishing that mission successfully,” he went on. “That’s why I expect my NCOs to ‘lead from the front and by example,’ and to remember that ‘Soldiers Matter.’”

Abbott completed his remarks by wishing his predecessor well on his newest endeavor, and by thanking Brig. Gen. Larry H. Ross, commander 78th Troop Command in Decatur, for his support and having confidence in Abbott’s leadership abilities.

Yellow Ribbon Program Helps Soldiers and Families Cope

WASHINGTON (10/6/09) - An Army National Guard program is credited with helping tens of thousands of Soldiers and their families cope better with deployment in the two years since it started in Minnesota.

Sgt. Maj. Robert Brown, Yellow Ribbon Program coordinator for the National Guard Bureau, touted the program's success to an audience attending a Sergeants Corner presentation at the Association of the United States Army Annual Meeting here last week.

The program was started in 2007 to help members of the 34th Infantry Division of the Minnesota Army National Guard, which had been deployed for 23 consecutive months, Brown said.

The 2008 National Defense Authorization Act then mandated a national combat veteran reintegration program for the National Guard and Reserve, Brown said.

“In 2008, the National Guard had over 110,000 attendees at events,” he said. “Fiscal year 2009 to date we’ve done over 1,000 Yellow Ribbon pre-, during- and post-mobilization events and … we’ve had over 140,000 attendees. [For] 2010, the way ahead is to break the 200,000 mark.”

The Army National Guard Yellow Ribbon Program is a cooperative network of military services, veteran service organizations, state government departments and other agencies that provide information, resources, referral and outreach to Soldiers, spouses and children throughout all mobilization phases, Brown said.

“Yellow Ribbon is to make Soldiers and their families self-reliant and resilient through the entire deployment cycle,” Brown said. “[NCO] involvement is the key to success. Nobody knows our Soldiers and their families better than the noncommissioned officers.”

Suicide prevention, medical benefits, counseling, school support, youth programs, reintegration and employer support are among numerous issues addressed by the Yellow Ribbon Program.

The program includes events for Soldiers and their families before, during and after deployment. It particularly targets geographically dispersed Army National Guard families for support, Brown said.

At a minimum, Soldiers and family members who attend events leave briefed on their benefits and connect with family readiness groups and family assistance centers, Brown said.

Some 342 National Guard family assistance centers across the United States help servicemembers from all components and have handled 1.3 million cases so far, Brown said.

“Our Soldiers and veterans [are] great Americans,” Brown said. “They’ve answered the call. It’s our responsibility to take care of Soldiers and their family members from here on out.”

HooahMail means speedy delivery of letters to Afghanistan

Nov 23, 2009

By C. Todd Lopez

World War II soldiers read mail from home.

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Nov. 23, 2009) -- The Army's HooahMail program makes it possible for friends and family members to put a paper letter and photograph into the hands of their loved ones in Afghanistan, in some cases, on the same day it's sent.

The one-year pilot program is scheduled to begin Dec. 1 and makes use of the Internet combined with physical mail delivery to create a hybrid mail system that can get letters into the hands of Soldiers in remote locations much faster than regular mail delivery alone.

"This gives Soldiers actual printed correspondence that is sent from their family members that they can take out on a mission with them and read and reread again," said Bill Hilsher, Army postal program manager.

Family members that want to send a letter and a photograph to a Soldier in Afghanistan would log into the program's Web site at www.hooahmail.us. There, they type in their message and attach a digital photo. They also add delivery information for their Soldier, as though they were addressing a paper envelope.

Their electronic letter is sent via the Internet to one of 10 locations in Afghanistan where special equipment will automatically print it, fold it, stuff it into an envelope, address it, and seal it. The sealed envelopes are then placed into the regular intra-theater APO mail delivery system.

Hilsher said depending on where Soldiers are in Afghanistan, the paper letter from home could be in their hands the same day as mother sent it, or it could take as many as four days. A paper letter sent directly from the states takes much longer, Hilsher said.

"Compared to traditional mail ... it reduces it from an average of 14 days down to same-day or next-day, ready for delivery," he said.

The HooahMail program is free for family members and friends, and is available for Soldiers in Afghanistan only.

Hilsher said the Army postal service expects the program to benefit the service during the holiday season, when it typically sees increases in mail traffic.

"During the holiday season, that's your busiest time and this is going to augment that system," he said. "It'll give friends and families a way to send a message to their loved ones in a timely manner for the holiday season."

Hilsher also said he thinks the improved delivery time will have a positive effect on Soldier morale.

Service for the Army's HooahMail pilot program is provided by "SuperLetter," which provides similar services to the British military for its "e-Bluey" program and the U.S. Marine Corps for its "Motomail" program.

Guard brings agriculture expertise to Afghanistan

FORWARD OPERATING BASE GARDEZ, Afghanistan (Sept. 16, 2009) -- In the 1970s, Afghanistan was a major exporter of produce, but since the 1979 Soviet invasion and the subsequent Taliban rule after the Soviets left the country, the nation's agricultural output has decreased dramatically.

Key to the nation's recovery is a self-sustaining economy based on agriculture, said Maj. James W. Thompson, an engineering advisor with the Tennessee agribusiness development team.

To help with that effort, the Defense Department worked with the National Guard to deploy agribusiness development teams to Afghanistan to help Afghans rebuild their agriculture infrastructure.

The program is about two years old. It started with just a handful of states in the first year and now has 14 states participating, Thompson, a Louisville, Ky., native, said.

The Tennessee team is responsible for Paktia province and parts of western Paktika province. The team, all volunteers from the Tennessee Army National Guard, includes 12 soldiers with an agriculture background and a security team.

Afghanistan is about 100 years behind the United States in agriculture production, Sgt. Robert Moore, the agronomist specialist for the team, said. Three decades of war have resulted in major losses in agriculture production. The country once exported about 60 percent of its apple crop and a vast majority of other produce; now it imports much of its produce from Pakistan and other countries, officials said.

The team helps Afghans rebuild by assessing needs and implementing projects to meet those needs. "We try to figure out how we can help best improve what they already have," Thompson said. The team has about 35 projects under way, he added.

The projects range from building new greenhouses and rechanneling waterways for irrigation to expanding the beekeeping industry that is vital to the pollination of plants, said Moore, a Lavinia, Tenn., native.

The projects in Paktia province will add to the quality of life for Afghans while increasing income and revitalizing part of the agriculture sector, he said. However, he added, people may not see a change right away.


"Future [agribusiness teams] will come behind us and continue with those, as well as start their own projects with the assessments we've done," Moore said. Some of the projects will take two to three years to bring about change, he explained, but they're designed to have a long-term effect.

"I do believe that the mission of the [agribusiness team] is the main effort for the success for Afghanistan," he said.

(Army Sgt. Warren W. Wright Jr. serves with the 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.)

Sgt. Philip L. Wallace takes measurements of a cool-storage unit during a quality assurance inspection in the Ahmedabad district of Afghanistan's Paktia province, Sept. 8, 2009. The team supervises and funds more than 40 agriculture-related projects in Paktia province to help build Afghanistan's infrastructure.


Photo credit Sgt. Warren W. Wright Jr.

Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

 "Guard should not return to how things were before 2001"

 Nov 24, 2009

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy  National Guard Bureau

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Nov. 23, 2009) -- As operations in Iraq and Afghanistan change over the next few years, the National Guard should not be allowed to revert back to being simply a strategic reserve, said Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Mullen, speaking to an audience at the National Guard's Joint Senior Leadership Conference here Nov. 19, referred to the dramatic changes undergone by the Guard since 2001, as it transformed from a strategic reserve to an operational force.


"Without leadership, we will snap back - in too many areas - to the way it was," he said. "So we have to look to the future and lead to the future, taking advantage of who we are, what we've become and what we think those challenges (in the future) will be."

Mullen said he's considering how the military's force structure should look after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I've started to ask the question -- well, what's after Iraq and Afghanistan?" said Mullen. "What does the force look like? How do we make sure that the lessons that we've learned, the best combat force we have ever fielded ... how do we make sure we retain the right individuals, how do we train them? How do we educate them? And what does it look like, and particularly on the Guard side, what does it look like in the future?"

Mullen said he foresees some sort of strategic reserve, but that the operational structure needs to be there as well.

"I believe we should have some level of strategic reserve," he said. "And yet, we have to have an operational response that keeps that strategic reserve healthy, tied to a training regimen and a preparation regimen that takes advantage of who we are and who we've become in these two wars and looks to a future that leverages that in preparation for what might be coming down the road."

