Photo By Staff Sgt. Bradley Cooney | Sgt. Gabriel Attwell, supply sergeant for 1245th Transportation Company, 345th Combat...... read more read more
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CAMP GRUBER, Okla.—In the sweltering heat at Camp Gruber Training Center near Braggs, Oklahoma, surrounded by a pit of finely shredded tire pieces, members of the 1245th Transportation Company, 345th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, practice combatives, a program in which Soldiers are taught to engage and defeat the enemy in hand-to-hand combat.
This exercise is only a small part of the extensive 25-day training that goes into pre-mobilization, the process of getting ready to deploy overseas.
Pre-mobilization training prepares Soldiers for many situations they have the chance of encountering while deployed. Training includes events such as combatives, land navigation, weapons training, online courses to familiarize Soldiers with the customs and languages of the country they are deploying to, grenade training, combat life saving skills and situational training exercises.
“The focus is mission readiness,” said Capt. Warren Queton, commander of the 1245th Transportation Company. “We’re making sure all of the Soldiers are physically and mentally ready for deployment.”
Unit cohesion is essential to the training process. Without the teamwork and dedication of the entire unit, mission capabilities could be hindered. Along with individual Soldiers being proficient at their warrior tasks, working together is just as much of a necessity. And members of the 1245th are working together to complete their training before starting their mission overseas.
“Unit morale is really high. Soldiers are interacting and visiting with one another, developing their teams, learning how to work as a team and as a platoon. And that’s what we want,” Queton said. “We want to empower our sergeants and staff sergeants to become leaders in the company and we are seeing that develop here. Even our younger Soldiers want more responsibility. We are really focusing on the training aspect and leadership qualities.”
And it’s not just members of the 1245th who are going on this deployment. When units have empty slots, they are filled by other National Guardsmen.
“We have had Soldiers come from all over the state help fill our vacancies and make a stronger team,” said 1st Sgt. Robert Yates, first sergeant of the 1245th. “The teams have incorporated them very well. We are continuing to train and morale has been very high, even with the rain and extremely hot weather.”
“They brought me in like family,” said Pfc. Harley Dunn, a new soldier to the ranks of the 1245th. “Even the people I didn’t know, my team leaders and squad leaders, they treat me like family.”
The training for this mission did not simply start when the 1245th put boots on ground at Camp Gruber. This has been a long time coming.
“The 1245th has been training for this deployment for the last year,” Queton said. “It all started back in the summer of 2017 when we traveled to Fort Hood [Texas] and we were certified as Heavy Equipment Transportation drivers, which is a requirement for our deployment.”
The 1245th are a unique unit, in that they are part of an Associated Unit Pilot Program under the 1st Cavalry Sustainment Brigade out of Fort Hood, Texas.
“Last year we took 55 drivers down to Fort Hood and certified them on the heavy equipment transportation platform,” Queton said. Which is the largest logistics platform in the military.”
Transportation plays an essential role in mission success. Without transportation, Soldiers don’t get fed, supplies can’t be delivered, Soldiers couldn’t move quickly from one distant location to another. Simply put, not having a well-trained and equipped transportation force could cost lives. The 1245th has shown time and time again that they are trained, eager and ready to accept the challenges laid before them in the next several months.
| Date Taken: | 06.11.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 06.28.2018 16:37 |
| Story ID: | 280849 |
| Location: | BRAGGS, OK, US |
| Web Views: | 54 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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