SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii -- Sustainment leaders from across the 25th Infantry Division gathered at the Mission Training Complex, here, March 23, to take part in a Virtual Staff Ride and discussion group that will help them better train their Soldiers.
The VSR is a computer-based program that envisions a virtual study of a battle or significant event and is used to help Soldiers learn from past mistakes so that they can implement it into their training.
"Not to be cliché, but it is important that we learn from history so that we don't make the same mistakes," said Col. Gavin A. Lawrence, commander of the 25th Sustainment Brigade, 25th Inf. Div. "This is a great tool to revisit the tactical and leadership lessons learned."
The VSR for the training was based on the ambush of the 507th Maintenance Company during a logistics patrol in Nasiriyah, Iraq in 2003. Many mistakes were made prior to this tragedy and with the VSR the 25th Inf. Div. 'sustainers' look to learn from the 507th during this training. The event made headlines across the world following the rescue of Pfc. Jessica Lynch, a Soldier with the 507th Maint. Co., after the infamous ambush.
"The target audience is all leadership," said Lt. Col. Dan Misigoy, commander of the 225th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Inf. Div. "We started with just our battalion, but we thought it was important enough to open it up to all sustainer units from across the division. A lot of the lessons learned could still be implemented all these years later to how we train our Soldiers."
The 507th Maint. Co. was used as the subject of the VSR because of its timeliness; March 23 marks the 13th anniversary of the ambush. Many of the senior leaders attending the training were deployed to Iraq around the same time as the event took place and were able to provide key points during the discussion.
"Honestly you want dialog and discussion; that way it's not just one-way communication," said Lawrence. "We had a pretty diverse group ranging from brigade commanders to company commanders and we have different viewpoints enhancing the collective learning."
Following the conclusion of the VSR and the discussion group, sustainment leaders can use the mistakes made in the past to better prepare their Soldiers for future combat.
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