Photo By Capt. Matthew Gilbert | U.S. Army Col. James B. Bishop, Brigade Commander for the 194th Engineer Brigade,...... read more read more
NOVO SELO, BULGARIA– In September of 2016, units from the Tennessee and Alabama Army National Guard finished their rotation at Resolute Castle, a military infrastructure improvement effort in the Eastern European countries of Estonia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. The Tennessee and Alabama Army National Guard were joined by the Tennessee Air National Guard, Ohio Army National Guard, Mississippi Army National Guard, U.S. Army Reserve, active duty soldiers, and the U.S. Navy.
Col. Robey “Doug” Brantley, a military engineer with the Tennessee Army National Guard, was the officer-in-charge of the operation.
“The main objective of this operation was to support Lieutenant General Hodges, the Commander of United States Army Europe,” stated Brantley, “What we did was provide assets and improvements to ranges and range facilities. The goal was to improve U.S. force engagements in those areas, but also to improve the opportunities of host nations to use the facilities for years to come.”
In recent years, the United States and NATO have demonstrated their commitment to the countries and militaries in Eastern Europe by increasing participation in multinational exercises and helping improve the quality of their training areas. This commitment reaps several benefits including improved relationships, improved local economy, training opportunities for the service members involved, and most importantly, better security throughout the region.
Part of this commitment has come in the form of military training between U.S. and Eastern European nations that helped to improve readiness and interoperability. Resolute Castle, however, has a different focus. Resolute Castle’s goal is improving military infrastructure on Eastern European military bases. By focusing time and energy in this area, Resolute Castle helped to expand military training capacity and capability for each nation it took place in.
“We have established, built, or improved over 20 kilometers of range roads. We have built over 15 structures on those ranges, from shelters for troops to tank firing positions. We also built range facilities which allow them to store equipment.”
Resolute Castle was an enormous undertaking. In 2016 alone, nearly 2,500 service members and more than 225 pieces of equipment worked on 17 different construction sites, implementing construction improvements totaling $13 million dollars.
In addition to a massive construction footprint, Resolute Castle has been an opportunity for Guardsmen to complete their annual training obligations overseas while working on projects that have a huge impact.
“Every Soldier that I have asked, every Soldier that I have talked to, have all said they would prefer to do their Annual Training in a real project like this rather than a training environment back home,” said Brantley.
The U.S. military is using one of its most valuable assets, the National Guard, to help meet mission demands world-wide. This is an opportunity for National Guard units. It gives them an excellent chance to step out of the classroom and drill hall and work on real-world projects that will have a lasting effect.
“Here, service members are getting to do more of their military occupational specialty duties than the annual training that they have back home,” stated Brantley. “Some of our guys do this back in the States during their everyday jobs. That gives us an ability to see if we have any civilian expertise that we can plug in to some spots that we may be shorthanded in.”
Overall, the operation was considered a success, with construction progress expanding military bases as planned and paving the way for military construction improvements for years to come.
“In Operation Resolute Castle, we are able to provide the United States and NATO allies with improved military facilities,” said Brantley, “to continue to work hand-in-hand with our partner nations, and to continue to provide training opportunities for our soldiers.”
| Date Taken: | 09.13.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 09.30.2016 14:21 |
| Story ID: | 211036 |
| Location: | NOVO SELO, BG |
| Web Views: | 303 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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