Greywolf goes global

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Banzhaf | Soldiers with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment “Garryowen,” 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division rehearse the loading of an M1A2 Abrams tank into a C-17 Globemaster June 3 at Fort Hood, Texas. The purpose of the rehearsal was to familiarize the Soldier with the loading procedures and to ensure they can deploy on short notice. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Brandon Banzhaf, 3rd ABCT PAO, 1st Cav. Div.)  

FORT HOOD, TX, UNITED STATES

06.25.2015

Story by Staff Sgt. Leah Kilpatrick 

3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division

FORT HOOD, Texas – On the heels of a successful exercise rotation at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, troopers from 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team “Greywolf,” 1st Cavalry Division assumed the mission June 25 as part of the global response force.

In support of the overarching 82nd Airborne Division mission, Company C, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment “Garryowen” is training to ensure they maintain the readiness needed as part of this force, which is designed to respond and deploy within 96 hours.

According to the Army’s 2013 Army Posture Statement, “The Army maintains a global response force at constant high readiness, providing the nation its only rapid response inland forcible entry capability for unforeseen contingencies.”

“We are an armored and mechanized package, designed to support the global response force if it’s determined they need that type of support,” said Capt. Robert F. Greene, commander of Company C, 2-7 Cav., 3rd ABCT.

For months, the company has trained, prepared and ensured absolute readiness to assume this mission, with NTC rotation 15-07 serving as the unit’s validation exercise.

“We’ve been spending an abundance of time out at the airfield, not only to conduct maintenance down there, but training as well,” said Staff Sgt. Robert A. Patitucci, a platoon sergeant assigned to Company C, 2-7 Cav. “We took a few of the vehicles down there and did actual air load training.”

The unit has equipment staged and Soldiers remain at a constant state of readiness in the event they are called to respond to a contingency anywhere around the world.

In addition to those preparations, Soldiers are also heading to tank gunneries within the coming weeks to ensure their crews are fully trained and qualified to handle any potential missions that might come their way.

This constant readiness training can take a toll on the individual Soldier and his family, so the command has processes in place to alleviate stress by building cooperative teams that share responsibility. This way, the unit can accomplish tasks without adding unneeded stress to the Soldiers.

“It’s definitely tough,” said Patitucci “We’ve been having to juggle schedules for the guys. We’ve had a lot of late nights. We’ve been affording them time to take passes if they need to; taking a little bit more of the brunt on ourselves to let the troopers go, so that they get the rest and recovery they need. They’re the muscle behind this.”

With all the training that has been completed and all the training the Soldiers of Company C will continue to execute to maintain their individual skill sets, these troopers are ready to answer whenever the nation calls on them.

“I’m 100 percent confident,” said Greene. “There’s no doubt we can accomplish whatever this mission becomes.”

• Date Taken: 06.25.2015
• Date Posted: 07.02.2015 14:54
• Story ID: 168969
• Location: FORT HOOD, TX, US