Courtesy Photo | Photo Caption: Soldiers from the 861st Engineer Support Company, Rhode Island National...... read more read more
EAST GREENWICH, R.I. (Feb. 9, 2020) -- More than 65 Soldiers from the 861st Engineer Support Company, Rhode Island Army National Guard returned Jan. 29, 2020 from a rigorous three-week combat training exercise in the challenging, austere environment of Fort Polk Louisiana.
The 861st ECS acted as Rotation Augmentation Support for Task Force Spartan and conducted mobility, and defensive engineer operations with the 6th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
Task Force Spartan consisted of four phases: attack, defense, sustainment, and stability operations, said 1st Lt. Joshua Colasante, the 861st ECS commander. The 861st was key in the defensive portion, focused mostly on countermobility and survivability, which is our mission essential task.
In fact, “We were the only National Guard unit of the 5,500 Soldiers participating in the exercise,” said Colasante. “We were able to get a year’s experience in three weeks. It was a huge benefit to train alongside active-duty units and see how we stacked up. We were able to keep pace with them without any problems at all.”
Additionally, the 861st brought nearly 60 pieces of equipment to Fort Polk, said 1st Lt. Alex Kowalski, the Unit Movement Officer for the 861st ECS. Overall, the training enhanced the unit’s preparedness for missions at home or abroad and tested their ability to execute complicated maneuvers and to adapt in a rapidly changing environment.
“It was an austere environment,” Sgt. Brandon Young, a squad leader with 861st ECS. “At times, some of our Soldiers were up to their knees in mud. The exercise was meant to be difficult and shake us up. It was great training.”
Above all, the 861st ECS Soldiers remained undaunted in the rugged, challenging battle-training at Fort Polk’s Joint Readiness Training Center.
| Date Taken: | 02.09.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 02.26.2020 16:53 |
| Story ID: | 363943 |
| Location: | EAST GREENWICH, RHODE ISLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 40 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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