Air National Guard Assist Army Colleagues in Training

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Shane Hamann | Air Force Tech. Sgts. Jim Buckley and Kole Nail, both Joint Terminal Attack Controllers with the 238th Air Support Operations Squadron, Mississippi Air National Guard, discuss possible targets with Army Spc. Antwyn Sutton, and Pfc. Tyler Davis, both Cavalry Scouts with 1st Squadron, 98th Cavalry Regiment, Mississippi Army National Guard, June 12, 2016 at Fort Hood, Texas. The JTAC Airmen are assisting the 155th ABCT during the Multi-echelon Brigade Training exercise that sustains readiness of the reserve and active components. (Mississippi National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Shane Hamann, 102d Public Affairs Detachment/Released)  

FORT HOOD, TX, UNITED STATES

06.12.2016

Story by Staff Sgt. Shane Hamann  

102d Public Affairs Detachment

FORT HOOD, Texas – Mississippi National Guard Soldiers and Airmen are training together in the Multi-echelon Integrated Brigade Training exercise taking place 3-24 June, 2016 at Fort Hood, Texas.
The MiBT is a multicomponent training event that increases readiness and sustains the Army’s Total Force policy that incorporates the reserve and active components as one total operating force.
Airmen with the 238th Air Support Operations Squadron, based in Meridian, Mississippi, are getting to practice their skills while supporting their Army colleagues, with the 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team, in the force-on-force training by helping them integrate all of their air and indirect fire assets, also known as “fires.”
“The Army tends to think only of their organic fires like mortars and artillery,” said Tech. Sgt. Jim Buckley, a Joint Terminal Attack Controller, from Panama City, Florida. “We think about the whole air space. We can manage all those assets for them. We will come in and say ‘Hey, we will take over that bird and you guys do what you need to do.’”
“We can bring a lot to the fight,” said Tech. Sgt. Kole Nail, a JTAC from Meridian, Mississippi. “We control Combat Air Support, Electronic Warfare and Close Combat Attack platforms.”
The JTAC Airmen help contribute to the fight at all levels by being able to advise command staff and also call for fire directly from the battlefield.
“We are an interchangeable piece,” said Nail. “We can plug and play anywhere. We have people from corps all the way to platoon levels.”
Being able to adapt and work in different groups lets the 238th ASOS Airmen support several units. They not only support the 155th ABCT from Mississippi but also train and deploy with active and National Guard units such as the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team from Alabama, the 35th Infantry Division from Kansas, and others.
The unit will continue training with the 155th ABCT for the duration of the MiBT exercise so that both services will be better able to integrate and be more familiar with each other’s missions in the future

• Date Taken: 06.12.2016
• Date Posted: 06.13.2016 16:27
• Story ID: 200814
• Location: FORT HOOD, TX, US
• Hometown: MERIDIAN, MS, US
• Hometown: PANAMA CITY, FL, US