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NTC training readies Guard brigade for Iraq

By SSG Carmen L Burgess
April 25, 2005

FORT IRWIN, Calif. (Army News Service, April 25, 2005) – The Army’s top official observed Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team training for a deployment while in the Mohave desert last week.

Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey made a stop at the National Training Center April 19 to see the National Guard Soldiers as they prepared for an upcoming deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“The design of NTC is to provide a tough training environment so units get a month’s worth of ‘Iraq’ in 14 days,” Brig. Gen. Stewart Rodeheaver, 48th BCT commander, told Harvey.

48th among first to don ACUs

Rodeheaver also shared that the distribution of the new Army combat uniform served as a morale booster for his troops. The 48th BCT is the first complete unit in the Army to receive the ACUs.

“It’s a vote of confidence that the Army feels confident in us and the new equipment was provided for us before our active counterparts,” he said.

“Is there any difference?” Harvey asked him. “The 48th is a symbol of how we are an Army of One.”

NTC climate similar to Iraq

The training at Fort Irwin is realistic in that it provides the same harsh operational climate found in Southwestern Asia, officials said. There are similar doctrinal distances found on the 1,000 square mile installation and the 12 training sites are complete with desert, urban and mountain scenarios.

“(Soldiers) who train here will be in Iraq within 60 days,” said Brig. Gen. Robert Cone, commander, Fort Irwin and NTC. “They are getting experience with professionals who have been in theater and are using the latest tactics and techniques.”

Cone told the secretary that if commanders want to get the “real deal” in training their Soldiers, then they bring them to the center where events that occur in Iraq are instantly applied to training scenarios.

“In a war where the center of gravity is at the company and platoon level, it is imperative to get this kind of training,” he said.

live-fire scenarios cap training

Harvey visited two mock cities, one complete with underground tunnels, and observed as Soldiers of the 48th BCT interacted with the local police force and performed patrols. He also rode along on a convoy live-fire exercise conducted by elements of the 48th’s headquarters.

After training for three months at Fort Stewart, Ga., the 48th BCT, whose Soldiers come from Georgia, Alabama, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri and Puerto Rico, arrived in California at the beginning of April for intensive training.

The secretary said that one of his primary responsibilities is to ensure that Soldiers are receiving relevant training. He said that the training at NTC is successful at doing that.

“I’m continually impressed we the quality, capability and caliber of our Reserve forces,” Harvey said. “You forget that they are a National Guard unit - there’s no difference between them.”