Courtesy Photo | More than 4,000 military personnel are taking part in Golden Coyote 2014.... read more read more
RAPID CITY, S.D. - Golden Coyote is underway for the 30th year in a row and this edition of the annual training exercise is one of the largest in its history.
Approximately 4,400 service members from all over the United States and five allied nations are taking part in Golden Coyote 2014, considered to be one of the premier military training exercises in the country.
The 45 individual units taking part in the two-week exercise are comprised of 35 National Guard units, four Army Reserve units and one unit each from the Navy Reserve and active duty Air Force. The allied nations represented are Canada, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Germany and Suriname.
“Golden Coyote provides real-world operability between the different units here in the United States and our allied nations,” said Col. Dave Chase of the South Dakota National Guard and commander of the exercise’s White Cell. “We don’t know of any other exercise where everyone, from the top to the bottom, can get this kind of quality training. This is really like a full deployment condensed into two weeks.”
Golden Coyote provides relevant training opportunities for combat support and combat service units in support of overseas contingency operations and homeland defense.
“This is such a unique opportunity for the National Guard, the Reserves and the active duty and allied nations that take part in Golden Coyote,” Chase said.
The exercise is held in the Black Hills of South Dakota. It’s hosted by the South Dakota National Guard and is conducted in cooperation with the National Forest Service and Custer State Park to provide a realistic training environment and valuable services to the public.
Training skills include team building, medical, land navigation, vehicle convoy operations, military operations on urban terrain, force protections and individual unit mission tasks.
Command Sgt. Maj. Donald Weiand of the South Dakota National Guard is participating in his 22nd Golden Coyote exercise. His first was as a specialist in an engineer unit. For Golden Coyote 2014, he is the exercise’s White Cell noncommissioned officer-in-charge.
“This is definitely the best two weeks of the year,” Weiand said. “The training provided here is on level with anywhere else in the world.”
| Date Taken: | 06.16.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 06.16.2014 19:58 |
| Story ID: | 133305 |
| Location: | RAPID CITY, SD, US |
| Web Views: | 271 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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