Fort Jackson activates 10th Basic Combat Training Battalion

By Wallace McBride, Fort Jackson LeaderOctober 16, 2014

Fort Jackson activates 10th Basic Combat Training battalion
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT JACKSON, S.C. (Oct. 16, 2014) -- A provisional battalion for Basic Combat Training is activating on Fort Jackson this week.

Designated the "Lightning Battalion," the new organization is a product of consolidating Soldiers from five companies from around the installation.

"It's all about restructuring what we have in order to maximize efficiency," said Maj. Jay Smith, of the Army Training Center's Operations Office. "Instead of cutting services, we're cutting costs."

It's also about maintaining Fort Jackson's training tempo, he said. By consolidating Soldiers into the Lightning Battalion, it creates a "five by five" structure that is compatible with the regular work week.

Thanks to their place in the alphabet, Foxtrot companies -- the sixth letter -- have routinely had their training days scheduled for the sixth day in the week, Saturday.

Smith said this schedule often requires range personnel to work weekends. When inclement weather was a factor, training can even be delayed until Sunday. He said it wasn't uncommon for Foxtrot training days to even be pushed back into the following week, forcing companies to "double up" on training in order to meet their goals.

"(The training units) do a pretty good job of managing this, but it means paying overtime to get the support that they need," Smith said. "You're also stressing drill sergeants, support personnel and (ammunition) handlers."

There are other expenses involved with how Foxtrot companies were organized on post. The troop surge that took place in the wake of 9/11 demanded more housing for new Soldiers on post.

Unfortunately, Smith said, Fort Jackson's training battalions were equipped to house only five units each.

To accommodate new training demands, the post installed mobile buildings to house the additional sixth companies. In some cases, though, those facilities are today located more than a mile from their unit headquarters.

"(The restructuring) pushes the brigades back into their own footprint," he said." Each brigade has a battalion that's geographically separated from its own headquarters. This will create two footprints for the 193rd Infantry Brigade and 165th Infantry Brigade, and all their units will be co-located nearby."

It will also help the post cut the cost of maintaining mobile buildings, a cost he described as "astronomical."

"We'll close out those contracts once they're complete, and move (Soldiers) into hard-stand buildings that are already funded," he said. "And that's a pretty big savings.

"Provisional battalions, because they're temporary by nature, can't have their own unit designations," Smith said.

Because the provisional battalion is part of 165th Infantry Brigade, the "Lightning Brigade," it has been designated the "Lightning Battalion."

The next step is securing a proper designation for the organization, Smith said.

"TRADOC seems to be on board with it, but there's still some analysis being done," he said. "We're expecting it to be approved, and then it will become a full-fledged battalion. That's a long process with a lot of Department of the Army-level organizations involved with that."

The battalion's first company is scheduled to start training in November.

The activation ceremony is scheduled to take place 1 p.m. today at Victory Field.

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Fort Jackson, S.C.

165th Infantry Brigade