Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Jeremy Fowler | Soldiers under the 420th Engineering Brigade distribute pallets of concrete blocks to...... read more read more
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by Spc. Jeremy Fowler
FORT IRWIN, Calif. -- Soldiers from the 420th Engineering Brigade successfully completed the first rotation of Operation Sand Castle (OSC) at the National Training Center here May 4.
The 420th, an Army Reserve unit based in Bryan, Texas, was the command and control element for all units that participated in the rotation, overseeing more than 500 Soldiers from across 7 Regional Readiness Commands.
Operation Sand Castle is conducted annually and brings Army Reserve engineer units from all over the United States. At the direction of Brig. Gen. Robert W. Cone, commanding general of the National Training Center and Fort Irwin, the primary focus is enhancing and increasing the size of the military operations in an urban terrain (MOUT) site, named Tiefort City. This site is projected to have more than 300 buildings by the end of the 10-year commitment with the National Training Center.
Throughout the first rotation of the exercise the subordinate units under the 420th successfully laid over two miles of road, erected five pre-engineered buildings and constructed four concrete masonry units. In addition, the quarry operation produced and hauled over 15,000 tons of crushed stone for construction needs as well as a surplus for future rotations.
Soldiers at OSC this year are subject to attack from opposing forces and must secure their areas of operation including convoy security between Tiefort City and Forward Operating Base (FOB) Santa Fe. This has increased the manpower demands of the construction projects, but added a degree of realism to the exercise, helping Soldiers train to be technically proficient in a tactical environment.
In addition to improving the facilities here, OSC has helped increase the cohesion between active and reserve components, something that is critical with the increase in Army Reserve mobilizations.
This year some Reserve Soldiers under the 420th working in the vicinity of Tiefort City had a chance to integrate operations with active duty forces. The engineers' work-site fell in the area of operations for the 4th Brigade Combat Team (BCT) of the 3rd Infantry Division located at FOB Denver. In exchange for base defense improvements in and around the FOB, the 4th BCT hosted Army Reserve Soldiers there. The BCT also helped provide security while the engineers completed their construction projects.
"This we call a tremendous success in a sharing operation where they [active component] provide security ... and we provide certain levels of FOB improvement with our engineer assets," explained Col. Derek Miller, 420th deputy commander. The exercise will progressively involve more integration between active and reserve components throughout the following rotations as well as the subsequent years of OSC.
The 420th has also upgraded FOB Santa Fe, including the fielding of a new high-tech vehicle inspection system at the entry control point, defense structures such as guard towers and improved waste water disposal.
On May 4 the 420th hands over command and control for the second rotation of OSC to the 926th Engineering Brigade from Montgomery, Ala.
| Date Taken: | 06.08.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 06.08.2007 10:12 |
| Story ID: | 10720 |
| Location: | FORT IRWIN, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 641 |
| Downloads: | 529 |
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