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FORT IRWIN, CA –The Florida Army National Guard's 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team has arrived at Fort Irwin, California, and finalized their preparations to start their time "in the box," as the central Rotational Training Unit (RTU) at the National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin, California. A massive movement of troops and supplies that, in its current scope, was made possible by the supporting units from across the state of Florida and 16 other State National Guard organizations. In addition to executing a large and efficient troop movement to California, the transportation of all necessary Florida National Guard equipment and vehicles for NTC has become the largest logistics movement for the FLARNG since World War II.
NTC trains units for combat readiness through immersive scenarios that simulate large-scale combat operations in austere environments. After a week of preparation at the staging area at Fort Irwin, units began entering “The Box” over a three-day period, with the final personnel joining the live training scenario Friday.
Lt. Col. Dan Brown, commander of the 153rd Cavalry Squadron, 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT), says participating in a Combat Training Center (CTC) rotation is a valuable training opportunity that Soldiers will not experience anywhere else. There are only two CTCs in the country: the NTC at Fort Irwin and the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana. Only two combat brigades in the National Guard are permitted to attend these centers every year.
“This gives us an opportunity to be thrown into a true combat environment in the event that we're in a different country, facing a near-peer threat. It's a show of our ability not just to operate in that environment, but also to move all of our equipment, all of our personnel from one location to another,” said Brown.
For Soldiers at every level participating in the weeks-long live-training scenario, the ability to focus on an individual skillset for an extended period is very different from that in home environments.
“Now we get to show our craft. Regardless of your MOS, if you're a military intelligence individual, if you are a cook, if you're a signal, if you're an infantryman, you get an opportunity to really hone your craft here at a CTC rotation,” said Brown. “There's no other location that gives you the opportunity to showcase and improve in your craft than at a CTC rotation.”
The opportunity lies not just with US Soldiers, but for the two nations traveling across the globe to embed with units entering the training area. A Romanian contingent has attached to the 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment, and a Finnish reconnaissance platoon from the Finnish Army’s Karelia Brigade has attached to the 153rd Cavalry Squadron.
“We’re here to learn the US Army’s way to think and operate. This terrain and environment is totally different than ours back home. This is not the first rodeo working with the Guard. So we are pretty compatible already… but we always want to increase that,” said Finnish Army Maj. Atti Uljas. “… This exercise increases our interoperability capability, and we’re bringing lessons home not just for the Karelia Brigade, but for the whole Finnish Army.”
The road to NTC, for all organizations, goes beyond putting Soldiers on a plane to California. It’s an effort that has taken place over the past year by nearly half the state, from the Adjutant General of the FLARNG down to the junior enlisted personnel working at battalion and company levels. The equipment would need to travel from Camp Blanding to trains, then from the trains to a depot in California, where an entire team’s mission is to offload the equipment.
For Capt. Jacob Moore, a logistics officer with 1st Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment, this is his second time at NTC. His previous rotation saw him become rail certified through the Rail Group Operations course, which he says he used to help shape the process from commercial line haul of equipment to Fort Stewart, and the Railhead Operations at Fort Stewart that would ultimately allow all of Florida’s equipment to make it ahead of the main body.
"It's a great opportunity for the state to test its limitations and constraints and really push the limit on what we can do, how we can mobilize and move our soldiers across the entire continent … That means that we had to get everything that we have. All of our equipment, all of our vehicles, and ensure that it was capable of conducting operations … so that when we deploy out here, we can fall in on all of our equipment,” said Moore. “We don't have to draw any additional equipment from big Army. We're completely self-sufficient out here, which is a testament to the guys who were down there on the rail heads learning this stuff on the fly. We have some really great soldiers in this battalion who can learn quickly and adapt fast.”
| Date Taken: | 07.25.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 07.31.2025 00:13 |
| Story ID: | 543913 |
| Location: | FORT IRWIN, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 38 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Florida Army National Guard heads to National Training Center, by SGT Spencer Rhodes, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
