Pennsylvania Guard trains with Eighth Army

Photo By Staff Sgt. Coltin Heller | Pfc. Hannah Baker and 1st Sgt. Steve Markowski, both members of the Pennsylvania Guard’s 109th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, 213th Regional Support Group, Pennsylvania Army National Guard set up and staffed the media registration desk for a notional press conference during their annual training to South Korea. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Coltin Heller, 109th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment)  

SEOUL, 11, SOUTH KOREA

03.16.2016

Courtesy Story

109th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

By Pfc. Hannah Baker

YONGSAN, GARRISON, South Korea – Soldiers with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard’s 213th Regional Support Group supported Eighth Army for their annual training here March 4-18.

Eight Soldiers with the 109th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment trained on media operations and command information with their active duty counterparts from Eighth Army Public Affairs, Korean Augmentations to the United States Army and two Republic of Korea Army public affairs officers.

“On weekend drill we don’t always have enough time in our training calendars to train for missions we would perform in wartime scenarios because we actually perform our missions regularly at drills,” said 1st Sgt. Steve Markowski, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the MPAD. “Performing annual training requires preparation similar to being mobilized for a real world missions which adds realism to our training.”

The 109th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment is working alongside Eighth Army Public Affairs and Republic of Korea-Army Public Affairs staffs. Training missions like these offer opportunities to exercise all U.S. military components. The unit wrote stories, took photographs and hosted a notional press conference where they both ran the press conference and played reporters.

Sgt. Maj. Chris Seaton, worked as Eighth Army senior public affairs noncommissioned officer. “I’ve been really impressed with the way the unit came in,” said Seaton. “They came in off the plane ready to work. It speaks to the leadership of the unit and the preparedness of the soldiers.”

This is the second year in a row the unit has done its annual training in South Korea.

The 213th Regional Support Group consists of more than twenty specialized units located throughout the commonwealth. The units that represent the 213th RSG include finance, maintenance, personnel, sustainment, transportation, engineer, military police, contracting, public affairs, and hazardous materials organizations.

For more information ‘like’ the 213th Regional Support Group on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/213RSG

• Date Taken: 03.16.2016
• Date Posted: 03.17.2016 00:08
• Story ID: 192648
• Location: SEOUL, 11, KR