1687th Transportation Company Annual Training

Photo By Spc. Christopher Shannon | Staff Sgt. Michael Aldridge, 1687th Transportation Company, loosens the chains securing a Bradley Fighting Vehicle to a rail car June 25, 2017, at the Maneuver Area Training Equipment Site at Camp Shelby, near Hattiesburg, Mississippi. (Mississippi Army National Guard Photo by Spc. Christopher Shannon, 102d Public Affairs Detachment)  

CAMP SHELBY, MS, UNITED STATES

06.25.2017

Story by Spc. Christopher Shannon 

102d Public Affairs Detachment

The 1687th Transportation Company is serving its two weeks of training at the Maneuver Area Training Equipment Site at Camp Shelby, Mississippi.
“A transport company is responsible for hauling equipment and connexes over the road so units have what they need to do their job,” said Capt. Clyde McArn, commander of the 1687th Transportation Company.
The company’s mission is multidimensional this annual training period, said McArn.
Annual training is the readiness exercise done every year by units in the National Guard. During AT, units of the Mississippi Army National Guard serve two weeks to strengthen their individual and unit skills. They often train alongside other National Guard units.
“We are tasked with carrying connexes (containers) to different parts of the state,” said McArn.
The company is responsible for taking all the equipment off the rail cars from the National Training Center, at Fort Irwin, California, and staging them at MATES for units to pick them up later, said Pfc. Whitney King, truck driver in the 1687th Transportation Company. The rail cars are returning equipment used by the 155th Armored Brigade Combat Team and support elements during a month-long rotation at NTC.
The 1687th is also simultaneously conducting ongoing battle training and drivers training, said McArn.
For this company, AT serves a much greater purpose than just returning equipment to their proper units.
McArn said this training period is especially important because the company has equipment to move originating and ending at separate locations. In addition, the units the equipment belongs to need their gear and vehicles at certain times to facilitate their own missions. This requires a complex plan and synchronization while accounting for a lot of moving elements.
Annual training is meant to test the Soldiers and the units at their given jobs while increasing readiness for both.
The training has given each Soldier new experiences to learn from and to take with them to the next mission, said King.
During the mission, leaders had a chance to execute their plan and see what works for the Soldiers in their squads, said McArn.
“When we transport materials, connexes, and pieces of equipment to other units, it helps us do real world missions because that’s what we do every day as a company,” said McArn. “This AT was very successful.”

• Date Taken: 06.25.2017
• Date Posted: 06.29.2017 07:21
• Story ID: 239129
• Location: CAMP SHELBY, MS, US