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CAMP SMITH TRAINING SITE, New York-- One hundred and seventy-five New York Guard members spent the week of August 14-20 learning first aid, honing their staff and leadership skills, and fine-tuning their communications capabilities during annual training at the Camp Smith Training site.
The New York Guard is the state’s uniformed volunteer defense force which augments the New York National Guard during state emergencies.
During the training period professional development courses for staff officers and New York Guard senior leaders were conducted, along with initial entry training for new members of the New York Guard who had no prior military service.
Approximately fifty service members were also trained by members of the National Guard and communications experts from the New York Guard in erecting and operating radio equipment.
This included setting up the Military Emergency Network system and the Mobile Emergency Response Center used as communications hubs used in emergencies. The Guard members also trained in setting up high-frequency radio stations and erecting VHF antennas.
Maintaining communications during emergencies is an important mission for the New York Guard, said Sgt. First Class Richard Martino, the non-commissioned officer in charge of the communications training.
“Most of our missions are civil support operations, so we need to have the ability to assist in times of natural disasters or worse. It is imperative that we have interoperability communications between different operations and branches of the Division of Military and Naval Affairs in the event of an emergency,” Martino explained.
The course taught the service members the basics of the Military Emergency Radio Network, or MERN, and gave them the opportunity to operate the two mobile MERN units which were deployed at Camp Smith.
A basic Engineering field operations course trained other New York Guard volunteers on the techniques used in determining road trafficability and the use of sandbags and water-filled dams.
The New York Guardsmen learned proper techniques for laying sandbags, as well as the proper maintenance and use of generators to set up portable water dams to counter flooding.
The training was designed to prepare Guardsmen for state emergencies.
New York Guard services members without any military experience went through their initial entry training, or IET for short. The week-long class teaches them the fundamentals of being a service member in the New York Guard.
“Training was excellent and above my expectations because of the professionalism and expertise of our cadre. I was looking forward to the whole experience because it’s something I’d never been through before and I loved it,” said Pvt. James Merritt, one of the thirty service members in the class.
The new Guardsmen learned military customs and courtesies, basic communication skills, drill and ceremony, First Aid, CPR, and common soldier skills.
“The IET course was good. I really enjoyed the emergency medical course because it ties into my background.” said Pvt. Rashad Lyston, from Brooklyn, NY.
The IET training course offered this year was new. The classes were developed from lessons learned when 240 New York members were activated for New York’s COVID-19 response mission from March 2020 to June of 2022
Materials taught during the New York Guard Officer Candidate School, Pre-Command Course for officers, in the ranks of lieutenant to major, the officers State Active-Duty Preparatory Course, and a new Direct Commission Course, also reflected lessons learned from COVID-19, instructors said.
“We wanted the servicer members to train hard, realistically, and in such a way as to position the New York Guard as the “tip of the spear” in Civil Support Operations support and augmentation,” said Maj. Keith Tidball, the New York Guard, Chief Training Officer.
This year’s training emphasis was taken directly from the guidance provided by Brig. Gen. Peter Riley, New York Guard Commander, Tidball said.
For the first time, the weeklong training concluded with an all-course participation on the Leadership Reaction Course.
This allowed officers and enlisted service members to work together in squad unit sizes and apply the weeks’ long training to actual missions.
“There was an incredible sense of focus and purpose among all the service members in attendance during AT 2022. The morale was exceptionally high and bodes well for the future of the New York Guard,” Tidball said.
| Date Taken: | 09.10.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 09.12.2022 13:13 |
| Story ID: | 429094 |
| Location: | CAMP SMITH TRAINING SITE, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 484 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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