Texas Medical Command strives for speedy health assessments

Story by: Sgt. Josiah Pugh

Posted On: February 8, 2016

AUSTIN, Texas - Keeping Texas Guardsmen healthy and mission-ready is a full-time job. The troops at Camp Mabry's Texas Medical Command understand the importance of efficiency and cooperation, especially when it comes time to process whole units through their clinic.

On drill weekends, the Soldiers at the Texas Medical Command can be found at the medical clinic at Camp Mabry helping troops from other units complete their required annual periodic health assessments. This assessment measures a number of aspects of a Soldier’s health including laboratory work, hearing, vision and dental.

The staff at the clinic can be stretched thin at times, with many of them frequently offsite supporting the medical needs of various unit missions around Texas. The staff can dwindle to as few as ten in number and the patients in need of processing can reach as many as 100 - all of whom will complete the health assessment in a single day.

“We can be here pretty late,” says clinic Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge Sgt. 1st Class Evangelina Garcia.

Despite all the preparation these medical staff undergo, often it’s the patients they see who hold up the line. The entire process can be as quick as a couple of hours or stretch out to last an entire day. Garcia says the number one reason why lines get backed up is when patients drop in without first going through their command. 

“They have to schedule through their medical readiness NCO, get them on our schedule and do their online portion and things will go a lot smoother,” she explains.

The clinic sees its fair share of patients over 40 years of age who must fast overnight to accurately test their blood glucose levels. Sometimes patients will not follow the rules closely and drink caffeinated energy drinks or coffee the morning before their blood drawl. This skews the results and can negatively reflect on the individual’s medical record or require blood to be drawn again on another day.

“Even a healthy person can be flagged, which can go on your record,” said Sgt. Jennifer Hess, a medic with the TMC.

Another common issue the clinic sees is often patients will not bring proof of getting an influenza vaccination through their civilian doctors. When they come to the clinic and MEDPROS lists them as not having the vaccination, they will be required to get a second shot.

Frequently, patients who wear contacts will fail to bring their prescribed eyeglasses. The clinic needs to test eyesight with and without glasses. If a patient does not bring their glasses, the physical health assessment cannot be properly completed. 

Aside from having all your paperwork ready when you come in, Garcia says, “be flexible. The biggest thing is you have to be flexible.” 

When asked how they get all of their patients’ assessments finished as quickly as possible, Hess said, “We work really well as a team – as an entire unit. We try our best to get people in and out. We’re a great team. Everyone pitches in and does their part.” 

Properly scheduling periodic health assessments and preparing for a visit to the clinic can help the entire process flow smoothly and keep troops deployment ready.

Chilean forces compete in Texas Guard Best Warrior Competition

Story by: Sgt. Adrian Shelton

Posted On: February 8, 2016

BASTROP, Texas – Troops from the Chilean Marine Corps and Chilean Army reinforced their continuing partnership with the Texas Army and Air National Guard during the state's Best Warrior Competition held at Camp Swift in Bastrop, Texas, Feb. 4-7, 2016.

Although Texas has highlighted a joint Best Warrior Competition for several years, combining warriors from both the Texas Army and Texas Air National Guards, this was the first year the competition went international.

Chilean service members were selected to represent their country in the competition based on top performances in areas such as marksmanship and physical fitness. 

"As soon as I got the notification that I was selected for the competition, I started looking at the tasks required in the competition on YouTube," said 2nd Cpl. Jesus Vasquez, Special Operations Brigade, Chilean Marine Corps. "I thought it was an awesome competition.”

"This event was like a wedding and we planned it," said Texas Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Alfonso Garcia, the State Partnership Program noncommissioned officer in charge of the Texas-Chile program. "We set up the logistics and the agendas and had everything all laid out, so when the Chileans came here everything flowed seamlessly."

The Chilean troops only had two days to learn the things that were different for them, such as certain weapons and communications equipment said Garcia. 

"Our National Guard sponsors had a big part in helping us to prepare," Vasquez said. "The security measures in place for events like weapons qualification were very efficient and very safe. We learned alongside the National Guard troops and built a good relationship."

Garcia and other Guardsmen helped translate for the Chileans throughout the long weekend. 

The Chileans found the week's events provided not only an opportunity to compete, but also presented them with unique challenges. 

