Army Reserve Soldiers Hone Combat Skills by U.S. Army
Reserve Sgt. 1st Class Brent Powell
October 25, 2019
More than 200 Army Reserve Soldiers from across the nation
conducted a variety of combat related training at Fort Mccoy,
Wisconsin in August 2019 in an effort to hone their individual and
collective skills and increase their overall battlefield lethality
and survivability.
The Soldiers were from the 450th Chemical
Battalion, 209th Regional Support Group, 76th Operational Response
Command and their two-weeks of training here is part of Combat
Support Training Exercise 86-19-04.
The annual exercise
provides Soldiers with an austere, realistic, tactical environment
to achieve, improve and sustain critical pre-mobilization readiness.
After arriving and going through a reception and
integration process, the Soldiers soon found themselves in the field
where they began performing around the clock missions. “We conducted
dismounted and mounted reconnaissance, as well as operational and
thorough decontamination operations,” said Lt. Col. Robert Guinn,
commander, 450th Chemical Battalion. “We’ve also worked on our base
defense plan, employed our quick reaction force and learned how to
become better at our field craft and battlefield survivability.”

August 20, 2019 - Army Reserve
Private 1st Class Nicholas Kent, a chemical, biological,
radiological and nuclear specialist and native of Mena,
Arkansas assigned to the 360th Chemical Company, 450th
Chemical Battalion, 209th Regional Support Group, 76th
Operational Response Command keeps an eye out for "enemy"
movement from his fighting position at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin
during Combat Support Training Exercise 86-19-04. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brent Powell)
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“Our biggest challenge has been
the high operational tempo of conducting back to back missions, but
our Soldiers have performed well, and it just goes to show me how
resilient they are,” said Staff Sgt. Jose Diaz, platoon sergeant and
native of Half Moon Bay, California, assigned to the 308th Chemical
Company, 450th Chem. Bn. “With the whole concept now of moving our
operations from one area to another, we’ve been getting good
experience conducting site reconnaissance, setting up fighting
positions, sleeping areas and our tactical operations center. I
think this training has definitely been a benefit to the Soldiers
and a good learning experience.”
One Soldier who seemed to
be enjoying the training was newly assigned Private Cory Beckes, a
chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear specialist and native
of Norman, Oklahoma, assigned to the 308th Chem. Co., 450th Chem.
Bn. “It’s been good training for me,” he said. “I learned how to
build a proper fighting position out here and how to manually
operate a water pump. It was also the first time I got to use
night-vision, and that was pretty cool.”
Honing basic warrior
skills was just one of the many benefits to the units participating.
“This exercise brings us together collectively and allows us to work
closely with our down trace companies,” said Guinn. “We get to know
each other’s strengths and weaknesses much better in an exercise
like this than we would at a typical battle assembly. This is really
where Soldiers improve their skills.”
Improvement was
something many involved in the exercise noticed. “The Soldiers have
been getting better each day as they conduct rehearsals and go
through the various missions,” said Sgt. 1st Class Susan Bowen, an
Observer, Controller, Trainer (OC/T) and native of Tiverton, Rhode
Island, assigned to the 4th Calvary Regiment. “Their setup and
personnel organization for the decon missions has gotten better and
more proficient as they’ve progressed through the training.”

August 20, 2019 - Army Reserve
Soldiers from the 450th Chemical Battalion, 209th Regional
Support Group, 76th Operational Response Command and Army
National Guard Soldiers from the 111th Multifunctional
Medical Battalion remove casualties from a Blackhawk
helicopter and move him to a decontamination area during
training at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin during Combat Support
Training Exercise 86-19-04. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brent Powell)
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Guinn also noticed the improvement. “The Soldiers have definitely
gotten better since arriving,” he said. “They are highly-motivated
and eager to show me their fighting positions and what they are
doing to help protect the unit and their fellow Soldiers. They are
also very proud of what they can do technically out here.”
Whether it was running a chemical decontamination mission or
learning the proper way to build a fighting position, the Soldiers
seemed to either learn new skills in the exercise or hone their
existing knowledge.
“I think this exercise has shown our
Soldiers where they are in their basic Soldiering skills and their
fieldcraft,” said Guinn. “They can also see how they’ve improved
since they’ve been here, and what areas they still need to focus on
to become the best they can be and survive on today’s battlefield.
My main goal out here was to focus on the commander’s training
objectives and I think we achieved that. There is still room to
grow, and I think there should be.”
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