Photo By Command Sgt. Maj. Ryan Matson | Spc. Colton Smith, left, and Spc. Mikayla Snyder, both human resources specialists,...... read more read more
Reality bytes
Maj. Olha Vandergriff
652nd Regional Support Group
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Missouri -- During Command Post Exercise-Functional (CPX-F) May 4 to 17 at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri, the 652nd Regional Support Group, from Helena, Montana, trained in a notional world to improve their ability to support Soldiers in real life.
The tight-knit unit of about 60 Soldiers also learned to work with new faces to get the job done.
“I’m super impressed by the training. It’s super fun, it’s really hands on and I’m glad that everyone can be engaged in it and feel what it would be like to be in field or tactical environment,” said Spc. David Bennyhoff, a transportation specialist from Great Falls, Montana.
652nd RSG is a unit that deploys to provide base support operations and sustain basic needs of the Soldiers who reside there. They also conduct reception, sustainment, onward movement, and integration of Soldiers and equipment.
The Soldiers were tested in a reality-based exercise, where they had to react to scenarios presented from a team of experienced logistics Soldiers. The 652nd had to work together with different sections of the unit to solve computer-generated problems they were presented during the exercise – everything from fictional aircraft crashes to conducting the tasks they would need to do in real-life to move thousands of Soldiers around a battlefield.
“What it means to me is a way for a brigade element to perform their functions without actually moving units around the battlefield,” said Sgt. 1st Class John Proulx, a senior supply sergeant. “It’s important for people to know their functions. Coming out and doing this showed me what’s going on and how all the pieces fit together.”
Outside the CPF-X training, the Soldiers also taught classes that focused on basic Soldier tasks. Some of the classes included reacting to contact, voice communications, Chemical Biological Radiological Neurological Explosive, tactical combat casualty care, reacting to an ambush, and radio communications.
”My favorite part was teaching the classes,” Bennyhoff said. “I taught most of the tactical care classes which are lifesaving measures to use on fellow soldiers.”
The 84th Training Command, 2nd Brigade Pacific Division from Camp Parks, California, observed the training. Their mission is to provide staff training, build cohesion and observe the processes the unit employs to accomplish tasks. The 84th TC brought a 39-personnel team to observe the 652nd RSG’s training. Logisticians, engineers, military police, and public affairs were just some of the fields the team evaluated and provided guidance on.
“After 18 years of service it was time to teach, coach, and mentor others,” Maj. Nicole Hatch, a logistician with 84th TC, who led a team of observer-controllers during the exercise, said.
Through training and coaching provided by 84th TC, the 652nd RSG is continuing to be a ready, lethal force in the U.S. Army Reserve.
| Date Taken: | 05.04.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 05.17.2019 00:41 |
| Story ID: | 322707 |
| Location: | FORT LEONARD WOOD, MISSOURI, US |
| Hometown: | FORT LEONARD WOOD, MISSOURI, US |
| Web Views: | 107 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Reality Bytes, by MAJ Olha Vandergriff, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
