Army Reserve soldiers from the 492nd Civil Affairs Battalion assess the Horny Toad Farm here in Phoenix. The 492nd chooses small businesses around the area to provide civil affairs training for the soldiers.
Photo by Sgt 1st Class Andy Yoshimura (U... VIEW ORIGINAL
Army Reserve soldiers from the 492nd Civil Affairs Battalion trained with local produce farmers in assessment training. These civil affairs soldiers can use training around the Phoenix area for future missions overseas
photo by Sgt. 1st Class Andy ... VIEW ORIGINAL
Sgt. Raymond Magnussen, a civil affairs team leader, holds a nest full of bees and honey at a bee farm in Phoenix. Magnussen along with his team assessed and gathered information for a civil affairs training mission during the 492nd Civil Affairs Ba... VIEW ORIGINAL
Spc. Dion Luebke, a civil affairs specialist, visits a bee farm in Phoenix. Soldiers of the 492nd Civil Affairs Battalion are training on assessing and gathering information for many small businesses around the Phoenix area
photo by Sgt. 1st Class ... VIEW ORIGINAL
Staff Sgt. Daniel Carlson, a civil affairs noncommissioned officer, squeezes a goat's teat here at the Crow Dairy Farm. Carlson along with his soldiers assessed the relatively new dairy operation just outside the Phoenix area. Soldiers from the 492n... VIEW ORIGINAL
Sgt. Raymond Magnussen, a civil affairs team leader feeds a goat here at the Crow Dairy Farm. Carlson along with his soldiers assessed the relatively new dairy operation just outside the Phoenix area. Soldiers from the 492nd Civil Affairs Battalion ... VIEW ORIGINAL
Spc. Jonathan Harper, a civil affairs specialist, sits with Stella McPhee, a local farmer and owner of the Horny Toad Farm. McPhee is showing Harper the proper way to harvest beets during the mild winter and harsh summer of Arizona.
photo by Sgt. ... VIEW ORIGINAL
Story by Sgt. 1st Class Andy Yoshimura, USACAPOC(A) Public Affairs Office
PHOENIX -- "Hope none of you soldiers ate bananas this morning," said beekeeper Dave Myer to a team of Army Reserve soldiers from the 492nd Civil Affairs Battalion while they were donning their beekeeping protective suits.
"Bees love the scent of bananas," added Myer.
Myer's bee farm was one of eight small farm and dairy businesses that civil affairs soldiers from the 492nd visited for detailed site assessment during their February battle assembly.
Many Civil affairs units like the 492nd visits small businesses, electric power plants and even small towns that are in the vicinity of the unit for training that is critical for their missions overseas.
"It's really hands on," said Sgt. Raymond Magnussen, a civil affairs specialist for the 492nd. "We are getting the experience and are talking to people outside of our unit, interacting with the community."
Magnussen, a former supply specialist, now a civil affairs specialist,
trained as a team leader and interacted with Myer about his farm.
"I learned that not only does a bee produce honey but it plays an important role in pollinizing fruit trees as well," said Magnussen. "My team seems to be very excited about the training and they are having a good time learning about something new."
The team took their beekeeping suits off then traveled 25 miles outside the Phoenix city limits to assess Crow's Dairy Farm. To the team's amazement, the farm welcomed the soldiers with "baas" from over 100 goats rather than "moos" from a cow.
Working with smaller businesses like these is similar to what these soldiers face overseas on deployments.
"It is very important to conduct team directed and team driven training during our battle assembly," said Maj. Darcy Lowery, the company commander for the 492nd. "It provides the opportunity for our team chiefs and team noncommissioned officers to do what they are doing and expected to do the same downrange in peacekeeping types of missions around the world."
Sgt. Joel Gutierrez, a civil affairs specialist for the 492nd, led his team to a produce farm just west of the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. As planes flew overhead, Team 3 assessed the Horny Toad Farm where dozens of different type of vegetables are grown.
"It is great for us to practice our civil affairs skill sets and come out and do an assessment on an agricultural site," said Gutierrez. "We are determining the needs of the site and it is good practice for what we do overseas.
Gutierrez, who works for the Maricopa Sheriff's Office enjoys the face-to-face training.
"This is a good way for us to see how agricultures work in an efficient matter and look at it more with a critical eye. What you learn in school is one thing but getting out and starting to do these practical exercise well help us with future deployments," he said.
Lowery feels the more they train with the local populace the more comfortable her soldiers will be.
"The ability to reach out to the locals and being comfortable in talking to people in an industry that they are not familiar with is important," Lowery said.
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