First Army working group coordinates future warfighting training

By W. Wayne MarlowApril 16, 2015

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1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Col. Timothy W. Bush (left), director of the First Army Operations, Plans and Training section, and Maj. Gen. Scottie D. Carpenter, commander of the Army Reserve's 84th Training Command, participate in the First Army Training Support and Synchronizat... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – First Army Commanding General Lt. Gen. Michael S. Tucker (right) talks about the importance of giving every Army reserve-component unit and commander the opportunity to hone warfighting skills in a field environment during the First Army Training Sup... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. -- Ensuring commanders and Soldiers have training opportunities to hone their warfighting skills was the focus of a Training Support and Synchronization Working Group held this week in First Army headquarters here.

In his remarks to the First Army, Army National Guard and Army Reserve senior leaders in the group, First Army Commanding General, Lt. Gen. Michael S. Tucker, emphasized the importance of challenging, realistic training events for reserve-component units.

"Making command decisions in the field on the employment of his or her forces is the crucible that allows commanders to grow to be leaders. We owe them that," Tucker said

He cautioned that if training opportunities aren't seized, "We're going to have brigade commanders who have never commanded a battalion in the field, or they may command a brigade and never take it to the field. We need to flesh this out and have no unit and no leader left behind. We've got the equipment; we ought to use it."

One of the Working Group's main tasks, therefore, was to forecast reserve-component training exercises over the next four years, and for unit commanders and command sergeants major to determine which ones would best train their units.

"The WG (in TSSWG) stands for Working Group, so there are no potted plants here," Tucker said. "We are all here for a specific reason: to get after some great training for our Army Reserve and National Guard units."

Members of the TSSWG are implementing suggestions Tucker has culled from reserve-component commanders during his 19 months as First Army commander. "In observing training and spending time with senior leaders, I've figured out what they want, and what First Army can give to them," he said.

The TSSWG is also building on the Army's practice of training its active and reserve components together and to one standard.

"We're making progress with integrated training. One of the big outcomes of the TSSWG is the blending of multiple components into an existing exercise," Tucker said. "We fight together, so we've got to train together. This TSSWG is where that blending begins, as we put these exercises up on the screen and look for opportunities to participate."

And those opportunities are there, he added. "Every year, there are between 37 and 44 major unit training events that reserve-component units are eligible to participate in. There are opportunities to train, and we've got to make prudent use of these exercises."

Maj. Gen. Scottie D. Carpenter, commander of the Army Reserve's 84th Training Command, said the ideas generated in the TSSWG can be put to good use.

"I wanted to hear Lt. Gen. Tucker's guidance, and everything he has said has been very much consistent with my thought process of what I'm doing with the 84th," Carpenter said. "With the expertise First Army has with the active component and Reserve, and their observer trainer/coaches, they understand what we need to do to accomplish our wartime mission. They are certainly a force multiplier for us in our training strategy."

Carpenter agrees with the Army's emphasis on integrating active, Reserve and National Guard Soldiers into training events. "We're looking at how to work better with all components, and First Army is a key piece in pulling those components together. In the 84th, we are integrating a lot of the active and Guard units into our training."

Meanwhile, Lt. Col. Charles Corbett, branch chief for unit training for the United States Army Reserve Headquarters, said the working group enabled him to see what training events are out there and how units can get into them.

"I got to meet the key players and learn a whole lot about what I'm getting into," he said. "There are a tremendous number of training opportunities out there and the other components are willing to invite you."

The TSSWG's ability to provide units with advance lead time before training events is beneficial, Carpenter added.

"Sometimes we get so shortsighted that we're looking at the year we're in or the next year," he said. "This gives us a good forum to look three to four years out."

A good training exercise is preceded by good planning, Tucker noted.

"We are going to schedule units out through fiscal year 2019," he said. "The average period of notification before a field exercise has been only eight months for a reserve-component unit."

The number one thing commanders tell him they want, Tucker said, is time to plan and prepare.

"They are tired of last minute. They want to get the exercises out in front of them. Every unit should have the opportunity to train as a unit, and we should work very hard to give them that opportunity. That's our job."

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