5th Brigade, 78th Division (Training Support)
"We Dare" [ex- 15th Support Brigade]
On October 17, 1999, the 5th Brigade, 78th Division (Exercise) was redesignated as Headquarters, 5th Brigade, 78th Division (Training Support), and activated as Fort Meade, Maryland, in accordance with U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) published plan. The plan, titled "Training Support XXI" restructured active component synchronize, coordinate, and execute training support and evaluations for Reserve Component units within it's geographical area of responsibility.
The 5th Brigade, 78th Division (Training Support), which synchronizes, coordinates and executes training support and evaluations for Reserve units, underwent massive changes, including the transition from the 15th Support Brigade to its current designation. The change restructured active component support to reserve component units, reflecting the Army's increased reliance on reserve forces. The 15th Brigade underwent momentous changes in the final phases of its transition to a fully integrated multi-component organization.
5th Brigade, 78th Division (TS) increases the combat readiness of reserve component soldiers and units by synchronizing, coordinating, and executing training support and evaluations for the units within its area of responsibility. On order, provide Mobilization Assistance Teams to selected installations. Plan and provide Military Assistance to Civilian authorities.
The 3d Battalion was officially activated as the 1st Engineer Regional Training Battalion, in concert with it's parent brigade, in ceremonies at Fort Meade, Maryland on 10 October 1996. The battalion was one of five in the First Regional Training Brigade that initially formed between the Summer of 1995 and Spring 1996. On 1 October 1997, the battalion was redesignated as 2nd Training Support Battalion, (Engineer) 15th Support Brigade as part of the restructuring of the Army's reserve component support structure. Most recently in October 1999, the battalion was redesignated 3rd Bn (TS)(EN), 315th Regt. This brought the battalion on line with the newly designated 5th Bde, (formally 15th support Bde), now part of the 78th Division (TS)
The battalion is part of the congressionally mandated Ground Forces Readiness Enhancement Program (GFRE). The program was instituted by congress to provide an active component force structure to increase the training readiness of designated Reserve Component units. In that capacity, the 3d Battalion has provided lane training evaluations to three engineer battalions in New York, Virginia and Wisconsin; 2 separate companies associated with Enhanced Brigades in New York and Indiana; and 3 Bridge companies located in Connecticut, Illinois and Michigan. To accomplish these training events the battalion has deployed to Fort Drum, New York; Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia; Camp Atterbury, Indiana; Fort McCoy, Wisconsin; Camp Ripley, Minnesota; Camp Grayling, Michigan; Stones Ranch, Connecticut, and Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.
In March 2001 military Police and engineers took over Camp Dobol, Fort Dix, as nearly 400 soldiers honed their skills for deployment with the 29th Division to the Balkans. The 28th Division of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard deployed for Stabilization Force XII. Comprised mainly of 29th Infantry Division (Light) soldiers, the mobilization is the largest Reserve component call up since Desert Storm. It includes soldiers from more than 20 states, half a dozen Regional Support Command and active duty units, plus tons of equipment and hundreds of vehicles.
Recent Stability and Support Operations (SASO) training provided by the 78th Division's 5th Brigade, which included the 143rd Forward Support Battalion of the Connecticut Army National Guard, focused on training tasks that a logistics organization would face in Bosnia. For this four-day training period, the lanes were changed to reflect mission tasks for the 229th Engineer Battalion, Fredericksburg, Va., and the United States Army Reserve's 372nd Military Police Company, Cumberland, Md., which belongs to the 336th MP Battalion, headquartered in Pittsburg, Pa.
Under the 78th Division, observers and controllers using lanes training crawl-walk-run methodology, soldiers are required to perform various tasks associated with the collective training of an entire operation in four to six lanes that are associated with their jobs. Each of the lanes contain tasks that are theater specific for all soldiers going to the region such as how to conduct a convoy or manage an unexploded ordnance situation, to name a few of the training events. The lanes are designed to reflect actual conditions in Bosnia as much as possible.
All training begins when soldiers take control of the base camp. The moment soldiers arrive, the training begins with the stress associated with deploying to a foreign nation. Soldiers receive their training mission at the base camp before convoying to respective lanes training areas. In the case of the engineers tasks, they had to be successful at convoying and observing the clearing of a minefield by international authorities. For the MPs, force protection for a base camp, and providing secure convoy movements were critical for the MP training.
During the formative stages of Task Force Oregon the 15th Support Brigade was deployed from Long Binh to Chu Lai in support of Task Force Oregon. On December 8, 1967, the Support Command 23rd Infantry Division, Americal, was activated to provide command and control of the division's support to organic and attached units. Throughout the following year of 1968 and up to August 1969 the men of the command demonstrated unusual skill in providing combat service support for combat operations conducted by both organic units and those under the operational control of the Americal Division. Vehicles of the support command traveled in excess of 3,629,700 miles in support of operations during this period.
The 5th Brigade, 78th Division was constituted August 5, 1917, in the National Army as the 303rd Supply Train and assigned to the 78th Division. The Brigade organized December 1917-May 1918 at Camp Dix, New Jersey. It consisted of three regiments - the 309th, 311th, and 312th.
In France, during the summer and fall of 1918, the 78th Division was the "point of the wedge" for the final offensive, which knocked out Germany. The 5th Brigade was in three major campaigns during World War I - Meuse-Argonne, St. Mihiel and Lorraine. The unit was demobilized June 5, 1919, at Camp Dix, New Jersey. The Brigade was reconstituted July 3, 1936, in the Organized Reserves; concurrently consolidated with the 78th Division Quartermaster Train (organized) November 1921 in the Organized Reserves as the 78th Division Train, Quartermaster Corps, with Headquarters at Newark, New Jersey; redesignated March 23, 1925, as the 78th Division Quartermaster Train).
The Brigade was later reorganized and redesignated on July 1, 1936 as the 403rd Quartermaster Regiment, an element of the 78th Division (later redesignated as the 78th Infantry Division). On February 20, 1942, the unit was redesignated as the 403rd Quartermaster Battalion.
In World War II, the 5th Brigade, was ordered into active military service August 15, 1942, and reorganized at Camp Butner, North Carolina. After two years as part of the 78th Training Division, the 5th Brigade embarked for the European theatre. The Brigade participated in three campaigns - Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, and Central Europe. Again, the Brigade was inactivated on May 22, 1946, in Germany. On February 21, 1947, the Brigade activated at Newark, New Jersey. (Organized Reserves redesignated March 25, 1948, as the Organized Reserve Corps; redesignated July 9, 1952, as the Army Reserve). The Brigade reorganized and redesignated October 16, 1978, as Headquarters, 78th Training Command, an element of the 78th Division (Training). On October 17, 1984, the Brigade was inactivated at Edison, New Jersey. The Brigade was redesignated October 1, 1993, as Headquarters, 5th Brigade, 78th Division (Exercise), and activated at Baltimore, Maryland.
