Photo By Sgt. Samanatha Whitehead | Soldiers assigned to the 35th Combat Aviation Brigade, Missouri National Guard,...... read more read more
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NEVADA, Mo. – Soldiers assigned to the Missouri National Guard’s 35th Combat Aviation Brigade, headquartered in Sedalia, gathered at Camp Clark in Nevada for their two-week annual training recently.
This year’s annual training consisted of a staff exercise in preparation for an upcoming Warfighter exercise and deployment, said Lt. Col. Roger Bodenschatz, the battalion executive officer.
“This is a staff exercise to test our battle command systems,” said Bodenschatz. “We met with trainers out of Fort Leavenworth for mission development training and then the culminating event started here at Camp Clark.”
The exercise involved using systems such as the command post of the future, joint conflict and tactical simulation, and the Warfighter information network-tactical during a simulated conflict, said Bodenschatz.
Next spring the brigade will participate in a Warfighter exercise before their deployment. The brigade started the seven-step military decision making process in April and finished with their published order before the beginning of annual training, said Bodenschatz.
Two of the battalions assigned to the brigade participated in the staff exercise, said Bodenschatz. The 935th Aviation Support Battalion and the 1-135th Aviation Reconnaissance Battalion provided support through logistics such as food and fuel and by participating in the exercise as subordinate units.
Nineteen Soldiers from the 1-135th worked in the response cell as the CPOF and JCATS operators, said 1st Lt. Johnny Hayes, the battalion signal staff officer of the 1-135th.
“We’re helping to network the computers and information systems together so that we’re able to actively communicate amongst different groups and areas,” said Hayes. “This exercise will help to make us better in a combat scenario and better in the everyday scenario of coming to drill and having flight operations.”
Soldiers from the 935th ASB contributed in similar ways, said Maj. Norma-Gene Cottrell, the support operations officer for the battalion. The battalion is providing support with logistics in the form of food, water, ground vehicle and aircraft maintenance, and fuel to the 35th CAB
“The fuel and water points are very real-world things that are training our Soldiers to do those job,” said Cottrell. “Everything we do here is helping us get ready for the Warfighter exercise, which will help the 35th to deploy at a later date.”
The exercise allows the brigade to train realistically for a deployment, which is the main goal of the unit, said Bodenschatz.
“This is absolutely key to the process of making sure that when you deploy you get the job done and you bring everybody home,” said Bodenschatz. “I’m very proud of all the hard work everyone has put into this. The staff, the Soldiers, and the battalions that came down to support us all gave 110 percent and supported us on the training that needed to be done.”
| Date Taken: | 06.29.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 02.13.2017 15:25 |
| Story ID: | 223423 |
| Location: | CAMP CLARK, MO, US |
| Hometown: | SEDALIA, MO, US |
| Web Views: | 95 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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