POHAKULOA TRAINING AREA, Hawaii - Maj. Gen. Michael J. Terry, commander, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, and members of his command team, visited more than 300 Soldiers, here, May 10, during their field training exercise.
The FTX has provided Soldiers with an opportunity to refresh existing skills and to learn new ones.
Soldiers have been training in an assortment of individual and unit level tasks, here, including unit specific skills, small arms and crew-served weapons, field maintenance and battlefield support operations.
Units participating in the training include Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Forward Support Co. and 70th Geospatial Co., all in 65th Engineer Battalion, 130th Eng. Brigade, 8th TSC. The 523rd Eng. Support Co., 84th Eng. Bn., 130th Eng. Bde., is also participating.
Terry visited during the peak of training. He met with Soldiers from the 70th Geospatial Co. and HHC, 65th Eng. Bn., 130th Eng. Bde., to discuss ongoing training operations.
He stopped at the Keeaumoku Construction Site, where the 523rd Eng. Support Co., 84th Eng. Bn., 130th Eng. Bde., was hard at work repairing and resurfacing a two-lane road through the training area.
“Sections of the road were washed out and in definite need of repair,” said Capt. Tom Ellison, commander, 523rd Eng. Support Co., 84th Eng. Bn., 130th Eng. Bde.
In addition to grading and widening the road, the company also installed a pair of culverts and a long stretch of concrete-mesh tile.
From the construction site, Terry moved to PTA’s Military Operations on Urban Terrain city, where the 65th Eng. Bn. had set up a full-scale Tactical Command Post.
From this TAC, battalion staff controlled and monitored all movement and operations throughout the training area. Staff took this opportunity to brief Terry about current operations and the status of various units at PTA.
The final stop on the tour of PTA was to the 70th Geospatial Co.’s command outpost.
Soldiers took the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and proficiency with terrain software; they presented Terry with a detailed map of the training area.
The company had been working on updating several maps of the training area with photos from flyovers and satellite imagery.
During the visit, Terry presented Spc. Levi Reynolds, 2nd Squad, 1st Platoon, 70th Geospatial Co., 65th Eng. Bn., 130th Eng. Bde., with a commemorative coin for his outstanding work within the unit.
“(This is) absolutely great training, with the 65th Eng. Bn. in the lead,” Terry said. “It’s a great start at getting to the 8th TSC multi-echelon training model.
“Soldiers not only benefit from this training, but they are also providing a service to PTA with the road repair and geospatial products,” Terry said. “Leadership is doing an excellent job by ensuring safety and quality training of Soldiers.”
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