Photo By Staff Sgt. Chad Nelson | Gen. Robert Abrams, commanding general, United States Army Forces Command, sports an...... read more read more
By Master Sgt. Duff E. McFadden
JOHNSTON, Iowa - A simple invitation was all it took for the commander of the U.S. Army Forces Command, the Army’s largest command, to travel to Iowa to observe training and visit with Iowa National Guard Soldiers.
According to Maj. Gen. Timothy Orr, the adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard, Gen. Robert Abrams, the FORSCOM commander, “came to the First Army Fall Regional TAG [The Adjutants General] huddle meeting and I had the opportunity to invite him to Iowa. I followed that up with a letter of invitation, and he accepted,” Orr said.
The U.S. Army Forces Command is the land force provider for combatant commanders – both at home and abroad. Abrams became the 22nd commander of U.S. Army Forces Command at Fort Bragg, N.C ..., in August 2015.
The last time Camp Dodge played host to a U.S. Forces Command commander was in 1993, when Gen. Dennis Reimer visited the Johnston, Iowa-based facility.
”You have a great capability here in Iowa,” said Abrams, during his Feb. 3-4 visit. “The Iowa National Guard’s got a tremendous history and record of mission accomplishment. It was a pleasure for me to be here.”
As soon as his plane landed in Iowa, Abrams was whisked away to the Distributed Training Operations Center (DTOC) at the Des Moines Air National Guard Base. Lt. Col. Troy Havener, the Air National Guard’s Live Virtual Constructive Liaison and Lt. Col. Todd Pierce, DTOC Commander, provided a brief and tour of this one-of-its kind facility.
Operated by the Iowa Air National Guard’s 132nd Wing, this global training center provides optimal cost-savings through a virtual battlespace linking a wide array of flight and mission crew simulators. Responsible for all network management, the DTOC also provides event control, scenario development, unit Distributed Mission Operations scheduling, remote maintenance and instruction, and realistic threat insertion.
Utilized by clientele as diverse as the Air Defense Artillery, Army Aviation, Joint Fires Observers, Integrated Fire and the Distributed Common Ground System-Army, it provides 10-20 events daily. The DTOC provides simulation platforms for aircraft as diverse as the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle and F/A-18 Hornet, Boeing P-8 Poseidon, Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit, General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon and Remotely Piloted Aircraft.Abrams then moved from the “virtual” world to one of sustainment, as he traveled the 14 miles from Des Moines’ International Airport to the Sustainment Training Center (STC) at the 4,500-acre Camp Dodge Joint Maneuver Training Center in Johnston, Iowa.
The STC, along with the Mission Training Complex – Dodge, provides collective level training to support battalions, distribution companies, field maintenance companies, support maintenance companies, brigade support medical companies and infantry brigade combat teams.
The four-acre STC campus includes 48 heated maintenance bays with heavy overhead lift capability and more than 100,000 square feet of technical maintenance/multifunctional logistics training space. Originally established in 1991 as the Equipment Maintenance Center - CONUS (Continental U.S.), it has since evolved into a one-stop shop for all sustainment training needs.
Abrams’ tour ran the gamut of STC operations from M1A1 Abrams tank repair to ammunition handling, from petroleum distribution to Tactical Combat Casualty Care and Unified Land Operations.
Highlighting the facility’s wide-ranging versatility, Abrams was able to observe three different Army components – the Oregon National Guard’s 141st Brigade Support Battalion, the U.S. Army Reserve’s 322nd Maintenance Company from Minnesota, and nearly 100 active duty Soldiers from the 5494th Support Maintenance Company (part of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division) from Fort Campbell, Ky. – conducting cost-effective Army sustainment training.
Both the Army's active component and Reserve Component forces have become more closely integrated due to The Army Total Force Policy, signed by Secretary of the Army John McHugh on Sept. 4, 2012. As Reserve Component forces comprise more than half of the Army's total force, it became important to integrate these components as a Total Force, since both are vital to fulfilling national military needs.
Abrams said he had heard a lot about the Sustainment Training Center and its capabilities. This visit, he said, was well worth his time.
“I learned quite a bit. I knew some of its capabilities, but there are some unique niche capabilities here at Camp Dodge that I haven’t seen anywhere else. And they’re doing great things. One of our priorities in Forces Command is to master the fundamentals. That training center is a big part of mastering the fundamentals for some specific Military Occupational Specialties in our Army,” he said.
Abrams then had occasion for some one-on-one conversations with company, battalion and brigade staff from the Iowa National Guard, meeting with Soldiers from the 186th Military Police Company, 1034th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion and 734th Regional Support Group.
“Part of the whole ideal was for our full-timers to discuss full-time manning and its impact on readiness,” said Orr. “Sometimes it’s hard for the Army to understand, so we provided the opportunity for him talk to Soldiers at each of the three levels. Each Soldier explained what they do, their positions and how they affect readiness.”
“The other great thing Gen. Orr let me do yesterday, was I got to meet a bunch of National Guard Soldiers,” Abrams said. “He took me around to a company orderly room and I got to see a battalion footprint. I got to go to a brigade and RSG footprint and I was probably about an hour-and-a-half talking to Soldiers.
“At my position, at my level, those opportunities are far and few between. So when I actually have those opportunities,” said Abrams, “I seize on those opportunities.”
Those Soldiers, Abrams continued, are really the credentials of the Iowa National Guard.
“You can tell me about programs and everything else, but the real strength, the real readiness indicator for the Iowa National Guard are Iowa National Guard Soldiers. And the ones I met yesterday, they were awesome.
“They were committed, dedicated professionals, very knowledgeable of their duties and responsibilities and had a very clear-eyed understanding of what their job was, of how it relates to building and sustaining readiness for their particular unit. It was just good to be around them,” he said.
The following morning Abrams concluded his visit by sitting down with National Guard senior representatives within Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region VII – Orr, Maj. Gen. Lee Tafanelli, adjutant general of the Kansas National Guard; Maj. Gen. Daryl Bohac, adjutant general of the Nebraska National Guard; and Col. Anthony Adrian, director of Operations, Missouri National Guard.
“It’s always good when I can sit down and have a personal one-on-one, or a small group discussion with our adjutants general to share ideas, hear concerns, talk about opportunities, talk about policies and really enhance their understanding of our total Army,” said Abrams.
“I think this visit went very well,” said Orr. “I think his major highlight was to see our Soldiers and to have them tell him in person how they add value to our Army."
“One of our recurring messages to everybody,” Abrams said, “is ‘We have one Army.’ I know I’m in the state of Iowa, but we have one Army. I tell people we got one Army, with one set of standards. It’s important that we look at ourselves as one Army regardless of your component that you’re in, whether you’re a National Guardsman, or a U.S. Army Reservist, or an active duty Soldier.
“When I see Soldiers, sometimes I might look at what’s on their left sleeve, but the only thing that’s really important to me is what’s above their heart, which is the United States Army. And so when I go around, that’s all I see, I don’t differentiate between components, because we only have one Army.
“And the one Army we have, it better be a good one and it requires all three components for us to be a really good one,” he added.
| Date Taken: | 02.05.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 02.05.2016 16:14 |
| Story ID: | 188049 |
| Location: | JOHNSTON, IA, US |
| Web Views: | 447 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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