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    Red Team OC/Ts help train 2-116 FA during XCTC

    Red Team OC/Ts help train 2-116 FA during XCTC

    Photo By Sgt. Roger Houghton | The view from the gunner’s seat of an M119 Howitzer, Aug. 14, 2019, at Camp Shelby,...... read more read more

    MS, UNITED STATES

    08.14.2019

    Story by Sgt. Roger Houghton 

    First Army

    Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 116th Field Artillery Regiment, 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team spent the hot Mississippi day processing fire missions and sending rounds down-range with their M119 Howitzers. Crews fired live rounds into the impact area, helping certify a new fire direction officer during the eXportable Combat Training Capability exercise, Aug. 14, at Camp Shelby, MS.

    The 53rd IBCT from the Florida National Guard is scheduled for a rotation at Fort Polk, Louisiana’s Joint Readiness Training Center early next year. JRTC is a large-scale, all-encompassing military training scenario that will test the 53rd IBCT’s ability to deploy and operate in a combat theatre.

    To meet the 53rd IBCT’s training objectives prior to JRTC, the 177th Armored Brigade partnered with the eXportable Combat Training Capability team to use Camp Shelby to give the 53rd IBCT a taste of what is to come during their JRTC rotation. XCTC, which is a portable and adaptive Combat Training Center, puts units through a training rotation to build their readiness using a crawl, walk, run method.

    “Having National Guard units do this XCTC and actually get completely certified, and then pushing them through a field training exercise before JRTC is a fantastic training event,” said Cpt. Jeffrey Wilson, the Bravo OC/T Team Chief for the 2nd Battalion, 305th Field Artillery Regiment

    JRTC rotations are designed for brigade combat teams, and they leverage an immersive environment to introduce units to the rigors of deployment operations over several weeks. Bringing XCTC to Camp Shelby has allowed the Spearhead Brigade to devise training scenarios that will better prepare the Soldiers and leaders of the 53rd IBCT for their upcoming trip to Ft. Polk.

    To increase the depth of what 53rd IBCT Soldiers must take into account during their training rotation, civilian role-players, who act out their roles as members of the indigenous population, approach and interact with Soldiers, and XCTC’s battlefield effects personnel set off simulated explosions to augment the reality of mission scenarios.

    1st Sgt. Robert Eads, the first sergeant for Bravo Battery, 2nd Battalion, 116th Field Artillery Regiment, recalled his unit’s experiences with XCTC’s enablers.

    “The reality of the pyrotechnics and the opposing forces on the lanes is a huge step up from what we typically see at a normal annual training,” said Eads.

    Since entering the training area, the 53rd IBCT and the Spearhead OC/Ts have been experiencing everything Camp Shelby has to offer. Often without permanent shelter, living out of tents and using trees for shade, everybody participating in XCTC has shared the full spectrum of environmental factors that come with spending August outdoors in southern Mississippi.

    “We had some of the worst rain and lightning that I’ve ever been through out here.” said Eads. “You learn what you should have brought with you, while grabbing what you did bring as soon as possible when it all goes down.”

    Spc. Luis Lopez Quintero, a 13J Field Control Specialist assigned to the 2-116th Field Artillery battalion, is part of his battery’s reconnaissance element, which advances to find a suitable piece of land for his battery’s firing positions before they move forward.

    “You have weeds, you have ants, and you basically don’t know what you’re going to come across,” said Lopez. “You go to the firing point, and the weeds are probably taller than you. Vegetation is one of the big challenges we have in this environment.”

    Rain or shine, the 177th Armored Brigade’s OC/Ts train with their partner units whenever they are needed, at any time and any place. They connect with unit leadership to understand training priorities and objectives, and plan training events for the unit to learn from. The relationships that Spearhead OC/Ts spend time building with their Reserve Component units help them tailor the training they execute to fit their counterparts’ needs.

    “The OC/T team that I have now has been with 2-116 for about nine months,” said Wilson. “They’ve been going back and forth, helping them execute basic table certifications.”

    At the end of a training event or exercise, Spearhead OC/Ts gather everyone involved to conduct an after-action review and help the unit self-discover their strengths and shortfalls by collecting and analyzing observations made during training.

    “We do ‘greenbook’ after-action reviews and hot-washes, we walk around and get to know the soldiers themselves,” said Wilson, referring to his team of OC/Ts. “Between all of us we probably have 20-plus years experience in a chief, platoon sergeant, or a platoon commander role.”

    Wilson explained that his OC/Ts are helping Bravo Battery, 2-116th Field Artillery build standard operating procedures for their tactics, techniques, and procedures. As part of an Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Bravo Battery receives fire missions and must execute them as quickly and accurately as possible.

    “The large-scale operation of having the infantry, air defense, and working adjacently with other units brings the whole thing into perspective for us,” said Eads. “We’re providing fire support and we’re just one piece of the pie. It really makes you feel like you’re part of something bigger than you or your battery.”

    For every different type of battalion within the 53rd IBCT, there is a team of 177th Armored OC/Ts with the expertise needed to effectively mentor their unit during the XCTC exercise.

    “The OC/Ts are phenomenal,” said Eads. “They’re with you every step of the way, evaluating from the outside, and that’s key.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 08.14.2019
    Date Posted: 08.16.2019 13:35
    Story ID: 336206
    Location: MS, US

    Web Views: 387
    Downloads: 1

    PUBLIC DOMAIN