Training, leadership pay dividends for Oregon tank company

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Anita Stratton | Oregon Army National Guard Soldiers with C Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment, 116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team, prepare for a force-on-force battle simulation during a rotation at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif., Aug. 19. The Soldiers, Spc. Jamie Ward, a loader, of Parma, Idaho; the driver, Spc. James Park, of Baker City, Ore.; the gunner, Sgt. Adam Clinton, of Fruitland, Idaho; and the tank commander, Staff Sgt. Jeff Childs, of Vale, Ore., performed maintenance on their Abrams M1A2 System Enhanced Package (SEP) tank. (Photo by Sgt. Anita VanderMolen, 115th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, Oregon Army National Guard)  

ONTARIO, OR, UNITED STATES

08.28.2015

Courtesy Story

116th Cavalry Brigade Combat Team

FORT IRWIN, Calif. – The night before they were to face the enemy a lot of questions lingered for the troopers of Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 116th Cavalry Regiment.

The Oregon Army National Guard tank unit was in the harsh climate of the National Training Center, preparing to lead the combined arms battalion in its first exercise against one of the best opposition forces in the world. There was a lot on the line.

“Our first mission we executed was a movement to contact. The 3rd Battalion was the tip of the spear and Charlie Company was the tip of the spear for the battalion. The night before morale was kind of down because we were all expecting to get hurt the next day,” the commander of Charlie Company, Capt. Christopher Miller said.

As it turned out, Miller, a La Grande, Oregon, resident, and the rest of his unit had nothing to worry about.

Instead of defeat, Charlie Company punched through resistance as it led the 3rd Battalion to take and secure its objectives during that first test at NTC in August. The movement to contact exercise set the stage for Charlie Company and the 3rd Battalion for the rest of its NTC training period but it wasn’t magic or luck according to soldiers in the unit. Instead success pivoted on two concepts as old as military science itself: Leadership and training.

A case in point centers on heat causalities. The environment at NTC is demanding. Situated on the edge of the Mohave Desert, the climate is hot, dry and uncomfortable. While some units suffered minor and temporary losses because of heat, Charlie Company did not. The reason, Miller said, was simple.

“It was pretty freaking hot,” Miller admitted. “One day it was 115. I think it affected everyone more than anticipated and the first few days we didn’t have ice. It really didn’t cool off at night. But Charlie was the only company not to have a heat causality and that goes back to exceptional junior leaders. Junior leaders taking care of their guys, making sure they eat and drink water.”

Yet the unit also prospered where it counted: Winning on the battlefield.

“In our first decisive action we killed 90 percent of the bad guys for the battalion. The OTCs (Observer/Trainer/Controllers) were as complimentary as OTCs are going to be. But they said they’d only seen one other company destroy as much OPFOR as we had,” Miller said.

Sgt. 1st Class D.J. Clapp, a Payette, Idaho, resident, and Charlie Company’s Master Gunner also pointed to the type of direction officers and noncommissioned officers exhibited as a key to success at NTC.

“I think we have some awfully strong leadership,” he said.

Clapp pointed to two other qualities that made a difference for his company at NTC.

“The way we tackled the training year, and our ability to adapt and overcome to all the different situations that came up, and we were all able to work together,” he said.
Staff Sgt. Patrick Kane, a Middleton, Idaho, resident, served as a gunner in one of Charlie Company’s tanks during NTC and said the simulated battles with the OPFOR were not easy.

“They used camouflage and terrain very well. When they moved and used the terrain it was difficult to pick them up,” Kane said.

Kane, who served in Charlie Company’s 1st Platoon and works full-time as the unit’s training noncommissioned officer, also pointed to camaraderie as a critical piece of the company’s success.

“It was our ability to work together that made us successful,” he said.

Miller said confidence in leadership was a major factor in Charlie Company’s ability to accomplish its mission at NTC.

“I would say you really have to trust your junior leaders, all the way down to the tank commanders. In that sort of operational environment you don’t have time to micro-manage. You really have to rely on those guys to do the right thing,” he said.

Miller said the one undeniable message sent by the performance of his company and the 3rd Battalion is simple.

“We validated our training as a National Guard combined arms battalion,” he said.

• Date Taken: 08.28.2015
• Date Posted: 09.18.2015 19:58
• Story ID: 176609
• Location: ONTARIO, OR, US
• Hometown: LA GRANDE, OR, US
• Hometown: MIDDLETON, ID, US
• Hometown: PAYETTE, ID, US