Photo By Staff Sgt. Francis Horton | Soldiers with the 648th Regional Support Group set up and train with a Very Small...... read more read more
FORT MCCOY, Wis. - Soldiers with the 648th Regional Support Group participated in a war simulation here this month for their Extended Combat Training.
During ECT, the soldiers mixed real world scenarios and war games; managing the needs of the Forward Operating Bases they oversaw and reacting to daily simulated attacks.
"Our job...was to provide for the defense and collaboration between multiple FOBs," said Lt. Col. Greg Atwood, S3 Officer, 648th RSG.
These duties include making sure the FOBs have the necessities to support their Soldiers, such as food, laundry and bath facilities, water and other necessities, Atwood said. Meanwhile, the 648th reacted to simulated mortars, improvised explosive devices and small arms fire.
Of course, no training mission is complete without its challenges.
"Probably the biggest challenge of all was having less than half of our staff," said Lt. Col. Jan McCall, Deputy Commander, 648th RSG. The 648th has around 99 soldiers assigned, but only 44 went to ECT, meaning many had to work long hours and take on extra duties.
"I learned something new that's outside of my job. Sometimes it's good to know more than just your job,” said Pfc. Darqeisheona Howard, administrative specialist, 648th RSG.
"At first I was kind of iffy about it," Howard said. She was hoping to work more within her military occupational specialty.
Due to personnel shortages however, Howard found herself in a job position she wasn't trained for. Rather than handling administrative duties, she was trained on the spot as a radio telephone operator, keeping lines of communication open between the FOBs, she said.
There was also an issue with the Personnel Status Report which tracks how many soldiers are supposed to be in the training area, McCall said.
"We took over for another Regional Support Group. There were a little over 1200 unaccounted soldiers," McCall said.
She and her staff worked long hours contacting the leaders of their subordinate FOBs to account for every soldier assigned to the exercise.
ECT also gives soldiers a chance to expand their knowledge and build better leadership skills.
"This training has made me grow as a leader and has shown me what the flow of information is like in a theater environment." said Sgt. 1st Class Floyd Glasco, Engineer Operations noncommissioned officer.
And one of the most important parts of any exercise is the morale and well-being of the soldiers.
"I also keep up my soldiers' morale," Glasco said with a smile. "If I don't make Spc. Dunn laugh just once a day, then I am not doing my job."
| Date Taken: | 08.26.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 08.31.2015 14:20 |
| Story ID: | 174781 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, MISSOURI, US |
| Hometown: | ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, US |
| Web Views: | 351 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, 648th RSG Stays Strong in Battle, by SSG Francis Horton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
