Meet Minnesota National Guard Spc. Tram Tran, a petroleum supply specialist with the 334th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division. Recently deployed to North Macedonia in support of Defender Europe ’23, Tran was given the opportunity to familiarize herself with the Small Multi-Purpose Equipment Transport (S-MET).
The Small robotic ground combat platform is designed to offload weight from the dismounted Soldier, squad, and small unit, increasing combat effectiveness.
“It's almost designed like a video game controller in a sense, you can control it manually through the joysticks and controllers or program it to navigate through way points,” Tran explained.
Tran, a native of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, initially joined the National Guard for education benefits, but also to challenge herself. She’s the first in her family to enlist in the military and will be the first to obtain a college degree. She says opportunities like this training will only help further her military career.
“I’m getting a lot of experience here,” said Tran. “I would never have thought I’d be controlling a robot in the middle of Macedonia.”
At home station, Tran engages in daily operations of maintaining fuel vehicles, preparing for missions, and tracking supply for fueling needs. Being a part of the Immediate Response exercise gives her the opportunity to train with new equipment and be better prepared for the future of the Army.
A major lesson Tran has learned during her time in the Army is the power of resiliency and teamwork. She says even when a situation is tough, having the right team around you makes it worth it.
DEFENDER 23 is a U.S. Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF) joint exercise designed to enable combat-ready, multi-national forces. DEFENDER 23 demonstrates USAREUR-AF’s ability to aggregate U.S.-based combat power quickly in Eastern Europe, increase lethality of the NATO alliance, build unit readiness in a complex joint, multi-national environment, and leverage host nation capabilities to increase USAREUR-AF’s operational reach. DEFENDER 23 takes place April 22 to June 23 and includes more than 7,000 U.S. and 17,000 multi-national service members from more than 20 nations.
| Date Taken: | 03.16.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 06.08.2023 10:42 |
| Photo ID: | 7845825 |
| VIRIN: | 230531-A-KJ355-002 |
| Resolution: | 1080x780 |
| Size: | 227.83 KB |
| Location: | MK |
| Web Views: | 90 |
| Downloads: | 5 |
This work, Know Your Defender [Image 6 of 6], by SSG Tamie Norris, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