That does not mean a return to how things were before 2001, he said, "The only thing I would caution against is, as we look to a future ... where the deployments aren't as high as they are right now, the one thing I don't want to do is ... reset to 2000," he said.

Mullen said that the transition in the Guard has been "absolutely spectacular."
"I've seen an awful lot of troops in theater ... who ... unless somebody told me they were in the Guard or the Reserve or active, I couldn't tell because in the fight, everybody is the same: side by side, shoulder to shoulder and making such a difference."

Mullen said that maintaining that high level of readiness in the future comes down to leadership.

"Leading in a time of change - if you've spent any time in leadership - is the hardest kind of leadership there is," he said. "And it is leadership that has been very well executed here and will need to be in the future."

Ready! Aim! Qualify!

FORT BENNING, Columbus – More than 240 Georgia Army National Guardsmen from units belonging to Metter’s 265th Regional Support Group (RSG) converged on a firing range here to improve their skills as riflemen during annual weapons qualification Nov. 6, to 8, 2009.


   Firing a total of more than 16,000 rounds of M16 rifle ammunition and 200 rounds of 9mm pistol ammunition, Soldiers  totalling about 70 percent qualified with their weapons. Those who didn’t qualify will receive remedial training back at their home stations, and then re-qualify with the 265th when it conducts its own weapons qualifications in May 2010.

The transportation and maintenance units that comprise the RSG include the 1148th Heavy Transportation Company, also from Metter; the 1177th Transportation Company from LaGrange; the 1230th Transportation Company based in Bainbridge; and Columbus’ 82nd Maintenance Company and 110th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion (CSSB).

LTC April Asher, the 265th’s operations and training officer, said this is the first time the RSG and its elements have conducted weapons qualification together. Asher, a 22-year Georgia Army Guard veteran, is the Guard’s full-time deputy personnel officer.

“This was a great opportunity for our commander, COL Craig McGalliard, and his staff to bring together our subordinate units, most of which have had weapons training as individual elements but never in conjunction with the main headquarters,” Asher said.

“It’s not only helped our Guardsmen get in some great, and necessary, weapons training, it also allowed the colonel to share his command philosophy with his Soldiers on a more personal level,” she added.

Another advantage to the weekend was that it prepared these troops for possible deployment, and the chance to enhance their transportation skills – something they most certainly would be doing at home or abroad.

As the weekend progressed, all the units in the 265th had specific tasks assigned to them.
The 82nd, for example, had to qualify, and it assisted with range operations.

1SG James Sites, the company’s senior enlisted Solider, said he’s proud of how well his unit did. Sites, who lives in Hinesville, is a full-time military technician with the Guard at Fort Stewart.

“Personally speaking, my Soldiers did an outstanding job. Not only did they have to qualify, but they also managed three of the weapon ranges,” Sites explained. He added that he felt the overall mission they were given was a great success.  “Our unit worked well with the others, and we feel we’re more than up to the task of providing great support to anyone who needs us,” he said proudly.
SSG Marcus Wise, materials controller for the 82nd, was responsible for Preliminary Marksmanship Instruction (PMI) at the range. “My job is to make sure the soldiers understand how to properly sight, and safely fire their weapon to ensure their success in qualifying,” Wise said.
 Many members of the 265th said they felt that this weekend helped them achieve a greater level of communication with each other, as well as see what they needed to improve as individual Soldiers.

SSG Wade Taylor, from La Grange’s 1177th, said this was his fourth time qualifying with his unit. But, like many of his fellow Guardsmen, it was his first with the 265th and the other units. Taylor, a reinforcing steel operation manger from Lawrenceville, has more than 17 years with the National Guard, 14 of those in the Virginia Army Guard.

“I doubt you can find anyone who’d tell you this wasn’t great training,” Taylor said.

While she watched several Soldiers come off the firing line, Asher said she’s confident the main objectives set out by McGalliard and his staff for this three-day training period were met many times over.

“Getting people here, getting them on the range and getting as many as we did qualified with their individual weapons are reasons for saying, ‘Mission Accomplished.” she added.

With the training weekend over, the next step is getting these Citizen-Soldiers back to their families and their civilian jobs. Asher said she had no doubts that would be accomplished with the same success as the first-ever combined weapons qualifications for the 265th and its subordinate units.

