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FORT KNOX Ky. — Reserve soldiers from all across the United States are working throughout the summer in support of the U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Corps Cadet Summer Training at Fort Knox, Ky.
Nearly 9,000 cadets and 5,000 cadre will be at Fort Knox during the CST making this the biggest Army training exercise in the continental United States, said Brig. Gen. Darrell Guthrie, deputy commanding general of the CST and commanding general of the 104th Training Division.
Of the nearly 5,000 cadre attending the event throughout the summer, 1,579 are reservists.
“The reservists that come here are absolutely critical to the success of cadet summer training,” said Guthrie.
The 104th alone will provide more than 850 reserve soldiers to support the CST, said Sgt. 1st Class Stephanie Boyle, administrative non-commissioned officer in charge for the CST. Part of that number includes all of the drill sergeants who will conduct training for the cadets.
“It’s great that our cadets get to see reservists working with active duty so they can see how the Army works together and show we are one force, one fight,” Boyle added.
Most of the reservists attending this year’s event are on their annual training cycle and will only be here between 14 and 21 days, said Boyle. Some of the reservists, however, arrived early to prepare for the mission and will be here after everyone leaves.
Many of the postal service and administrative reservists have been here since May 1, and have done a lot of work in preparation for the training, said Boyle.
The Reserve has a vested interest in participating in the CST because out of all the cadets that are commissioned into the Army approximately half will go into the Reserve, Guthrie said.
While many units have been able to send a few soldiers at a time, some have sent numerous reservists to make this training possible.
The 95th and 98th Training Divisions provided 56 drill sergeants to observe, train and mentor the cadets.
More than 50 Soldiers from the 377th Theater Sustainment Command are operating the dining facility, while more than 300 Army Reserve Medical Command Soldiers will provide medical coverage for the summer including operating the troop medical center, helping reservists maintain their readiness by conducting Soldier Readiness Processing and performing first aid training.
Some of the other duties these soldiers will have involve providing laundry services to the cadets, expertise in machine gun firing and support to the Soldiers during in- and out-processing.
At one point later this month, we will have over 750 reserve soldiers on ground at the same time doing everything from in-processing to conducting training, said Guthrie.
They really are playing a huge role in our mission, he added.
CST will conclude with the final regiments’ graduation ceremonies on Aug. 13.
| Date Taken: | 06.03.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.08.2015 11:17 |
| Story ID: | 165840 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 73 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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