"It wasn’t always easy for us to communicate because of cultural and phonetic differences," said Chilean army Sgt. Maj. Juan Gonzalez, who sponsored the Chilean soldiers in the competition. "But the Guard had good translators and a lot of the Guardsmen spoke Spanish and made it easier for us to learn the scenarios during the competition."

The Chilean troops experienced some physical challenges as well and noted the geographic differences between Chile and Texas.

"In Chile, with its very high and low temperatures and differing elevations, we train differently on our land navigation courses," Chilean Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Guillermo Zepeda, the sponsor for the Chilean Marine competitors. "The points on the land navigation course are not consistent and change with the terrain, and our terrain and woodlands are more dense and not as flat."

"The height of some of the obstacles on the obstacle course was challenging because we are typically short people," Vasquez said. "The obstacle course looks more well-rounded for taller soldiers. "

Despite this extra challenge, Staff Sgt. Cristobal Inostroza, Chilean Marine Corps, finished first in the obstacle course with one of the fastest times ever seen in the history of this competition. He also placed first in the road march.

During the road march, Vasquez and Gonzalez ran the entire march with their troops because they wanted their troops to know he and Gonzalez were there to support them said Vasquez. 

Vasquez and Gonzalez are planning to take their experience from the Texas Military Department’s Best Warrior Competition home with them and do something similar in Chile.

"We looked at all of this as a model for our own best warrior competition we're planning to have next year," Gonzalez said. 

Texas Guardsmen might even have the chance to compete against their Chilean partners again.

"I would like for more Texas National Guard service members to participate in our best warrior competition next time," Vasquez said. "It would only be the right thing to do in return for them inviting us here."

At the end of the competition, who placed first didn’t appear to be nearly as important as new relationships forged and the camaraderie between the partner forces strengthened.

"What we realized as we work together to do competitions like this, is we all do the same thing and train the same, we're just in different color uniforms," said Command Sgt. Maj. Mark A. Weedon, senior enlisted advisor of the Texas Military Department. "Chile is our South American partner, through our State Partnership Program, and we train together throughout the year. So this is the culmination of that relationship going to the next level."

Texas Guardsmen welcome Chilean warriors to competition

Texas Guardsmen Mentor High School Competitors to First Place

Story by: Maj. Ray McCulloch

Posted On: February 3, 2016

CEDAR PARK, Texas - Texas Guardsmen from the 71st Theater Information Operations Group mentored students from Leander High School as they competed in the Air Force Association’s CyberPatriot VIII competition, November 14-15, 2016 and December 4-6, 2016, at Corvalent’s office complex in Cedar Park, Texas. The Vista Ridge Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets vied against other United States and Department of Defense Education Activity high school students from around the globe for placement in the Platinum tier, which puts them on track to compete at the national level. The Vista Ridge team competed on multiple platforms – 1) Cisco, 2) a Windows Server, 3) a Windows workstation and 4) a Linux system.

Cyber Patriot is a national youth cyber education program. CyberPatriot was conceived by the AFA and works to inspire high school students towards careers in cyber security or other science, technology, engineering, or mathematics disciplines.

According to the CyberPatriot website, “At the center of CyberPatriot is the National Youth Cyber Defense Competition. High school and middle school students work in teams and play the position of newly hired IT professionals tasked with managing the network of a small company. Teams are given a set of virtual images that represent operating systems and are tasked with finding cybersecurity vulnerabilities within the images and hardening the system while maintaining critical services.”

“This opportunity is in a very technical field, and it requires [Information Technology] mentors,” said retired Cmdr. Rick Hamblet, the Vista Ridge Navy JROTC senior naval science instructor.

Only four of his 130 cadets were able to compete in the competition.

To help prepare these students, Maj. Tim Amerson, Sgt. 1st Class James Medlock and Sgt. 1st Class Jon Wachter, all of the 102nd Information Operations Battalion, 71st Tactical Information Operations Group volunteered to help.

Amerson serves as the Web Operations Security Team Chief in the 102nd Information Operations Battalion.

“We are the Technical Mentors for the Vista Ridge HS Naval [JROTC],” said Amerson. “We volunteer our own time teaching students how to be Cyber Network Defenders.”

