Golden Castle
In 1996 more than 1,000 soldiers from six Army Reserve and National Guard units from Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Arkansas participated in a six-month training exercise called Golden Castle at the Combat Maneuver Training Center in Hohenfels, Germany. The participants -- headed by the 411th Engineer Command, a Reserve unit from New York -- included Reservists from the 961st Engr. Battalion from Milwaukee, Wis.; Wisconsin Guard members from the 724th Engr. Bn.; and Reservists from the Arkansas-based 489th Engr. Bn. and the 458th Engr. Bn. from Johnstown, Pa.
The engineers constructed buildings at a site used for military operations in urban terrain training, renovated barracks, improved a road in the combat training area and built simulated United Nations security checkpoints. Building a mock German village at the MOUT site gave some of the engineers a chance to practice what they do in civilian life. Others performed some engineer tasks for the first time.
Guard and Reserve soldiers also had opportunities to hone combat skills like placing and breaching obstacles. Some soldiers serve long careers in the National Guard and never get to see how engineers fit into the combat scenario. Being able to train in a large maneuver area like this is especially beneficial.
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