226th training for overseas mission

FORT McCOY, Wis. – Members of the 226th Engineer Company are at Fort McCoy, Wis., preparing for a deployment to support Operation Enduring Freedom.
Since their arrival at Fort McCoy, soldiers from the 226th, an Army National Guard unit with its home station in Augusta have participated in extensive training on equipment and procedures to learn skills they will need to be successful in their mission overseas.
Company Commander Capt. Brian Henning said the training at Fort McCoy has met and exceeded expectations. “The soldiers who conducted the training deserve our thanks and gratitude for all of their hard work.”
“The training was realistic and well planned,” Henning said. “The trainers for every event were prepared and knowledgeable. They exemplified the professional Soldier. They were direct and succinct with comments and corrections. Above all, they demonstrated the respect and professionalism. Soldier safety was a primary concern in every training event.”
Henning said the civilian contractors were Soldier-oriented and willing to help. “I have nothing but respect for this installation. We have received excellent administrative and logistical support.”
“We have been given more technical support than we have ever experienced before,” Henning said. “The information technology staff of Fort McCoy deserves our thanks for all the late night calls they answered and immediate resolutions they provided.”
While at Fort McCoy, the unit planned and executed training to provide them with specific combat, survival and warrior skills.
This training is the cornerstone for priming Soldiers for deployment. Soldiers train in an environment and in situations that replicate, as realistically as possible, those they will experience overseas. Soldiers lived in tents in a field location for a portion of the time they were training at Fort McCoy.  The training area was surrounded by concertina wire, entry control points and guard towers. Soldiers traveled in convoys. They encountered role players posing as civilians on the battlefield or opposing forces.  The training is repetitive, and its intensity increases with each iteration.  The ultimate goal is to have Soldiers respond intuitively to threats and situations they encounter.
The list of required training is extensive.  The 226th participated in training related to weapons qualification, Army warrior training, physical fitness, leadership, combat life saving, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), mounted combat patrol operations, urban operations, entry control point operations, motor vehicle operations and maintenance, protective mask familiarity and confidence, detainee operations, hand-to-hand combat, reflexive fire, grenades, culture/customs/language, land navigation, and much more.
The 226th’s training culminated in an Army Training and Evaluation Program, which incorporated and tested all aspects of the individual and collective training they had received.
Prior to deployment, the unit will receive additional military occupation specialty training and will be validated.

Company 1st Sgt. John Short said the Fort McCoy experience at first contact was bone chilling cold and frozen everywhere.  “From the first touchdown it was like looking at a frozen tundra.  The guides were very helpful and made us feel instantly welcome.  They were there with coffee and eats.  All the troops appreciated it.”

Short said the training schedule and the events of the next month seemed “truly daunting. “We started with updating all the medical shot records and Soldier care issues that were not updated by our home state.  The staff was helpful and very willing to help with any problem that came up.”

Short said next was the situational training exercises in the field. For some Soldiers it was a refresher and for some it was a whole new experience.  Three-quarters of the 226th are under the age of 30.  Some of them already have been on a deployment.

“Fort McCoy did a good job of providing a variety of training that tested all the troops,” Short said.  “Then it came time for actually staying in tents on the contingency operating location training site. We spent time there doing what we, as a vertical engineer company, do best - - we build things.  We were tasked with constructing two 16-by-48-foot South West Asia huts each with a door and windows.  The trainers are knowledgeable and trained us accordingly.  Our troops were challenged, and it showed.”

“Every time I would ask a troop ‘how was training today?’, they answered ‘good time today’ or ‘had fun today,’ or they would tell me what they did.   The trainers at Fort McCoy made us feel welcome. The dining service people were great for the time and effort they spent preparing the food for us.  All of it is most appreciated.”

Since Sept. 11, 2001, Fort McCoy, has supported the mobilization/demobilization of more than 102,000 Soldiers from nearly 1,900 units located throughout 49 states and territories.