row, fifth from left), joins First Army brigade and battalion command team members and other leaders during a break in the First Army Fall Commanders Conference in front of First Army h... VIEW ORIGINAL
ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. -- First Army brought its new commanders, senior enlisted leaders, and Army National Guard advisors here Oct. 17-21 to better equip them to carry out their duties. The week also served as the First Army Fall Commanders Conference for brigade and battalion commanders and command sergeants major.
First Army Commanding General, Lt. Gen. Stephen Twitty, stressed to attendees that a road map for the coming months was being developed during the trio of conferences.
"This week is very important because it is about the direction that we will take First Army," he said. "I expect the leaders here to pass my guidance to the field. We're going to move out with a laser focus on doing what we need to do. Speaking of what we need to do, the first slide here is the commanding general's priorities."
Those priorities are: 1. Maximize unit readiness. 2. Operationalizing Army Total Force Policy. 3. Master the fundamentals 4. Develop leaders 5. Take care of Soldiers, civilians, and families.
Touching on some of those, Twitty said, "You can't work at First Army and not know your craft. Knowing your craft means you have to impart that craft to our Reserve Component partners. We have to get back in the business of understanding Army doctrine and applying it to training. We've got to be grounded in the fundamentals."
That's because the United States could be called upon to respond to a variety of contingencies, the general noted. "You guys can read the tea leaves just like I can. Just look at the world today with Russia, Iran, North Korea, and China," he said. "We can't continue to just think about Iraq and Afghanistan. We've got to get focused on decisive action warfare in austere conditions. That's what I want you to get focused on and that's what I want you to impart to our Reserve Component brothers and sisters."
Twitty also addressed the importance of multi-echelon training. "I don't like it when we take a brigade out to the field and only focus on squad and platoon situational training exercises," he said. "I need you pushing with your partners to get to multi-echelon training. We have to get there. We are in the business of ensuring all these units are trained and ready when we push them out into harm's way."
Another crucial piece for the week was the continued implementation and refinement of Army Total Force Policy, which aims to ensure that all components are trained and held to the same standard and are operating toward a common goal. It is a First Army priority.
"This week we're going to have a good conversation about operationalizing Army Total Force Policy," Twitty said. "We've got some great partnerships going on between the Reserve Component and the active Army. There's an opportunity to get to a level to where we are integrating Active, National Guard, and Reserve forces to the point where it becomes routine and we're getting more readiness out of it."
First Army's mission and multi-component structure make it necessary to conduct orientations for newly assigned Brigade and Battalion Command Teams and Senior Advisors to the Army National Guard. Many SRAAGs may have never worked directly with Reserve Component units and Soldiers, so the orientation serves to give them an overview of First Army and ATFP. Meanwhile, new command team members learned what battle rhythm they can expect in their positions.
First Army began including SRAAGs in the orientation two years ago because of the key role they play in helping First Army execute its mission in training Reserve Component Soldiers. Each state and territory has a SRAAG whose mission is to provide military advice and assistance to the state's Army National Guard commanders concerning organization, operations, training and readiness. The goal of the certification is to ensure the new SRAAGs are ready for this mission.
First Army leaders also recognized the importance of SRAAG certification and command team orientations taking place simultaneously. That's because SRAAGs give battalion and brigade commanders in their state someone in their state that can champion their cause and help them meet the commanders' intent.
Col. Shawn Klawunder, First Army chief of staff, explained all this in remarks to attendees. "This is an unbelievable opportunity for new command teams at the battalion and brigade levels and the new SRAAGs to get some information from First Army staff and from some resident experts," he told them. "Don't leave here without finding the point of contact that you need to talk to and don't leave here with an unanswered question. The First Army staff is absolutely here to support you."
That opportunity was seized, according to Command Sgt. Maj. Juan Cornett, senior enlisted Soldier for the 1-310th BEB, 181st Infantry Brigade, Division West. He reported the conference afforded valuable networking opportunities and a chance to work through possible solutions to outstanding issues.
"This is my first time at Rock Island Arsenal after four years with First Army, and I'm glad I came. The conference is answering a lot of questions," he said. For instance, he had been dealing with some strength management issues that he was able to start getting resolution on during the conference.
"When we go to the National Training Center, our Soldiers sometimes get farmed out. The key to fixing it is, if the First Army G3/G5/G7 can work with FORSCOM and the NTC G3, we can ensure we have enough personnel to accomplish our mission."
First Army was not the only entity to benefit from the conference. Those it works closely with it also left with key takeaways from the week. For instance, Eddy Hogan, collective training program manager for the National Guard Bureau's G2 directorate, said the conference gave him a clearer vision of what First Army can do for the Reserve Component.
"Our job is security and intelligence training and I wanted to come here and see what First Army is doing and how we can integrate with First Army to help the units that are going out the door," he said. "I am looking at ways that I can bring back information to the National Guard units and tell them, 'First Army is doing this, and this is what you need to be doing,' and apprise them of requirements and policies they need to be focused on in terms of training and readiness."
Hogan said the conferences afforded him the opportunity for "strategic communication and engagement with First Army commanders and the chance to build on the partnerships that exist between First Army and the National Guard. If I can impart to them what the National Guard G2 needs from First Army, that's a win.
"It was excellent to be able to hear it from Lt. Gen. Twitty to understand the direction that he's going in. Army Total Force Policy is huge and so it is crucial for First Army and the National Guard to have a common operating picture, and these conferences are a tool that helps accomplish that."
First Army mobilizes, trains, deploys, and demobilizes Reserve Component forces in accordance with combatant commanders, Department of the Army, and FORSCOM directives. First Army provides training to joint, interagency, combined, and Active Army forces as directed, and provides training support to Reserve Component forces for contingency and deployment expeditionary force requirements.
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