Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Debralee Lutgen | Army Reserve 1st Lt. Brad Hoeffel, 3rd platoon leader, 979th Engineer Company,...... read more read more
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FORT MCCOY, Wis. – The 979th Engineer Company, was recently re-designated from route clearance missions to a MAC. This transition hasn’t been without challenges, but these combat engineers are taking advantage of their new training tasks and are excited about the change.
The 979th, a Mobility Augmentation Company, is conducting their Extended Combat Training during the Combat Support Training Exercise 14-02 April 26 to May 16 in Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, training up on their new mission, mobility augmentation skills.
“Our primary mission is, we’re a MAC unit which is a mobility augmentation unit … it’s about survivability, mobility and counter-mobility,” said 1st Lt. Michael Benjamin, executive officer of the 979th. “This is actually the first time we’ve trained on MAC missions. In the past we’d done route clearance … So far at ECT we’ve done base defense, creating firing positions, also setting up [concertina] wire, just making sure the enemy cannot infiltrate our [forward operating base] here.”
Benjamin, a Cincinnati native, said the unit uses a variety of equipment to accomplish their missions, including the M113 Armored Personnel Carrier, armored vehicle-launched bridge, M9 Armored Combat Earthmover, D7 bulldozer and M58 Mine Clearing Line Charge.
Due to the recent transition most members of the unit were unfamiliar with these vehicles, so they used this exercise to learn and train on them.
“There have definitely been some bumps in the road because we don’t have a lot of experience with the equipment,” said Benjamin. “I think the equipment was definitely one of the hardest things as far as drawing what we need to draw and having the actually equipment that we needed to have and even just doing [preventative maintenance checks and services] on the vehicles. There are always the manuals out there, but just having the Soldiers work on the equipment helps since it’s not something we have at our home station.”
Benjamin acknowledges the start of the transition has been difficult, but the Soldiers of the 979th are overcoming the obstacles, something mobility augmentation is all about.
“For seeing them for the first time once we were onsite, it was definitely kind of a difficult transition. It took about a week, which is surprising it only took that short of a time. But since then we’ve been rolling,” he said.
While the Soldiers have had to improve their skills on some equipment, most say they have taken to MAC mission well despite their original apprehensions.
“I’ve been in 8 years, and my first 7 and a half was all [route clearance patrol] and I loved it and I did not want to switch to MAC,” said Sgt. William Halfhill, a combat engineer with the 979th. “When I joined this unit and they told me they were [a MAC unit], I wasn’t all about it. Since we’ve been out here, I’ve started to see the big picture as far as MAC and I really like it.”
Halfhill has even brushed up on the history of his waxing affection for his new-found mission.
“When MAC was designed, it was a cold-war type of mission, going after the Russian T-72 tanks ... now MAC has been altered to where you mix RCP in with the MAC so you still get a little bit of both. I really like this; this is actually better than RCP because you get to do a lot more, instead of just driving down the road looking for IEDs,” said Halfhill. “You actually get out more, get to dig more, get to blow up stuff more; it’s good stuff.”
The mobility aspect is also a plus to some of the Soldiers.
“I like route clearance,” said Spc. Brent Lecompte, a combat engineer with the 979th and a Frankfort, Kentucky, resident, “just because of the vehicles and all the new technology. But, MAC though, you get to be on your feet, you’re always moving, you’re always doing something.”
This is different than the daily grind he is used to in the unit’s former route clearance mission - spending hours in a vehicle going up and down dusty roads hunting down IEDs.
“You’re not [driving] 5 miles [per hour] down a road. I would much rather be on my feet than being in a truck seat for 12 hours looking at an IED on the side of the road, said Lecompte
While Soldiers needed some hands-on tasks to change their minds about their new mission, they have found the training they are receiving to be top-of-the-line.
“It’s been excellent, it’s been the best ECT I’ve been a part of so far. I’m not blowing smoke,” said Halfhill a resident of Alexandria, Kentucky. “I’d have to say the best thing is … the [observer-controller trainers] really pointing things out as we’re going, kind of spitting ideas out as it’s going on instead of telling us improves at the end where we really can’t do anything. That’s been the best part.”
While many Army Reserve units conduct 14 day ECTs, the challenge of a new mission led the 979th to extend their training to maximize the takeaways for their Soldiers. The additional week of training is what some of the leadership found most valuable.
“It’s great to have the 21 days out here to see how much we can build up and be stronger,” said Benjamin. “Usually … you have that first week to learn and get familiar with everything you need to know and the next week you execute. So we really used these first two weeks to really get an understanding of what the mission is, how to use the equipment, then the third week - we’re really running by that time.”
Whether doing route clearance, or hindering the enemy’s mobility while increasing friendly forces’ own, most of the combat engineers of the 979th wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Is there any other MOS?” asked Halfhill jokingly. “We get to do a little bit of everything. You get to blow things up, you get to build things, you get to play infantry from time-to-time, security forces from time-to-time; you hit all the ranges.”
While missions change, and new becomes old, the adaptability of this unit to "dig in" and find that a new mission doesn’t mean a dull mission will keep the 979th on track for future success.
The manual may have changed, but what’s beneath the cover is much more exciting.
| Date Taken: | 05.08.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 05.16.2014 18:57 |
| Story ID: | 130140 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Hometown: | ALEXANDRIA, KENTUCKY, US |
| Hometown: | CINCINNATI, OHIO, US |
| Hometown: | FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 497 |
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