Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Richard Frost | Capt. Cody Blackburn, special security officer for the 120th Regional Support Group,...... read more read more
AUGUSTA, Maine - Soldiers of the 120th Regional Support Group to the Maine Army National Guard had the opportunity to support the Army’s Mobilization Support Force concept while conducting a staff exercise training event during annual training June 1-5 in Augusta, Maine.
The MSF is the Army’s strategy to use National Guard and Reserves troops to augment active duty forces and to operate mobilization installations in the event of a large scale combat operation, explained Maj. Adam Davis, executive officer for the 120th RSG.
“We recognize that if we’re going to activate guard and reserve units, we have to make sure they’re medically ready, administratively ready, and that the right training has been performed. If the active component can’t accomplish all those things by themselves, we have to augment their teams with our teams,” said Davis. “That’s exactly what we did in 2003 when we activated guard and reserve units for Operation Iraqi Freedom, and that’s the same model we still have.”
The 120th’s MSF mission partners them with Fort Stewart, Georgia, which has been designated as one of seven primary inactive Mobilization Force Generation Installations that can be activated to supplement the Army’s two currently active MFGIs operated by First Army at Fort Bliss and Fort Cavazos. Units assigned as MSFs must be ready to provide continuous pre- and post-mobilization training support, combat preparation, and sustainment capabilities at their assigned installations.
“Just getting the staff involved helps them understand the mission and helps them think through some problem sets that they may encounter in mobilizing units out of that location,” said Lt. Col. Charles Jaquillard, Senior Regular Army Advisor to the Guard for the state of Maine.
In his role as the SRAAG, Jaquillard serves as the senior active-duty Army officer assigned as an advisor and a liaison between the regular Army and Army National Guard, responsible for assisting and advising their state’s Army National Guard commanders on readiness, training, and operations.
“It’s all readiness,” said Jaquillard of the MSF mission. “It’s important for us to have the process in place. It’s about being able to get down there and understand the left and right limits, understanding who you need to be coordinating with at Fort Stewart, and having established relationships with the subordinate units that will help enable a mobilization.”
The 120th's preparation for the possibility of assuming an MSF mission has been ongoing since last year’s annual training when the team underwent training on the military decision making process.
The team conducted mission analysis for the MSF mission, followed by running estimates and intelligence preparation of the battlefield.
“We had a little bit of bandwidth left and we ended up developing an operations order, which was really unique because there were many competing orders and requirements and there was no single higher-level order,” said Davis. “That was a challenge.”
The 120th went on to develop an operation plan brief for their assigned subordinate units.
Coming into annual training in 2025, Davis said his priorities for the staff were to get the staff experience on doing wargames and tabletop exercises and to continue to practice good staff work by becoming proficient at the basics like running estimates, collaboration, developing courses of action, intelligence preparation of the battlefield, and rapid decision making.
Another priority of the exercise was to be able to engage in real-world collaboration with Fort Stewart counterparts and to provide feedback on the mission.
“We’re taking all of the information that we’ve developed here – the risks, the shortfalls - to the actual Fort Stewart plan,” said Davis. “They are receiving feedback on the plan that they’ve developed, and at the same time we’re training a whole generation of young staff officers on how to conduct good staff operations.”
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Samuel Seals, currently serving as one of the 120th’s liaisons to Fort Stewart as a First Army large-scale mobilization operation planner, used his knowledge and experience to provide historical feedback as the unit developed their plan, making the training as realistic as possible.
One way Chief Seals assisted the staff was by “truthing” the products produced, explained Davis. Meaning, he was able to review the work the staff did for accuracy and check it against real conditions. Seals also provided assistance by connecting the staff with the right points of contact at Fort Stewart.
Seals said one of the best ways a staff can be successful in planning for a mission like the MSF is to lean into building good relationships and to stay flexible.
“Of course everyone starts off with a good plan,” said Seals. “The problems start when that plan gets misconstrued or lost over time, which is why it’s important to have continuity and to keep open communication with their active duty partners at Fort Stewart. Things change every day, and this scenario hasn’t happened yet so a lot of this just trying to figure out the best possible way to get it done.”
Overall, Davis and the First Army partners have been pleased with the outcomes of the staff exercise.
“The relationship with Fort Stewart has been good: they’ve loved getting the feedback and it’s been really collaborative,” said Davis. “The staff work has been outstanding and people are looking at second and third order effects. The staff is digging into standard operating procedures and policies and plans that Fort Stewart has and conducting some really high-quality rapid decision making. We’re getting good training out of it, and we’re providing real-world product at the same time. To me, it’s a win.”
| Date Taken: | 06.10.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.13.2025 07:44 |
| Story ID: | 500193 |
| Location: | AUGUSTA, MAINE, US |
| Web Views: | 66 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Maine National Guard Soldiers train on real-world scenario thanks to First Army, Fort Stewart partnership, by LTC Margaret St. Pierre, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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