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    Top Canadian and US generals visit Fort Hunter Liggett

    Canadian-US generals visit Fort Hunter Liggett as part of the 2015 CANUS GO Conference

    Photo By Amy Phillips | Col. Lewis Somberg, brigade commander of the 139th Medical Brigade based in Missouri,...... read more read more

    FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, CA, UNITED STATES

    07.15.2015

    Story by Amy Phillips 

    Fort Hunter Liggett Public Affairs Office

    FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, Calif. – On July 24, 2015, Chief of Army Reserve Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Talley and a contingent of Canadian, U.S. Army Reserve and U.S. National Guard generals visited Fort Hunter Liggett (FHL) as part of the U.S. Army North Canada/U.S. (CANUS) Training Working Group 2015 Conference held at San Jose.

    The purpose of this 16th annual meeting of Canadian and U.S. leadership is to plan training events that ensure continued interoperability between the two armies.

    “Canada is one of our closest allies and our neighbor to the north ... we have to maintain those friendships and relationships and the best way to do that is to have frequent opportunities to talk to each other and train together. That’s what we do at CANUS,” said Talley.

    This year, Talley showcased Fort Hunter Liggett and the Warrior Exercise (WAREX) led by the 91st Training Division (TD) as the platform to exhibit collective training.

    “Training here is unlike anywhere else,” Col. Mark Bartholf, the Brigade Commander of the 91st TD’s 1st Operations Brigade, said to the group of generals during their reception brief upon arrival.

    He went on to explain that FHL provides the austere operating environments Army support units encounter when they deploy into and support maneuver forces in remote parts of the world.

    The 91st TD and the garrison organized ground and air tours showcasing FHL’s vast training areas, ranges and support facilities. As part of the tour, the generals had a chance to observe the Army Reserve’s 325th Combat Support Hospital Company (CSHC) conducting aerial medical evacuation and trauma care training.

    The CSHC from Missouri and are some of the 3,500 Soldiers training at FHL during July and August as part of the WAREX at FHL. This year’s exercise brings together 72 units from across the country from all three Army components – the active Army, Army Reserve and National Guard.

    The 91st TD hosts Combat Support Training Exercises (CSTX) and WAREX every year at FHL. These exercises also incorporate elements of other military forces, such as the U.S. Navy.

    The Canadian Army Reserve conducts similar training exercises, such as Exercise Maple Resolve. The 91st TD and FHL, however, can offer Canadian units unique combat support/combat service support (CS/CSS), medical, logistics, and theater-specific conditions that cannot be replicated in Canada.

    During the FHL tour, Talley informed the group with him that he trained at FHL as a major in an Army Reserve engineer unit and recognized its potential as an ideal location for CS/CSS training.

    Since taking command of the Army Reserve in 2012, Talley has continued to advertise FHL as the premiere location for Army Reserve CS/CSS training. He has since expanded upon this concept, such as the anticipated integration of Canadian forces into large-scale training at FHL.

    “I have not been here before, and I really just came to see what opportunities there were,” said incoming Chief of the Canadian Army Reserve Brig. Gen. Rob MacKenzie. “It has exceeded my expectations. There are obviously a lot of opportunities here, not just for the Canadian Army Reserve but the integration and partnership with U.S. forces.”

    Currently, FHL can support more than 5,000 Soldiers in its training areas and more than 2,000 Soldiers in its support facilities. The completion of an Operational Readiness Training Center (ORTC) in late 2016 will add administrative support facilities and barracks to support another 864 Soldiers. Around the same time in 2016, the 102nd Total Army School System’s new school house is scheduled to open.

    These most recent additions, combined with brigade-sized wash racks; a 6,000-vehicle equipment concentration site; a 36-aircraft capable heliport; a C-17 capable airfield; state-of-the-art ranges, simulations, and field training facilities will make Talley’s vision a reality.

    “As the active component, the U.S. Army draws down, they’re going to become more reliant on the reserve components, especially the Army Reserve,” said Talley. “Our allies are having the same challenges as the United States.”

    For more information on FHL visit: www.liggett.army.mil and www.facebook.com/forthunterliggett.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 07.15.2015
    Date Posted: 07.31.2015 18:53
    Story ID: 171804
    Location: FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, CA, US

    Web Views: 227
    Downloads: 0

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