Photo By Spc. Emilie Sheridan | Members of the 1194th Engineer Company out of Chillicothe, Ohio, assault an objective...... read more read more
Subscribe
CAMP GRAYLING JOINT MANEUVER TRAINING CENTER, Mich., June 22 – As smoke rolls over the hills of Range 45 here, Soldiers are heard loud and clear. “Enemy fire, six o’clock.” A barrage of shots are fired off. Their vibrations echo all the way up the hill to the control point as a new cloud of smoke appears.
The Ohio Army National Guard’s (OHARNG) 16th Brigade, 216th Battalion, 1194th Engineer Company (Vertical) out of Chillicothe, Ohio, performed a platoon defense and live fire exercise June 22 at the Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center in Grayling, Mich., as part of their two-week annual training.
The goal of the training was to increase unit cohesion and individual soldier tactics. Soldiers maneuver through terrain in a tactical formation, overtake a berm and fire at targets.
“The platoon defense is going to include a tactical movement from their observation point down the road, and then they’re going to their breech where they will then occupy some berms and set up an area defense,” explained Staff Sgt. Courtney Campbell. She is a platoon sergeant for Company B, 837th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team out of Lorain, Ohio, and a range control for the exercise.
The OHARNG is a people-based operational force that is focused on individual soldier warfighter readiness and building cohesive teams. This particular exercise gives soldiers a chance to work at a platoon level to complete a mission. Communication, tactical movement, and leadership are essential in order to do this.
“We are engineers, and so we do military occupational specialty (MOS) training,” said Capt. Brian Andrews, the commander of the 1194th. “We have not been able to do much of that here, but we have been able to do Soldier tasks that we’re not used to. Instead of holding our hammers and tools and getting out equipment, we’re holding weapons, and we’re moving, and we’re remembering our tactics. We will continue to do MOS training, but we also have a mission to be a Solider.”
A platoon leader for the 1194th, 2nd Lt. Seth Kilian, is motivated and excited to lead and teach his platoon, he said.
“We’re used to doing a lot of vertical tasks,” he said. “We’re learning. We’ve got a lot of new Soldiers out here, so we’re teaching them a little bit about how to set up an area defense, sending out reconnaissance teams, setting up an objective rally point (ORP), and establishing security.”
Leadership is essential to the 1194th and their mission.
Campbell notes that as Soldiers come off the firing line, she heard them excitedly talking about what they did better, how the exercise helped them, and how their leadership is making things run more smoothly.
It’s important to Kilian to remain humble and motivated for his soldiers.
“It’s my first time ever being at annual training (AT), and I’m trying to keep the motivation high here as first platoon leader,” he said. “I’m trying to stay humble as a leader.”
He wore camouflage on his face and camouflaged his field gear to get his Soldiers excited for the mission. He understands the importance of using Soldiers’ knowledge and strengths, despite their rank or time in service.
“My Soldiers want people who are motivated,” Andrews said. “They want leaders who are immersed with them, who embrace the suck with them, who train them, and who are excited about it.”
Motivated leadership creates motivated Soldiers, Andrews said.
“When I’m able to give 100 percent, they return that,” Andrews said. “They’re now taking initiative, and they’re enjoying it, and they’re wanting to do more.”
It is a priority of the 1194th to provide trained and ready operational forces to meet challenges of the 21st Century.
“The Army is always changing and evolving, and, as long as we understand and realize that we can listen to lower enlisted and senior leadership, everyone can function as a whole to make the warfighting function better,” Kilian said.
Ohio Guard Soldiers must be prepared, trained, and always ready when called.
“All training is very important to any Army National Guard member because at the end of the day we're all going to be infantry if it comes down to it,” said Pfc. Jordan Pryor, a combat engineer with the 1194th.
Soldiers must be poised to excel in an uncertain, changing global environment at all times.
“It’s very important for Ohio guard units to be preparing for anything the world could bring to them,” said Campbell. “They need to have the skills, knowledge and confidence in each other and in their leadership, especially to handle whatever it might be.”
Soldiers in the 1194th embrace each mission they’re given and are committed to embodying the OHARNG’s mission to be able to quickly deploy for combat operations.
| Date Taken: | 06.22.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 06.25.2018 15:43 |
| Story ID: | 282120 |
| Location: | GRAYLING, MICHIGAN, US |
| Web Views: | 173 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Motivation, Leadership Pushes Engineering Unit Forward, by SPC Emilie Sheridan, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
