Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Shane Smith | Pennsylvania National Guard leaders visit the tactical operations center of 2nd...... read more read more
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FORT IRWIN, Calif. – Maj. Gen. Timothy Hilty, Pennsylvania’s assistant adjutant general, Brig. Gen. Mark Schindler, Pennsylvania’s deputy adjutant general - Army, and Command Sgt. Maj. Timothy Hileman, Command Sergeant Major - Army, Pennsylvania National Guard, visited elements of the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania Army National Guard at the National Training Center here Aug. 13.
Hilty, Schindler, and Hileman, accompanied by Col. Ken Weiland, senior army advisor to the Pennsylvania National Guard, visited the field headquarters of several elements of the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team while circulating the simulated battlefield of the National Training Center, commonly referred to as "the box" by Soldiers.
Hilty and Schindler spoke with battalion leaders about the challenges their units have faced while conducting training, how they’ve overcome those obstacles, and their plans for future operations.
“This has been great training. It’s been extremely tiresome and it’s a lot of long, hard days, but it’s this type of training that’s the most beneficial to us, and our Soldiers have been learning a lot,” said Lt. Col. John Wenzel, commander of 2nd Squadron, 104th Cavalry Regiment, 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team. “I’m really proud of our Soldiers for the motivation they’ve maintained throughout,” he added.
In addition to meeting with senior enlisted leaders, Command Sgt. Maj. Hileman also circulated each encampment the group visited to speak with lower enlisted Soldiers. Hileman provided them with words of encouragement and discussed the training experiences and lessons they’d learned while in the field.
“We’ve learned a lot of important skills during this training that is hard to get anywhere else, (such as) utilizing the surrounding terrain for night movements,” said Cpl. Jesse Manibusan, an infantry team leader with 1st Battalion, 111th Infantry Regiment, 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team. “Having equipment like MILES gear and javelins is great,” Manibusan continued, “I’ve never seen this stuff before so it makes for a great learning experience.”
As the 56th Stryker Brigade moves deeper into the latter half of its NTC rotation, the Soldiers will soon face an exciting new training opportunity.
“We’ve been training hard and are slowly reaching the end of our rotation, but we’re about to have a long four days ahead of us,” said Col. Michael Wegscheider, commander of the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team while speaking about the upcoming live-fire phase of the brigade’s training schedule. “All of the training we’ve been doing up until now will culminate in this big final event, and I think our guys are really looking forward to it.”
| Date Taken: | 08.13.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 08.14.2018 19:42 |
| Story ID: | 288723 |
| Location: | FORT IRWIN, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 408 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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