At Ease - Wisconsin National Guard Department of Military Affairs

End of Annual Training Summary
for Company G (-) 132 nd BSB
By: SSG Christopher J. Banks, Readiness NCO
So many good things happened during this year’s 3 week
annual training that it’s hard to include everything. Company
G (-) focused on Base Defense for 4 solid days. The soldiers’
training focused on tower operations, ECP (entry control point)
operations, QRF (quick reaction force) operations, BDOC (base
defense operations center) operations and TCP (traffic control
point) operations. Golf Company was divided into two platoons
and each platoon was evaluated on each of the aforementioned
tasks.
… Convoy Operations was executed without a flaw. Radio
communications and security were the two main focus points
during this training.
… We also enrolled many of our deployable soldiers into
new equipment training, which included the CPOF (command post
of the future) training, SKL (simple key loader) training which
is replacing the ANCD, the AN/PSS-14 Mine Detector and the
BlueForce Tracker system which is currently being used world
wide in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
… Every Golf Company soldier qualified with their assigned
weapons as well as many other weapon systems which included
the .50 caliber machine gun, the M-249 Squad Automatic
Weapon, the M-203 grenade launcher and the 9 mm pistol.
Letters
from Annual
Training
Submitted by Unit Public Affairs
Representatives
32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team
Dear Editor,
… Soldiers from across the 32 nd Brigade received training on a
new mortar ballistic computer (which figures out the mathematical
computations for firing solutions for indirect firing artillery) and on
an updated 120 mm mortar system. Some of us spent five days in a
classroom learning about and practicing with the new computer.
Other members of the Brigade received the updated mortar
systems, with which they performed maintenance, practiced crew
drills and conducted a gunner’s exam. All of this training and practice
came together on a live-fire day when our newly acquired skills were put
to the test.
Those of us that attended the mortar computer class received data
from forward observers, entered it into the computers and passed on the
firing solutions to the mortar gun crews. The gun crews adjusted their
mortars accordingly and then fired the missions. The new computers
streamline the process of adjusting indirect fire and provide a higher
degree of speed and accuracy, something that is critical on the battlefield.
Respectfully submitted,
SFC Paul Wagner, Mortar Section Leader
Dear Editor,
The Soldiers of the 1 st Battalion,
120 th Field Artillery completed another
successful Annual Training at Fort McCoy,
WI this week.
… The training focused on individual
weapons qualification with the newly
issued M-4 machine gun, equipped with a
close combat optic (CCO), and other heavy
weapons. The weapons training was just a
small part of the required Army Warrior
Tasks that place a strong emphasis on a
set of forty tasks and skills that every
Soldier should be proficient in. However,
[training also included] instructional
classroom training on new equipment that is
currently being used overseas to fight the
war on terror.
— Capt. Dustin Cebula, 1st Battalion,
120th Field Artillery
From: Anderson, Trevor P SGT NG NG NGB
To: Donovan, Timothy D LTC NGWI;
Guthrie, Jacqueline A MAJ NGWI
Sent: Thu Aug 28 22:30:07 2008
Subject: AT 2008
In our battalion, about half of us have some kind of combat
experience and the other half are still waiting for their first.
During this AT, us veterans shared our past experience with
other soldiers who haven’t deployed yet and also shared our
own insight with training to help make the best out of training.
We also got some new equipment in, like new vehicles, house
raid kits, new sights for our weapons, and more. So some of
the training was new for all, in which then we had to go back to
our units and train others on our new equipment and tactics.
SGT Anderson, Trevor
2-127th IN BN, S-1
March 2009 27