Using their military experience, they helped prepare the cadets for this challenging competition.

In addition to the military members of the 102nd Information Operations Battalion., Ed Trevis, President and CEO of Corvalent, wanted to help. Corvalent produces ruggedized industrial computers. Corvalent partnered with Cdr. Hamblet and Vista Ridge for the CyberPatriot competition. Corvalent provided the location, computers, and network for the VR team.

“We at Corvalent wanted to make sure we invested in the future of our military and leaders,” said Ed. “They are the reason we are able to do what we do here.”

On November 14th, during Round 1 of the competition, the four juniors on the team had six hours to find as many security loopholes, breaches, or backdoors as possible in order to secure their computer images. With a max score of 200, the team garnered 190 points. On Dec. 6th, during Round 2, they had to repeat their success on three images, and complete a quiz. This time the team earned an unofficial score of 272, and 33 points - the maximum amount - for the Cisco quiz. Their combined scores placed them in first place for all Texas Navy JROTC teams, seventh in the nation among all Navy JROTC teams, and sixteenth out of 820 teams nationally.

"I can say we couldn't be more grateful. I feel like so far the National Guard and their participation in the program has been instrumental to how far we have gotten. So we really appreciate it,” said Mason Buettner, student team lead for Vista Ridge Navy JROTC’s CyberPatriot team.

Story by: Sgt. Michael Vanpool

Posted on: January 12, 2016

BASTROP, Texas - “You can do it!” “Just one more left!” “Woo who, you’re almost there!”

Those aren’t exactly words exchanged between people competing for the same title. But it is what a group of Soldiers were saying to each other this past weekend.

Seven Soldiers of the 56th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 36th Infantry Division, Texas Army National Guard, competed in the brigade’s Best Warrior Competition at Camp Swift, Jan. 8-10.

Ultimately, one noncommissioned officer and one junior enlisted Soldier bested out their comrades to achieve the title of Best Warrior. The winners were Staff Sgt. Jake Jackson, the supply sergeant for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 144th Infantry Regiment, and Spec. Russell Bega, an infantryman with Company D, 2nd Battalion, 142 Infantry Regiment. They each now have the chance to enter the Texas National Guard Best Warrior Competition. 

“You’ve got to train, not just your body but get mentally prepared,” Bega said. “Whether it’s the board or a 60-foot obstacle tower, you have to be confident in yourself to get past it and that you have the mental fortitude to succeed.”

The road to the title was no cake walk. Combining the ruck march, two runs through a land navigation course, and the air assault course, the competitors pounded their boots on the ground for more than 20 miles throughout a span of 36 hours.

The weekend was also sprinkled with an appearance board, a written essay, and the assembly and disassembly of five military-grade weapons.

“All of this represents tasks that we should all know,” Jackson said. “Whatever your skill set, you should be professional and try your best.”

The down time between events was minimal, but it was not a time for rest. After Soldiers worked through their individual events, they motivated each other to push themselves to their boiling point.

“We want everyone to do their best and to beat each other at their best,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Clinton Petty, the brigade’s acting command sergeant major. “There’s no glory in beating someone on their worst day. There’s more satisfaction in beating them on their best day.”

The competitors were selected from their battalions about two months prior to the brigade’s competition. In between the battalion and brigade competitions, the traditional feasts during the holidays could have prevented a solid physical state.

“I prepared with a lot of PT, a lot of studying,” Jackson said, “which was hard with all the food around during the Christmas break.”

Being citizens Soldiers, most of the preparation took place during the time between drills, and it was often the sole responsibility of each competitor to find their own motivation.

“No matter what as long as I did everything in my power and the confidence in myself I could get it done,” Bega said. “There were times on the land navigation] course where I got tangled up and frustrated. But you take a second, time to breathe, you find out you’re capable of more than you think.”

This internal motivation, boosted by the cheering of fellow Soldiers, pushed the competitors to their physical and mental limits.

“I really think that being a part of something bigger, not just the 56th Brigade, but we’re all a part of the Texas Guard, we’re all a part of the Army.”

Courtesy Story: Sgt. David Beckstrom

Posted on: January 4, 2016

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait – The Adjutant Generals of the Alabama, Puerto Rico, Texas and Utah National Guard and general officers from the U.S. Army Reserve, took part in a four-day conference here, Dec. 10-13 to gain insight on how their Soldiers and Airmen support U.S. Army Central’s mission in Southwest Asia.

