Army, Army National Guard foster ties through brigade level exercise

Photo By Sgt. Joshua Laidacker | A soldier of the Florida National Guard’s 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team watches through the window of a building and waits for an incoming attack from 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, during the 4th IBCT’s training event, Vanguard Focus, on Fort Stewart, Ga., March 23, 2015. (U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Joshua Laidacker, 4th IBCT, 3rd ID, Public Affairs)  

FORT STEWART, GA, UNITED STATES

03.23.2015

Story by Sgt. Joshua Laidacker 

4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs

FORT STEWART, Ga. – Soldiers of the Florida Army National Guard’s 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team participated in the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, training exercise, Vanguard Focus, on Fort Stewart, Ga., March 15-23, 2015.

The two brigades are linked at a national level through the Total Army Partnership Program, a relationship that integrates the Army’s active component and reserve components as an operational force. The program helps streamline training capabilities and ensures the standards for qualifications and professional development are the same between active and reserve personnel.

Starting last summer at the Camp Blanding Joint Training Center in Florida, the two organizations began fostering a relationship, when Soldiers from 4IBCT, supported the Florida Army National Guard's Exportable Combat Training Capability exercise, known as XCTC, by serving as friendly and opposing force for the training.

In return, the 53rd deployed to Ford Stewart, where they supported 4IBCT’s Vanguard Focus, a three month brigade level validation exercise, and served as the opposing forces during the last iteration of the exercise. Soldiers of 1st Squadron, 153rd Cavalry Regiment, 53rd IBCT, were pitted against the soldiers of 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 4th IBCT.

Col. Thomas Gukeisen, commander of 4th IBCT, said the opposing forces were given reconnaissance missions where they acted unscripted and he highlighted how the roles were changing.

"They are transitioning their CAV from a RSTA, recon surveillance target acquisition, to a traditional role of CAV," Gukeisen said, and emphasized how scout units have been used differently from their traditional doctrine roles in current conflicts.

Spc. Joshua Weeks, a Tallahassee, Florida, native and infantryman with Troop C, 1-153rd Cav., said his job was to call in or report any tactical movement, which could include troops, vehicles or helicopters. "We’re basically painting the picture of the battlefield for our whole unit,” he said. “We have to send it up right away because things can change so quickly."

"I feel like this has really put our knowledge to the test," said Weeks, who works as a financial crimes investigator when not in uniform. "It not only raises the bar for us, but it challenges us to reach the next one."

The Fort Stewart training areas also allowed both units to move through vast terrain and test their capabilities to communicate and maneuver through long distances.

Lt. Col. David Reeder, commander of 1-153rd Cav., said the limits of the training area at his home station make large scale training difficult. "We don't get to exercise as a squadron very often," he said. "This is helping us prepare for the next move."

Soldiers of 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 4th IBCT, also known as the “Mustangs” played the same role during the first two iterations of the exercise, prior to when 1-153rd Cav. arrived. 6-8 Cav. transferred the role to the 1-153rd Cav. and shared discussions of lessons learned, but this was not the first time they’d met. In the past year they have been in close contact and attended other events together to include the “Mustang” Battalion’s Spur Ride, a cavalry tradition where troopers complete a series of mental and physical tests.

"It's a sharing relationship; we're kind of learning from each other," said Reeder, a native of Birmingham, Alabama. "Our days are so limited that we get everything we can out of this."

There’s a long standing history between 53rd IBCT and 3rd ID stretching back to when they served together in Iraq in 2002.

"You'd be surprised, there are a lot of guys who have that combat patch," said Reeder of his soldiers, adding that he usually wears the 3rd ID patch he earned in 2002 as his combat patch. "We actually have a long relationship. We feel like family."

"We looked for opportunities to share our knowledge and understanding together," said Gukeisen. "We’re looking for other opportunities to share leader development across the active and guard component."

Gukeisen said the two brigades will continue to develop their partnership in the future as a few soldiers of 53rd IBCT will accompany 4th IBCT in their upcoming training exercise at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana.

"The brigade's been awesome," concluded Reeder. "We feel like we're part of the big picture."

• Date Taken: 03.23.2015
• Date Posted: 03.31.2015 16:44
• Story ID: 158711
• Location: FORT STEWART, GA, US
• Hometown: BIRMINGHAM, AL, US
• Hometown: TALLAHASSEE, FL, US