48th Infantry Brigade (Enhanced) (Mechanized) "Old Gray Bonnet"

The mission of the 48th Infantry Brigade (Separate) (Mechanized), is to mobilize, conduct post mobilization training, and deploy rapidly to a contingency area by air, sea, and land to conduct mobile combined offensive and defensive operations worldwide.

The 48th Infantry Brigade (Enhanced) (Mechanized) was originally organized on April 23, 1825, at Macon as the Macon Volunteers, Georgia Volunteer Militia. It mustered into Federal service on February 18, 1836, at Picolata, FL, as Captain Seymor's Company, 1st Battalion Georgia Volunteers.

The unit was mustered into Confederate service on April 20, 1861 at Macon, GA. It reorganized on April 11, 1872 at Macon, GA, as the Macon Volunteers. It was rdesignated on December 21, 1899, as Georgia State Troopers; and on October 1, 1905 as the Georgia National Guard.

The unit was drafted into Federal Service in August 1917 as Company B, 151st Machine Gun Battalion, an element of the 42nd Division. It demobilized in May 1919 at Camp Gordon, GA.

It was inducted into Federal service on September 16, 1940 at Macon, and was and redesignated on February 24, 1942 as the 30th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop while remaining assigned to the 30th Infantry Division. It inactivated on November 17, 1945.

From 1945 to 1973, the Brigade underwent a series of redesignations culminating in its current form, the 48th Infantry Brigade. The unit was inducted into Federal service on November 30th, 1990 at Fort Stewart, GA. It demobilized on April 10, 1991 at Fort Stewart, GA.

More than 4,500 members of the unit were mobilized in 1990 to participate in Desert Storm. The unit successfully completed the most intensive training ever conducted at the Army's National Training Center in California, and was first and only National Guard combat brigade validated as combat ready for the Gulf War. The conflict ended before the brigade was employed in the Persian Gulf.

In June 1999, the 48th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized) became part of the newly re-flagged 24th Infantry Division.

The unit also has a training associate relationship with the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized).

Elements of the 48th Infantry Brigade deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina for Stabilization Force (SFOR) Rotation 9 to provide support operations for Task Force Eagle (United States contingent to United Nations Operations in support of Dayton Peace Accord). The SFOR9 rotation was scheduled from April to October 2001. The Georgia units were mobilized under a Presidential Selective Reserve Call Up. While other National Guard units have participated in the Bosnia operations in the past, the 48th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized) will be among the first National Guard combat units of this size and capability to take over such a large and significant portion of this mission.

On April 20, 2006, at Ft. Stewart, GA, more than 4,000 members of the Georgia National Guard’s 48th Infantry Brigade returned home after a year of combat operations in Iraq. The April 20th arrival marked the first of nearly a dozen flights over the subsuquent four weeks that brought the soldiers back to Georgia.

Exportable Combat Training Capability, known as XCTC

CAMP BLANDING JOINT TRAINING CENTER, Fla. (Nov. 27, 2009)

By Sgt. Christopher Milbrodt, Florida Army National Guard


- In the midst of a nondescript Middle Eastern-style village, 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team Soldiers interact with the local inhabitants the same as they have done day in and day out on routine patrols.

Today, however, something feels different. You can describe all the little things that make you feel that way: the hairs on your neck, that pit in your stomach, or even the fidgeting that at this point you can't stop. No matter what it is, something isn't right.

You look to your buddy for validation of your feelings, and as he acknowledges, BOOM! Chaos erupts as a car explodes and gunfire bursts from a house down the street. Now your mind clears and your body calms down, and all that remains is your training and muscle memory of your tasks at hand.

This engagement didn't take place on some foreign battlefield, and no one was injured. It was just simulations and blanks. This isn't simply a training event, but a true learning experience from which to build - provided through the Exportable Combat Training Capability, known as XCTC.

While these scenarios unfold, subcontractors monitor the movement and actions of each Soldier and establish a high-tech "overwatch" to help even the individual Soldier understand what went right and what went wrong.

XCTC is taking the National Guard to a new level of readiness.

In 2006 at Camp Atterbury, Ind., the principal exercise of XCTC was conducted to demonstrate the type of training to be offered. The 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team is participating here in the seventh rotation of XCTC's training package since its inception. Each rotation, consisting of 21 days or more, is completely customized and tailored to unit mission and requirements. Previously, this type of training was available only at a select few training installations, and most National Guard units did not have the resources to attend.

