New training mission for cavalry squadron

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Elizabeth Houx | Soldiers from the 2nd Squadron, 107th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 28th Infantry Division return to their area of operations after practicing clearing a house of possible enemies and weapons. The Soldiers completed this and other training at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center during their annual two-week training.  

UNITED STATES

08.14.2008

Story by Spc. Elizabeth Houx 

Camp Atterbury Indiana

By Spc. Elizabeth Gorenc
Camp Atterbury Public Affairs

BUTLERVILLE, Ind. - At a glance, Muscatatuck Urban Training Center looked like a chaos of random events. Convoys were overtaking the roads while Soldiers searched buildings and reacted to simulated attacks. A closer look revealed Soldiers completing six training exercises during their annual training.

This annual training was the first time the 2nd Squadron, 107th Cavalry Regiment for the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 28th Infantry Division has been able to exclusively focus on mission essential task list training instead of common Soldier training.

The squadron as a whole was deployed to Kosovo in 2004 for peace-keeping missions, and Troop C of the squadron was deployed to Iraq in 2007, but everything changed when the National Guard underwent restructuring.

During the National Guard's reorganization, the squadron changed from an armored reconnaissance squadron to a reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition squadron.

Instead of working with heavy trucks and equipment to engage in armored attacks, the Soldiers now use lighter trucks and equipment to provide warnings or tactics of preventing or counteracting an attack. With a new name, new people and a new mission after the transition, the unit had to train.

Sgt. Maj. Todd Seurkamp, the operations sergeant major, was appreciative of the training change.

"This is the first time we have been able to train together as a squadron since we changed over to a RSTA squadron," he said.

Soldiers began their two-week training at Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center, Ind., with a total focus on gunnery exercises. They qualified on everything from rifle and machine guns to grenade and mortar launchers. Soldiers also completed individual weapons qualifications from the basic standing, kneeling and laying-down Army firing positions, and advanced weapons qualifications from alternate firing positions.

Week two of the training brought the squadron to Muscatatuck where Soldiers focused on mission essential task list training.

"Muscatatuck has provided us with every training tool we could imagine to conduct the training lanes," said Seurkamp. "They supplied buildings, pyrotechnics, training areas and anything else we could think of."

Soldiers used the tools to conduct six training exercises, or lanes. The first lane consisted of maneuvering vehicles, reacting to improvised explosive devices and retrieving a high value target.

In the second lane, Soldiers applied the basics for reconnaissance. In this lane, they observed and reported actions of the "opposing force." In order to gain site of the acting enemy, cavalry Soldiers had to practice maneuvering tactically by foot.

Lane three brought squads to a simulated town where they had to clear and secure a building of any enemies or weapons.

Pvt. Cameron Jones, a member of the unit, said that clearing houses during this lane was good for working under pressure as a team.

"This part of the training is so fast paced and gets your adrenaline going. It's a great way to come together as a new squad and learn to work together well," he said.

After completing that mission, Soldiers moved to the next training lane where they created an observation post and set up a call for weapons fire to plan attacks against enemies.

Instead of initiating action against the enemies as done in lane four, Soldiers found themselves reacting to simulated sniper fire in the fifth lane.

The sixth and final lane brought everything together to test and evaluate the medics and leadership, since they were supporting and not tested in the previous lanes.

Sgt. Joshua Siegel, an observer controller for the training, said that the lanes were great training tools to teach leadership, how to run missions and how to complete each other's jobs.

"We have to make sure that everyone in the unit is prepared for anything and able to complete every necessary job," he said.

Lt. Col. Todd Mayer, the squadron commander, said that the annual training is essential in preparing for an upcoming deployment within the next couple of years.

"The training lane tasks have been designed to refocus our training on traditional cavalry organization after having been completing different missions for the last couple of years," he said. "In addition to this, we are only setting ourselves up for success for anything that we might be needed for."

• Date Taken: 08.14.2008
• Date Posted: 08.19.2008 10:43
• Story ID: 22661
• Location: US