Camp Guernsey provides realistic training for combat engineers

Photo By Staff Sgt. Rachel M Korzeniewski | Soldiers with the South Dakota Army National Guard’s 211th Engineer Company deploy the assault vehicle launching bridge while training at Camp Guernsey, Wyoming, June 13, 2018.The Golden Coyote training exercise provides realistic training throughout the Black Hills and Guernsey, Wyoming. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Rachel Korzeniewski)  

GUERNSEY, WY, UNITED STATES

06.19.2018

Story by Staff Sgt. Rachel M Korzeniewski 

129th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

GUERNSEY, Wyo. – Soldiers with South Dakota Army National Guard’s 211th Engineer Company trained at Camp Guernsey during the Golden Coyote training exercise, June 15-23.

The 211th recently had a change of mission from a Sapper Company to a Mobility Augmentation Company (MAC) and found the training at Camp Guernsey to be vital for ensuring Soldiers understand their new roles.
“We went from being a Sapper Company to being a MAC, which ultimately took our mission and put it on larger scale,” said Capt. Chris Olson, 211th commander. “We have a multitude of equipment that allows us to support a larger maneuver force. The mission set hasn’t changed, we just grew in scale.”
The 211th has many vehicles to help in their role of supporting troop movements. One vehicle, the assault vehicle launching bridge allows the unit to bridge across gaps, wire obstacles, water or other terrain obstacles troops may encounter.
“The value of this training is to come out to a different terrain we are not use to training on,” said Sgt. Richard Buechler, combat engineer, 211th En. Co. “There are a lot of rolling hills and open valley so we can use these bridges to their full potential in crossing gaps which allows us to use all of our equipment to get where we need to go.”
Camp Guernsey’s training area was of great benefit to the engineers as they wanted the most realistic training possible. The camp includes live-fire ranges dedicated to small arms training, as well as crew serve, life-fire convoy routes, a counter improvised explosive device lane and rocket/missile firing points.
“The terrain on Guernsey is great for our mission. It allows us to train on the new systems we have gained since converting from a Sapper Company,” said Olson. “It gives us an opportunity to do our jobs in a realistic training environment.”
The main training mission of the 211th is to provide direct engineer support for an armored brigade combat team. The mission is to ensure mobility, counter mobility and survivability operations, said Olson.
“This training mission is exactly what our unit’s overall mission is,” said Olson. “A MAC is designed to provide direct engineer support to any maneuver asset. Ultimately, our job is to help a maneuver commander deal with any obstacle that he may encounter while advancing on the enemy.”

• Date Taken: 06.19.2018
• Date Posted: 06.20.2018 17:07
• Story ID: 281717
• Location: GUERNSEY, WY, US