Photo By John Crosby | Secretary of the Army John McHugh walks down the tarmac with the Indiana Adjutant...... read more read more
CAMP ATTERBURY JOINT MANEUVER TRAINING CENTER, Ind. – The United States Secretary of the Army John McHugh toured Camp Atterbury Joint Maneuver Training Center and Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, both in central Indiana, to visit with mobilizing and demobilizing servicemembers, permanent party leadership and civilian expeditionary workforce contractors and employees.
Nominated by President Barack Obama, McHugh was sworn in as the 21st Secretary of the Army Sept. 21, 2009. He has responsibility for all matters relating to the Unites States Army including manpower, personnel, reserve affairs, installations, environmental issues, weapons systems and equipment acquisition, communications, and financial management. He is responsible for the Army’s annual budget of over $200 billion. He leads a work force of more than 1.1 million active-duty, Army National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers, 221,000 Department of the Army civilian employees and 213,000 contracted service personnel. He maintains stewardship over 14 million acres of land.
Camp Atterbury is a national deployment center charged with mobilizing and demobilizing more than 100,000 service members to the Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo since the attacks on 9/11.
McHugh began his tour at the urban training facilities at Muscatatuck.
“The uniqueness that exists at Muscatatuck and that urban setting is unequal to anywhere that I’ve ever witnessed in the U.S. Army,” said McHugh. “It’s the flexibility and ability to build upon it and create a huge variety of [training] scenarios.”
McHugh then flew via Black Hawk helicopter to Camp Atterbury for lunch. After eating lunch with the troops, McHugh addressed servicemember’s issues and concerns in with our military in an era of conflict such as training regiments, mission requirements and logistical issues during an impersonal question-and-answer session.
Following face time with the servicemembers, Camp Atterbury leadership gave the secretary a tour of the facility and a chance to witness live training scenarios in action. A demonstration was given, showcasing a mobilizing Afghanistan Provincial Reconstruction Team training with authentic “civilians on the battlefield”. Civilians on the battlefield are represented by real Afghan and Iraqi citizens who now assist the U.S. Armed forces in cultural immersion training, preparing servicemembers for real world scenarios they may see while deployed.
PRTs are units consisting of Air Force, Army and Navy service members that specialize in fields necessary for rebuilding the infrastructures of Iraq and Afghanistan.
McHugh then gave a press conference, answering questions for local news stations and newspapers.
“The work that they do once they’ve trained here and forward deployed is vital in building that trust that is necessary for success in these kinds of theatres,” said McHugh. “[Afghans] want the same things most folks want, and that is just a better chance for a better tomorrow. To do that, they need things, from roads to food projects to water projects etc. The PRTs are a way in which we can begin to convey America’s interest about them as a people and not just there simply as a conqueror or an occupier.
“It’s something that the President, Secretary [Hillary] Clinton and Secretary [Robert] Gates, to name just a few, have dedicated themselves to and it’s heartening and uplifting to see their dreams and their strategies being realized at [Camp Atterbury and Muscatatuck Urban Training Center] in training vignettes that are preparing these people to go over and do that important work.”
Present during the secretary’s tour was Indiana Adjutant General Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger.
“On behalf of all Hoosiers, thank you for coming and visiting us,” said Umbarger. “It’s very special for us. We’re very proud of these facilities and our mission to train sailors, soldiers, airmen and Marines to go off to war. It’s something we take very seriously.”
Also present was Camp Atterbury and Muscatatuck Center for Complex Operations Commanding General Brig. Gen. Omer Tooley and Deputy Commanding General of First Army Division East Brig. Gen. Kendall Penn.
| Date Taken: | 08.18.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 08.18.2010 19:39 |
| Story ID: | 54805 |
| Location: | CAMP ATTERBURY, IN, US |
| Web Views: | 127 |
| Downloads: | 8 |
This work, Secretary of the Army visits Camp Atterbury and Muscatatuck, by John Crosby, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT