FORT HOOD, Texas - The 185th Theater Aviation Brigade recently completed the final Culminating Training Event (CTE) on its road to an upcoming deployment to Kuwait and Iraq. Elements from both Active Duty and National Guard, with multiple states represented throughout the nation, participated in the Aviation Training Exercise (ATX).
Col. Ronald Beckham, brigade commander, said that the training was an opportunity for the brigade to exercise the staffs and build a cohesive team. "The training was tailored for our upcoming missions to Kuwait and Iraq," Beckham said.
In an attempt to replicate the operating environment that the 185th Aviation Brigade will experience while deployed, the exercise facilitators at the First Army's Division West ensured that both the higher headquarters and subordinate commands were participants in the exercise.
Role players from the 75th Training Command replicated the unit's higher headquarters, U.S. Army Central (ARCENT), while the command and staffs of the Brigade's subordinate battalions served as the lower commands. Soldiers were brought in from ARCENT actual to act as advisors and answer any questions that the commander and his staff had regarding their upcoming deployment.
The intent of the exercise was to cement staff processes and develop information management procedures. Yet a major take away was that the exercise served as a mechanism for the Brigade to coalesce into a team.
Unlike active duty units, that may have an entire year to train and work with their higher and lower commands, the members of the 185th Aviation Brigade's task force had a little less than 60 days to form a cohesive team. The ATX was the final opportunity to replicate an information environment similar to what the Brigade, as a whole, will experience on their upcoming deployment.
Social Sharing