Photo By Master Sgt. Brian Hamilton | Sgt. 1st Class Jason Sirois, 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Battalion, 104th Training...... read more read more
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WEST POINT, N.Y. - Whether you know it or not, everyone in the Army has been influenced by an Army Reserve Soldier at some point in their career.
Army Reserve Soldiers are your cooks, transportation, and supply.
They’re also your drill sergeants, platoon sergeants and instructors, and they sit at the front door of the Army.
No where is that truer than at the Cadet Summer Training mission for the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.
Each and every summer, roughly 1,300 new cadets report to West Point to begin their four year academic program at the prestigious academy. But before they hit the classroom, they hit the range and the 104th Training Division (LT) is there to greet them.
“As cadets, we were aware these guys were Reserve Soldiers because they introduced themselves with the units they were from but back then I don’t know if any of us knew what that really meant,” said Capt. Michael Jensen, TAC Officer for Company D, Combat Basic Training 2, United States Military Academy at West Point.
Jensen, a 2007 West Point graduate, now plays a different role as a mentor to the new cadets at CST.
“This is a great opportunity for our cadre at USMA as well as these new cadets to get exposure right off the bat to the Army Reserve,” said Jensen. “These guys have been really dedicated to the overall success of the mission and have been nothing short of professional since being out here. You can’t tell any differences between the active and Reserve components from the outside looking in.”
Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment (USMA), 104th Training Division (LT), make the trip from Maine to New York each and every year to facilitate training for the new cadets in Combat Basic Training at the Cadet Summer Training exercise. They teach a wide range of Warrior Tasks from cover and concealment, to react to direct contact. They run the hand grenade assault course and live fire exercise, and are masters in the operation of weapons like the M203 grenade launcher and M240 machine gun.
In all this, the fresh crop of cadets spend a total of six weeks learning basic combat skills and Army warrior tasks, and the Timber Wolf Division is with them every step of the way.
Sgt. 1st Class John Poirier, C Company, 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment (USMA), has worked with the cadets at the USMA since 2001 and has no plans of moving on.
“Isn’t 60 the end date?” said the 28-year veteran of military service. “With the cadets, this is all new to them and they’re excited about training. That’s what gets my blood flowing.”
“These kids are like little sponges. They soak up everything you tell them. I love that level of learning and it makes others around them better,” Poirier said.
In addition to the excitement the cadets bring to the table, with every rotation, a fresh crop of instructors adds an extra challenge to the mission.
Take Richard Rogers, a senior at the University of New Hampshire and cadet with the Army ROTC program there.
Rogers, a former active duty Army military police officer, turned full-time student, was attached to the 304th specifically for the summer mission when his unit deployed down range and is serving as an instructor on the hand grenade assault course.
“This is my first time out here at West Point and it’s been amazing,” said Rogers. “With me being a part of ROTC, we go through great training but nothing of this caliber. I think I can take a lot of the things the instructors have taught me back to my unit and make it even better.”
Still others, like Spc. Daniel Garant, a former active component infantryman, now Reserve Soldier with five deployments under his belt, bring that extra combat experience to the table and provide an added benefit to the training.
“I was a heavy weapons gunner in a Ranger Battalion. I have experience with operating these weapons and techniques under stressful situations in combat,” Garant said.
“I think we can train in this unit at the same level with any unit in the Army. We have a lot of guys with a lot of different combat experiences like tankers, scouts, and infantry. We have all used the exact same tactics we are teaching and have seen them work. I think that puts us in category above most.”
And so with another iteration of Combat Basic Training for the new cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point drawing quickly to a close on Aug. 5, America can rest easy as its best and brightest have just passed through the front door of the Army; and the 104th was sitting right there waiting on them.
| Date Taken: | 07.30.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 07.30.2015 15:01 |
| Story ID: | 171622 |
| Location: | WEST POINT, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 245 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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