JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J.- Premier Trainers from First Army Division East teamed up with Pennsylvania Army National Guard Soldiers from the 28th Infantry Division during a NATO partnered Rochambeau 2014 exercise in France.
Soldiers from the 174th Infantry Brigade, First Army Division East provided observer-coach/trainer mentorship to the 28th Infantry Division during this time.
"As O-C/Ts we provided feedback to the 28th Infantry Division on the six war fighting functions movement and maneuver, intelligence, sustainment, protection and fires" said Capt. Matthew A. Coyne, assistant operations officer, with 1-307th Infantry Regiment, 174th Infantry Brigade.
"My role during the NATO exercise was to act as a liaison for the 28th Infantry Division where I was embedded in the NATO Corps Headquarters as a direct contact from NATO to 28th ID" explained Maj. Adam F. Storms, plans officer in charge, with the 174th Infantry Brigade.
As the mobilization load for the 174th Infantry Brigade declines, they have picked up new responsibilities to partner with the Army Reserves and Army National Guard soldiers. The O-C/T's are able to relay personal experiences, best practices, and doctrinal technique to ensure these units are maintaining force readiness and staying fully mission capable during their AFROGEN Cycle.
"The partnership between the 28th ID and 174th IN BDE during Operation Rochambeau was a huge success. Throughout the Operation O-C/T's were able to provide the 28th ID feedback based off of doctrine and experiences they have encountered from previously serving on an active duty division staff. Similarly OC/Ts were able to better understand some of the challenges the 28th ID faces due to the nature of their construct. Together, OC/Ts from the 174th IN BDE and the 28th ID were able to identify best practices for the Division and identify areas for improvement as they developed ways to better the 28th IDs operations" said Capt. Coyne.
The NATO partnership also provided great learning value during the Rochambeau 2014 exercise.
"Being a joint exercise with NATO there were many additional challenges that any division would face. These included working with foreign military services, language barriers and interoperability. The expertise of OC/Ts from active duty combined with the expertise of Soldiers from the National Guard assisted significantly with working through any issues that arose" said Maj. Storms
"All well run exercises assist the National Guard with readiness, but this exercise was good at the division level because it allowed them to see how other countries operate and how they can integrate with these Countries and improve the NATO fighting Force" explains Capt. Curt Fulmer, assistant operations officer, with 3-312th Infantry Regiment, 174th Infantry Brigade.
First Army Division East, in partnership with the USAR and ARNG, advises assists and trains Reserve Component Forces, in both pre and post mobilization through multi- component integrated collective training, in accordance with Army Total Force Policy, Department of the Army, FORSCOM and First Army directives in order to achieve ARFORGEN directed readiness requirements.
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