Photo By Senior Master Sgt. Matthew Hecht | U.S. Army soldiers from the New Jersey Army National Guard’s 50th Infantry Brigade...... read more read more
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Sixty-eight soldiers from the New Jersey Army National Guard’s 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team loaded more than 170 tactical vehicles onto rail cars at Morrisville Yard in Morrisville, N.J., May 2, 2017. A total of 700 vehicles and trailers are headed to Fort Pickett, Va., for the Army National Guard’s eXportable Combat Training Capability (XCTC) exercise 17-01.
The scale of the undertaking isn’t lost on Capt. Michael Sojka, 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Headquarters Company Sustainment Cell. Sojka is one of the planners for the movement operations.
“We’re exercising our capabilities of rail head operations,” said Sojka. “We’re currently responsible for more than 700 pieces of military equipment via rail from Morrisville, Pa. to Fort Pickett, Va.”
Driver teams, spotter teams, and soldiers performing securing operations received extensive training in railway operations and safety.
“I’m a driver, helping vehicles to get on rail cars,” said Spc. Xavier Soto from the 112th Field Artillery. “I didn’t imagine it being this big. You forget how big the brigade is. There’s a lot of moving parts in one big brigade. You see there’s just hundreds and hundreds of vehicles.”
Driving large vehicles onto rail cars isn’t an everyday experience for a soldier.
“It’s different,” said Soto. “You’re going up, going down, it’s like a roller coaster. You have a guide on every car, guiding you left and right, or speed up and slow down. There’s not too much space and no room for error. Once you get to your spot, they get chained down.”
Securing the vehicles onto the rail cars was no easy task. Soldiers used wrenches and hammers to work with huge chains, coaxing rusted metal to tighten down massive transport trucks.
“It’s tough, but it’s great,” said Sgt. Jermaine Abraham from 250th Brigade Engineer Battalion. “It’s awesome to be a part of something so big.”
An equipment movement of this scale has been a test of the 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team’s capabilities.
“Each day we come across a new challenge. We have not conducted an exercise like this in almost two decades,” said Sojka. “You have a new generation of soldiers. Many soldiers that did not know our deployment capability. We’re learning, this is almost like a confidence course.”
Sojka looked at the entire movement as one big football game.
“Growing up in high school and college team sports, the best analogies are that locker room or chalkboard talk. I explained to the troops this is like the combine, you’re being assessed on what capabilities you are bringing to this team,” said Sojka. “It’s pairing up experienced soldiers with new troops, and bringing them up to speed. Right now this is the first quarter, loading gear. The second quarter is going to happen at Fort Pickett, that’s the receiving, accounting, and dispersal of the material. The third quarter is after XCTC, the loadout at Fort Pickett, and the fourth quarter is unloading everything back here to Morrisville.”
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s fun,” said Sojka.
The 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team will be at XCTC May 20 – June 9.
| Date Taken: | 05.02.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 05.03.2017 15:20 |
| Story ID: | 232406 |
| Location: | MORRISVILLE, PA, US |
| Web Views: | 386 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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