A major focus of the event was the Army’s Total Force concept, which aligns the active duty, National Guard and Reserve components of the Army as one force to ensure readiness and resource efficiency.

“The military expects the reserve components to maintain the same standard as the active duty component,” said Air Force Maj. Gen. John Nichols, the Adjutant General of the Texas National Guard based out of Austin, Texas. “We accomplish this by partnering with the active duty components in Texas for training and mentorship. This allows us to remain proficient in our assigned roles and ready to serve our nation when the call comes.”

During the visit, the generals interacted closely with their Soldiers. They were able to see what they do on a daily basis and what contributions the National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve make to USARCENT.

“Since the first Minuteman left their plows, picked up their rifles and moved to the sound of guns more than 379 years ago, National Guardsmen have been fighting our nation’s wars and defending the homeland,” said Maj. Gen. Jefferson Burton, the adjutant general of the Utah National Guard based out of Draper, Utah. “These Soldiers serving in Kuwait represent America’s finest. They are our ambassadors. They are smart, talented, and passionate about what they do. They are volunteers who serve to make the world a more secure place.” 

“We work to align the needs and efforts of the Army’s mission around the world with the training of our units,” said Brig. Gen. James Blankenhorn, the Deputy Commanding General of the Reserve Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Forces stationed out of Salt Lake City, Utah. “We ensure the service members understand the importance of their missions and that they are fully manned, equipped and trained to accomplish it.”

Service members work together in an inter-department setting to accomplish their missions both in the U.S. and around the world with partner nation forces.

“Since our nation’s inception, citizen Soldiers have been an integral part of our national defense,” said Burton, a native of Payson, Utah. “Nowhere is that more evident than what’s happening in Kuwait today. Soldiers from every component, Active, Guard and Reserve, are training to the same standard, and serve side-by-side with our international partners to make our world more secure.”

These general officers came to Kuwait to ensure their Soldiers are accomplishing their mission and that they are meeting the standard. This will facilitate potential policy changes to train, equip and prepare Soldiers for future missions.

“Being proficient in our job as a reserve unit allows us to augment and support the Army by deploying and assisting other units that might need our help,” said Sgt. Erika Sledge, a squad leader with 366th CBRN Company out of Savannah, Georgia. “Everybody in the military have different jobs and missions, but when we work together we can achieve great things.”

Service members in the National Guard and Reserve components serve the nation by being citizen Soldiers, this means that they are entrepreneurs, construction workers or civil workers while still serving in the U.S. military.

“I have spoken to several service members from the Reserve component,” said Blankenhorn, a native on Atlanta, Georgia. “They are all saying the same thing, ‘we are learning great things while we are out here.’ This shows the dedication and commitment each of these Soldiers have to their nation, community and families. We will continue to train our Reservists to be ready to mobilize should the need arise.”

“Like many other cities across the nation, the impact of war touches the entire community,” said Burton. “The National Guard is the connective fabric to our communities, and that connection has proven vital to maintaining the nations will in confronting these global challenges.”

Story by: 1st Lt. Alicia Lacy

Posted: December 30, 2015

AUSTIN, Texas - Teams of soldiers from the Texas National Guard came to the aid of Texans as the onslaught of winter weather immediately following the Christmas holiday left parts of the Texas Panhandle covered in snow and ice.

From heavy rains and thunderstorms with potential flooding to blizzard conditions and tornadoes, the devastating weather that hit Sunday impacted many North Texas residents, with tornadoes leaving 11 dead.

With the winter storm imminent, the Texas National Guard dispatched soldiers Saturday to prepare to respond and assist, prepping their vehicles and winter kits to aid residents who may be impacted, said Capt. Luke Reynard, the military district coordinator for the Texas disaster district 1 region.

“What we saw most is high winds and really low visibility,” Reynard said. “The snow was coming in and blowing so hard it was causing whiteout conditions.”

Because of the low visibility, the Texas Department of Transportation shut down Interstate 40.

The guardsmen partnered with the Texas Department of Public Safety and TxDOT to assess the road conditions, clear roads and assist travelers who may have been stranded.

