Reserve sustainment command finishes post-mobilization training with Division West

By Capt. Marvin J. Baker, 120th Infantry Brigade, Division West, Public AffairsJuly 2, 2012

Reserve sustainment command finishes post-mobilization training with Division West
Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Bolduc, left, command sergeant major of the Army Reserve's 316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command headquartered in Coraopolis, Pa., talks with a role-played Kuwaiti sergeant major through an interpreter during a training ex... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT HOOD, Texas -- The 316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, an Army Reserve logistics unit headquartered in Coraopolis, Pa., has finished two months of training here with Division West and will soon deploy to Kuwait.

"It's taken nearly a year and a great combined effort for us to get where we are today," said Sgt. Major Paul Leckinger, operations sergeant major for the 316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command.

The unit's Soldiers started their deployment training in 2011 with various combat-related skills training events and many occupational skills training events before moving on to staff training exercises focused on preparing the unit for its real-world mission in Kuwait.

After the nearly 250-person unit arrived in May at Fort Hood, Texas, the Soldiers quickly completed their remaining combat-skills training with Division West's 479th Field Artillery Brigade. Division West's 120th Infantry Brigade put the final touches on the 316th's culminating training event plans.

Division West's training program ensures all Army Reserve units and their Soldiers are fully trained for their specific overseas missions. One of the most important abilities taught through collective training is learning to work as a team.

"Team building is a valuable skill for the commander's staff because they will be working in a new and constrained environment when they deploy," said Col. Timothy Bush, 120th Infantry Brigade commander.

Since 2010, the 120th Infantry Brigade has planned and coordinated culminating training events for units mobilizing at Fort Hood's mobilization training center. To provide the best training for Soldiers in the 316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, the 120th brought in several role players and various subject-matter experts from relevant logistics units.

"We help provide realism in the training. We let them know what to expect and what kind of systems they will encounter in theater," said Lt. Col. Leah Dunn, an operations officer in the 364th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, the unit the 316th will replace in Kuwait. "Training is seldom like reality. The best thing we can teach them is processes needed to work through all the logistics issues they will face and how to apply those processes to their mission."

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