As part of the ever-changing overseas contingency operations, XCTC brings the most up-to-date theater-specific training to mobilizing Army National Guard units. This approach to mobilization training cuts down on the time spent at mobilization sites and increases the amount of time units can actively support combat commanders.

The XCTC was designed to fill a capabilities gap in training set forth by Army training strategy that the Army could not provide to Guard units. The National Guard Bureau, along with a team from Stanford University, used the Army's training criteria to develop a program that could fill the void.

The XCTC is available only to deployable expeditionary force brigades headed into combat threat areas such as Iraq and Afghanistan. "We work our way down, and we get those [units] that we think fit the model, but you don't get it unless you're deploying to theater," said Col. Rob Moore, chief of the National Guard Bureau's training division. "It is tailored and pinpoint training."

With this new tool, the Army National Guard is able not only to meet, but also to exceed, prior training expectations and standards put in place by the Army. "We know that units that use XCTC accomplish at least 82 percent of all their required tasks for deployment," Moore said.

Total immersion training is what XCTC brings to the units receiving the training package. Soldiers are surrounded by the look, smell, sound, feel and taste of their projected combat tour.

"I believe that increased use of modeling and simulation - and using them with greater effectiveness - will be essential for all reserve components to increase and maintain their combat readiness," said Dennis M. McCarthy, assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs.

As part of this immersion, Soldiers interact with American and foreign-national role players to make the exercise as real as possible.

"It's a great pleasure to be able to do what I do," said Thomas Cottle, a volunteer role player from Madison, Fla. "I interact with Soldiers, but I also interact with Iraqi citizens and citizens from other countries as well who speak Arabic. We're helping make this training exercise more realistic for the Soldiers."

Michael LiDondici, managing field director of Allied Container Systems which oversees the role players, said many 53rd Infantry Brigade Soldiers have demonstrated a high level of knowledge of Iraqi culture during the training. He attributes this to the fact that many of the Soldiers wear combat patches and have already deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

"The role players have been absolutely critical to our training success," said Col. Richard Gallant, commander of the 53rd. "From working with interpreters to managing the cultural and religious differences, they have created a level of realism we generally don't see prior to deployment."

The appreciation of the level and quality of training extends not only to the leadership, but also to the most important element of the equation: the Soldier.

"The training we've had so far has been very beneficial," said Pfc. Alistair Salesman, a member of the 53rd. The integration and use of Iraqi nationals, coupled with the complete immersion of the environment, helps to bring valued experience and an ability to better learn the tasks at hand, the Soldier added.

As the Soldiers maneuver through the mock village, they understand the significance of being engulfed in the surrounding culture. While their environment is chaotic, they understand they have to differentiate between the friendly populace and those who would do harm.

"So far, it's going great. We're learning a lot of across-the-board tactics," said Pvt. Eric Alapont, a nursing student from Orlando. "It's really an eye-opener as to what we might expect overseas, given not every town is hostile."

As the brigade finalizes its Florida training before leaving for its active-duty mobilization station, the sense is that the Soldiers are more confident in their ability to get the job done when they deploy early next year, and in their prospects of coming back safely.

Lt. Col. George Rosser, commander of 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment, exudes the confidence his Soldiers gained through the training.

"The XCTC portion of [the training] this last week really brings a lot of resources we can't get otherwise, with the civilians on the battlefield and the villages," he said. "That adds a lot more realism, and makes the training that much better for the Soldiers.

"I'm absolutely confident in my Soldiers," he continued. "We've deployed this battalion and this brigade twice already. ... We have an extensive amount of combat experience."

Rosser said the goal is simple: "Bring everyone home alive, having completed the mission."

Reunion held at National Guard Armory

Gathering for the third annual reunion of Company E, 1st Battalion, 122nd Infantry (TLAT) were (first row, l-r) Tim Crook, Leon Taylor, Fred Evans, Sheldon Davis; (second row) Billy Chafin, Bobby Hill, Coleman Kennedy, Jene Moore, Ross Williamson; (third row) Allen Johnson, Samuel Dunn, Edmond Bryant, Ricky Maxwell; (fourth row) James Cullars, Donald Hulin and Tommy Thaxton. The reunion was held at the Washington National Guard Armory on Sunday, September 27. Family members joined the Company for a barbecue dinner. The unit was deactivated in September, 1992

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