“Sunday morning I was working directly with DPS, and what we found was that DPS didn’t have a lot of eyes on the road as far as conditions,” Reynard said. 

As a result, the guardsmen became the eyes on the road to survey road conditions as teams were sent west on Interstate 40 to the New Mexico border, east on Interstate 40 to the Oklahoma border and northeast on State Highway 60 toward Pampa.

As the guardsmen navigated the icy roads with little to no visibility, they were able to rescue more than 100 residents and assisted about 65 other stranded motorists by providing blankets, food and water, according to information from the Texas National Guard’s joint operation center.

Reynard said one of the biggest challenges were the snow drifts.

“We can have 3 inches of snow and you’ll encounter a snowdrift 6-foot tall,” he said. “We had a storm dumping about 5-10 inches of snow with 35-40 miles-per-hour sustained winds.” 

Eventually, DPS was able to launch its helicopter and perform route recon near Friona, while TxDOT cleared up the roads making them passable by Monday evening, ending the National Guard’s mission.

“We are proud and grateful we have a team that is so dedicated to helping Texans in these dire times,” said Maj. Gen. John F. Nichols, the adjutant general – Texas. “We couldn’t have completed this mission without the dedication of our soldiers and their families for allowing them to serve the great state of Texas.”

Story by: Capt. Martha Nigrelle

Posted On: December 21, 2015

AUSTIN, Texas - Santa’s Texas State Guard elves brought holiday cheer to the Dell Children’s Hospital in Austin, Dec. 19, 2015, as Staff Sgt. James “Damon” Williams, 1st Battalion, 2nd Regiment and a group of Texas State Guardsmen unloaded thousands of toys from trucks and proceeded to fill the hospital’s amphitheater with toys.

In 2009, the Texas State Guard started the Young Heroes of the Guard program, with the hopes of collecting enough toys to distribute to every pediatric patient in every children’s hospital in Texas during the Christmas season, and leave a year’s worth of toys behind.

That first year, they collected more than 2,000 toys and by 2014, they collected almost 23,000 toys across the state.

This year, Williams leading the toy drive efforts for his battalion, just one of the many units participating in the State Guard’s toy drive, collected more than 25,000 toys.

“We want to help everyone in need,” said Williams.

Starting in March, Williams coordinated a three-prong approach to collecting toys.

“I start my toy drive operations in March,” said Williams. “My goal is to submit the application for support the day they are first accepting letters so that my request is the first one on the pile and hopefully the first one to be considered.”

Williams and his team of State Guard volunteers work with local companies and major corporations to coordinate donations until October.

“Then we deploy toy drive operations,” said Williams.

In true military fashion, Williams coordinates one team to man large donation boxes at designated drop off points, another team to stand outside major retail stores and advertise the toy drive and collect donations, and a third team to handle other donations.

“I have a calendar of all our operations to make it easy for soldiers to find dates and times that would be conducive for them to help,” said Williams.

After meeting the Battalion’s goal of 11,000 toys, Williams and his team decided to keep going.

“Staff Sgt. Williams took the lead for the battalion and just went with it,” said Lt. Col. Cendy Brister-Antley, commander of 1st Battalion. “You can give him something and he will run with it. He has contacts like you wouldn’t believe!”

For Williams the drive to bring joy to children staying in hospitals hits close to home.

“I spent time in the hospital as a child,” said Williams. “It was one of the most difficult times of my childhood. That’s what drives me, that memory of what it was like.”

Hospital staff members will give these toys to hospitalized children, siblings of hospitalized children and children of hospital patients throughout the entire year.

“Our goal is to give them enough toys to make it through the entire year,” said Williams.

Units are assigned to local hospitals. For 1st Battalion, that means Dell Children’s Hospital.

“Last year they got 6,000 toys and started running out in October,” said Williams. “That was our incentive to boost our toy collection.”

Meeting their original goal of 11,000, and then some, they should meet this goal.

The battalion delivered more than 10,000 toys to Dell Children’s Hospital and have given the remaining toys to State Guard units across Texas, to help support toy drive effort statewide.

“It was a planned operation,” said Brister-Antley. “To blow away the State Guard.”

Despite the large piles of toys and the competitive spirit of the unit to outdo last year’s numbers, being able to give back to the community and bring joy to children is what means the most to these guardsmen.

