Pennsylvania Guard soldiers ready to deploy

Photo By Staff Sgt. Shawn Miller | Staff Sgt. David Feger, an Elizabethville, Pa. native, disassembles an M4 rifle during a weapons familiarization class, May 14, at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pa. The training was conducted by the Pre-mobilization Training Assistance Element and the Marksmanship Training Unit in an effort to validate units of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard's 213th Area Support Group on common Army task before the units reach their mobilization station.  

FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES

05.14.2010

Story by Sgt. Shawn Miller 

109th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. – As Soldiers of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard's 213th Area Support Group prepare for a new wave of deployments, the training by the state Pre-mobilization Training Assistance Element has become a valuable asset to them.

Rather than waiting until arriving at a mobilization platform to be evaluated on critical skills, the PTAE works with National Guard units while still at their home station to train and validate soldiers on basic soldier battle drills such as first aid, land navigation, weapons skills, and urban operations.

"The reason why PTAE was formed was to reduce mobilization platform time," said Sgt. 1st Class Jerry Ressler, a trainer with the PTAE team here.

With the 12-month rotations of reserve component units including the National Guard, less time spent at mobilization platforms such as Camp Shelby, Miss. and Fort Dix, N.J. means more time actually conducting missions in theater, making deployments more efficient.

"It's changed the mobilization process," said Maj. David Repyneck, commander of the 213th Personnel Company. "It's done two things: It's made it quicker at the mobilization station, and it's enabled the units to conduct training in their home state."

The PTAE team streamlines each of the 32 soldier battle drills by providing subject matter experts in the field to provide detailed instructions to the trainees. As the soldiers learned weapons familiarization and maintenance today, instructors from the state Marksmanship Training Unit were on hand to provide proper guidance.

"It's essential to survive in combat," said Sgt. Andrew Dixon of the MTU, noting the importance of not losing the fundamental skills. "Over the history of time from different wars, we shot so much more ammo instead of applying basic marksmanship skills that we apply today."

By employing rigorous and detailed instruction to validate the units of the 213th ASG on their battle drills here at home station prior to mobilizing, the PTAE is helping to keep the soldiers up to date on the latest training and maximize their time spent with boots on the ground in theater.

• Date Taken: 05.14.2010
• Date Posted: 05.16.2010 09:34
• Story ID: 49761
• Location: FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, PENNSYLVANIA, US