<I>By 1st Lt. Julie McCabe
66th Transportation Company, 39th Transportation Battalion</I>
KLEBER KASERNE, Germany - The 66th Transportation Company hosted French Cadet 2nd Lt. Guillaume Charlet from the Saint-Cyr Combined Arms School in Guer, France, Jan. 18 - Feb. 12.
Charlet's time with the 66th Trans. Co. was part of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command's ongoing exchange program in which it hosts several Cadets from Saint-Cyr each year, and assigns them to various units for a two, or three-week developmental training period.
Charlet's first experience with the 66th Trans. Co. involved observing Soldiers and leaders prepare for their upcoming range week in Baumholder, Germany. During which, he learned about the unit's dispatch procedures, preventive maintenance checks and services on M915A5s, packing list pre-combat inspection, and the five paragraph operations order.
Heading off into the range week, Charlet rode in a Humvee during a convoy of 17 vehicles, fired the M249 weapon system and the M4 carbine rifle. After zeroing, he qualified with a score of 32 for sharpshooter.
Additionally, Cadet Charlet participated C-IED tactical convoy lanes for Sergeants Training Time, drivers training academy, land navigation, and the German Reserves Glanbruken Challenge.
Charlet's military career began with him enlisting as an artillery Soldier in March 2010. After a few years in the enlisted ranks, Charlet was ready for a new challenge and began his studies at Ecoles de Saint-Cyr Coëtquidan Officer Academy in Sept. 2014. Charlet is nearing the end of a two year program at the school in which he will earn a bachelor's degree and will go on to his officer branch school in Sept. 2016.
"Transportation and sustainment as a whole are rather new to me. The insight with 66th Transportation Company will be truly valuable, especially with the current mission surge in United States Army Europe," said Charlet.
Charlet's time with the unit was also valuable to the Soldiers with whom he spent those two weeks, according to Sgt. Kaitlin Fifield, an operations NCO, assigned to the 66th Transportation Company.
"Speaking with 2nd Lt. Charlet was enlightening for me because of his different experiences and points of view about the U.S. Army presence in Europe," said Fifield. "We agreed that strengthening the alliance through improving sustainment capabilities was a key aspect."
Social Sharing