“We delivered more than 10,000 toys to Dell Children’s Hospital,” said Brister-Antley. “I saw pride in my Soldiers, pride in the accomplishment of giving back.”

For Williams, it’s about bringing joy to a child’s life.

“I had a large pink stuffed dog that one of the girls was eyeballing. I walked over to her and asked her if she could give the dog a good home. She grabbed it and seemed really happy,” said Williams. That’s why we do it – for the smiles and the happiness we can bring to the kids.

Next year, Williams said he hopes to collect 50,000 toys.

For more information on the Texas State Guard toy drive, please visit their website http://www.txsgtoydrive.org/. To see more photos from the toy drop off at Dell Children’s Hospital, Dec. 18, 2015, visit https://www.flickr.com/photos/texasmilitaryforces/albums/72157662483102302. 

Story by: 1st Lt. Matthew Verdugo

Posted: December 9, 2015

BASTROP, Texas – National Guardsmen of the 436th Chemical Company conducted dual-mission training exercises at Camp Swift near Bastrop, Texas, and San Macros, Texas, during their annual training period Nov. 13-18, 2015.

The soldiers practiced their traditional warrior skills at Camp Swift, Texas, in areas such as land navigation, security clearing, basic rifle marksmanship, machine gun familiarity, reacting to improvised explosive devices, and physical fitness. This training is essential to maintaining a state of readiness and deployability in support of the citizens of Texas and civil authorities at home or abroad. 

“It is always important to return to basics and improve upon warrior tasks and drills that lay the foundation for everything we do as soldiers,” said 1st Sgt. Dianne Overshown, first sergeant for the 436th Chemical Company. “In many cases, our Soldiers can bring valuable insight from their civilian careers to enhance the training the unit receives in the field.”

The 436th Chemical Company’s core mission is to decontaminate friendly units that have come under a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack in theaters of operation. In addition, the unit specializes in the reconnaissance of CBRN threats and the surveillance of biological dangers. However, their basic Army fundamentals are the foundation that allows the unit to excel in their more technical responsibilities.

“It was fascinating to see some of our soldiers with law enforcement backgrounds take the lead on room clearing and marksmanship,” said Sgt. 1st Class Stephen Snyder. “Training like this really gives the soldiers confidence for future, more complex operations.”

Experienced leaders shared their lessons and best practices with subordinates throughout the week, refining team skill sets in reacting to IEDs, clearing buildings, and weapon familiarization. Each drill reinforced the common themes of teamwork and cooperation. 

“It was great to shoot rounds down range and learn from our experienced sergeants some of the finer points of marksmanship,” said Spc. Zacharias Trigo. “I never realized the infinite number of situations that could present themselves during the clearing of a building and how all team members must work as one.”

The service members also practiced mass casualty decontamination operations as part of their FEMA Region VI Homeland Response Force mission. The HRF mission calls for Guardsmen to augment first responders during stateside natural or man-made disasters requiring specialized decontamination capabilities.

“Our unit has the unique challenge and privilege of being able to help our fellow citizens in a time of crisis,” said 1st Lt. Luis Lopez, 436th Chemical Company commander. “We train, hoping that a day like that never materializes. It is training like this that makes it real for everyone involved.”

The 436th Chemical Company additionally participated in a simulated downed plane scenario at the San Marcos Municipal Airport alongside area first responders and other elements of their National Guard battalion, the 6th CBRN Enhanced Force Package. The exercise simulated dozens of casualties and the release of toxic elements in and around the crash site. The chemical soldiers practiced setting up the decontamination infrastructure and conducting mass causality decontamination while wearing personal protective equipment.

“Exercises like this really bring to light the responsibility our unit has to help our fellow citizens survive such a potential tragedy,” said Staff Sgt. Vanessa Stange. “I am amazed by the professionalism of the area first responders and how our soldiers are performing under stress.”

In addition to the simulated plane crash, 436th Chemical Company soldiers were certified during a three-day course as hazmat operators and recognized by the National Guard Bureau as qualified to perform their decontamination duties. This gives the troops an academic component to augment their practical application exercises throughout the year.

“Having two missions is a lot of work, but it is rewarding and feels good that we can help,” said Spc. Katty Gracia. “I can’t wait until the next annual training.”

