Photo By Sgt. Tyler Morford | Lt. Col. Josef Freer, Lead OC/T of the 308th BDE, debriefs Soldiers from the 308th...... read more read more
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Observer, coach, and trainer; these words signify what it means to be a validator for Soldiers in the U.S. Army. Certifying Soldiers that are mobilizing, and getting ready to deploy, is one sacred duty that these observer, coach, and trainers, or OC/Ts, work to achieve by not just evaluating, but also through mentorship.
For the 308th Civil Affairs Brigade and the 415th Civil Affairs Battalion, their mobilization training is culminated in a validation exercise known as VALEX 3-21, or Crimson Dawn 3.0, at Fort Custer, Mich., before deploying to support Atlantic Resolve. At this exercise, the skills, critical to the unit’s future CA missions in Europe, will be evaluated by OC/Ts led by First Army, along with a contingent of 308th CA BDE OC/Ts.
Being in a supportive role with their own OC/Ts, the 308th CA BDE has partnered with First Army to validate the CA teams for specific CA missions. Leading the way in the execution of this evaluation is Lt. Col. Josef Freer, Lead OC/T for the 308th BDE. While the 308th CA BDE overseas the validation exercise, it is Lt. Col. Freer’s role to validate the specific missions and tasks for the CA teams, “My overall responsibility is to ensure that the units are getting the appropriate training, exercising the correct tasks, and ensuring that they are ready to deploy to Europe.”
Crimson Dawn 3.0, being operated by the 308th CA BDE, is tailor made for what the Soldiers will face being deployed for Atlantic Resolve. “The pre-mobilization training is arguably the most important training a lot of these Soldiers will get, it’s the most specific training their going to get for their theater that they’re going to.” As Lt. Col. Freer points out, the pre-mobilization validation exercise will mimic the exact environment that they will see including tasks and scenarios.
OC/Ts not only make sure that Soldiers know their assigned tasks and that the correct work is being achieved, but they also cover all of the necessary steps in order to correctly validate and train Soldiers. “The number one priority is to make sure our soldiers are ready to face whatever they will face in Eastern Europe.”
An important criteria for the OC/Ts to have themselves in this evaluation is knowledge and experience in Civil Affairs operations, “Civil Affairs is a very unique branch, we do a lot of unique tasks that are not really replicated anywhere else in the U.S. Army; having that expertise, that background knowledge, is one of the key requirements, all of my OC/Ts have deployed before and all have worked in Civil Affairs units, so they know what the CA tasks look like, how to perform them, and what the desired results are.”
Leveraging this knowledge, from past experiences, assignments, and prior deployments, sets these OC/Ts on a path of mentorship with the younger Soldiers. Evaluating this overall approach is First Army OC/Ts, “We’ve had many discussions with First Army to make sure that we are conducting the training to standard; First Army can be thought of as quality control, they are making sure that we are conducting the exercise in accordance with the Army standards and that we’re meeting all of the training objectives for a proper unit.”
An OC/T from the 407th CA BN, partnered with the 308th CA BDE, Master Sgt. Brent Meidl, Pittsburg, Penn., helped validate Soldiers from both participating units, “First Army is great because it provides the formality that we need to help evaluate the teams as they prepare to conduct their missions, we can provide the expertise, the experience, the knowledge, but we need the formal application of the doctrine that the First Army brings, to help us with this validation exercise.”
This validation exercise gives the mobilizing Soldiers the opportunity to experience realistic scenarios and to expand on their learning while being mentored by OC/Ts, “You can look at what they are doing, you can guide them left and right, and say ‘this is what worked for us, these are some situations that we have encountered, and this is what helped us and guided us, and these are some courses of action that my help you when you’re looking at your situation’”.
The way of mentoring and sharing experiences defines what OC/Ts are and how critical they are to Soldier readiness.
| Date Taken: | 03.23.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 06.01.2021 09:50 |
| Story ID: | 393548 |
| Location: | FORT CUSTER, MICHIGAN, US |
| Hometown: | PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 35 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, The Observer, Coach, and Trainers of Crimson Dawn 3.0, by SGT Tyler Morford, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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