Texas Guardsmen stand battle ready after Warfighter (Part 3 of 3)

By Sgt. Elizabeth Pena

Texas Guardsmen from the 136th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, based out of Round Rock, Texas, exercised their combat readiness skills during a three-week Warfighter at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, just in time to get home for Thanksgiving.

The 136th MEB went to Fort Campbell November 5-22 in support of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) for the real-time scenario spanning three fictional countries in the Middle East. The purpose of Warfighter is to test a unit’s battle skills and ensure it is fit for overseas combat.

“This is our available year, so generally that is when you are going to see a brigade assigned to a warfighter exercise,” said Col. Scott Mac Leod, commander of the 136th MEB. “It’s part of the [Army Force Generation] cycle, which means, theoretically, that if an overseas contingency requirement occurred, it’s possible that the 136th MEB could be assigned to deploy in support of that assignment.”

During the exercise, each participating brigade or division is assigned an observer team to help guide them in the right direction.

“We pretty much just coach. We don’t control anything,” said Lt. Col. Randy Spell, chief observer coach/trainer for the Mission Command Training Program. “If y’all have a process that needs some improvement or you have some gaps within that process, we help you through them with a doctrinal example for a way that we have seen successful.”

Warfighter is a great opportunity for soldiers to exercise their duty roles while training to respond quickly to incidents and short-term objectives within a full-scale scenario.

“There were priorities of work for our unit in support of the division,” said Mac Leod. “Protection of critical assets, security and clearance of all of the routes within division area, providing security forces to the base defense clusters, as well as the employment of tactical combat force to find fix and destroy level three threats that might appear in the rear area.”

These real-life scenarios gave the brigade’s combat veterans a chance to mentor their less-experienced team members on the best plans and procedures, should a real-world contingency occur.

“I’ve been on six deployments and I can tell you that most of the things we are doing here, just from the tactical side, are things that I think about, worry about, address, fix and react to on the battlefield,” said Maj. George Hurd, chief of operations for the 136th MEB. “Having the whole brigade be exposed to these systems, whenever we go forward and the next time we deploy, is one less roadblock we have to worry about.”

Throughout the three weeks, the 136th MEB demonstrated the greatest proficiency in staff communication and ensuring everyone knew the status of the conflict at any given moment through the live battle tracker.

“Our common operational picture put us in a position to follow the [division] commander’s intent. So basically the tools that the staff developed from the beginning to the mid point put them in a position to help me know if, when and what to decide so they supported my decision cycle. By increasing the rate at which they were able to do that, it enabled us to work more rapidly to solve the problems we were encountering.”

For some of these soldiers, this is as close to a deployment as they have experienced.

“The thing that I really got out of it was getting to see how the 136th MEB interacts with other units around it,” said Spc. Shane Wilson, an intelligence analyst with the 136th MEB. “The MEB has a unique role, which the Army is trying to test and trying to figure where it belongs. [It] was pretty interesting to see how the staff functions and how complex it really is.”

The 136th MEB was distinguished as the only National Guard outfit participating in the Warfighter, joining the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and one of its subordinate brigades, the 101st Sustainment Brigade.

“There is no question that y’all have come a long way,” said Spell. “We are very proud of you; we feel like we are integrated as a part of your staff. National Guard, active duty, it doesn’t matter. We all respond to one fight."

When the 136th MEB isn’t training for their overseas mission of area support operations, they are back home in Texas where they are custodian of the FEMA Region VI Homeland Response Force mission. There, they train alongside first responders and civil authorities to combat the threat of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and High-Yield Explosive incidents throughout Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas, and Louisiana.

“There is a lot of what we do here that can be run over to our Defense Support of Civil Authorities,” said Hurd. “One is having to make swift timely decisions. I’m looking forward to taking these products home. I’ve got a lot of good examples of ways to better synergize our efforts.”

These vigilant guardsmen can return home with confidence knowing they are fit for the fight.

“I’m immensely proud of our soldiers, said Mac Leod. “Everyone here is just a little bit sleep deprived, a little bit worn out but they’ve got a lot to be proud of. We came here, we wanted to do well tactically and technically but we also wanted to represent Texas, and I think we achieved that objective.”