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by Staff Sgt. Kati Volkman
FORT JOHNSON, La. — Over the past month, more than 5,000 Soldiers from across the United States and Canada, led by the Wisconsin Army National Guard’s 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT), put their skills to the test at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC), Fort Johnson, Louisiana.
JRTC provides brigade combat teams with simulated large-scale combat operations to build readiness to support overseas deployments and prepare Soldiers to survive the rigors of war. This is likely the largest training event for the 32nd IBCT since the entire brigade and its equipment shipped to West Germany for REFORGER (Return of Forces to Germany) in 1986.
Though some Soldiers have been through a combat training center like JRTC in the past, for many, this will be the only time in their careers to experience a training event of this scale.
1st Sgt. Christian Byrd, from the 3rd Battalion, 126th Infantry Regiment headquarters company, emphasized the uniqueness of having this kind of opportunity.
“For a lot of these guys, they may never get to experience another training event like this,” Byrd said, “so we encourage them to make the most of it and also try to have a little fun along the way.”
For Capt. David Eischen, commander of Company C (Charlie Med), 132nd Brigade Support Battalion, this training was the closest thing to real-world deployment scenarios many of his troops have had.
“Because we are dealing with both real world and notional situations involving injuries and illnesses, there are more patients to work with as we simulate a large-scale combat operation environment, than what I have seen on multiple deployments,” Eischen said.
Staff Sgt. Jesse Portillo, an intelligence analyst with the brigade’s 1st Squadron, 105th Cavalry Regiment, was surprised to learn about the effort required to bring a brigade to a training event like JRTC.
“Seeing all the different wheels that have to be turning to make this work makes me appreciate all the different [military occupational specialties] and what they do for us,” Portillo said.
“JRTC is an endurance challenge more than anything else,” he added.
From the Soldier’s perspective, Command Sgt. Maj. Aaron Johnson, senior enlisted leader for the 32nd IBCT, said this was the toughest, most realistic training that the Soldiers have ever received.
“The thing I’m most proud of is the attitude they had and how much they learned from being able to do their military job for such a solid stretch of time,” Johnson said. “Now we need to figure out how to best build more of this realistic training into our drill weekends and annual training, considering our limited resources and time.”
Col. Matthew Elder, 32nd IBCT commander, agreed with Johnson about the benefit of having Soldiers train together for a longer period of time.
“When you get these opportunities for a longer time frame of training, you can see the collective progression and growth over time,” Elder said. “Soldiers build trust in one another and their leadership, along with growing their skills in their jobs and their basic Soldier skills.”
Col. Brion Aderman, commander of the rotational support group for this training cycle, said this exercise will change the way the 32nd IBCT trains for decades to come.
“A good majority of the next two to three generations of leadership are right here on the ground and shared this experience,” Aderman explained. “Going forward, those future first sergeants, company commanders, battalion and brigade commanders and command sergeants major, will have this shared training to look back on, they’ll reflect on the lessons learned, and be able to move forward with a common understanding.”
Brig. Gen. Matthew Strub, Wisconsin’s deputy adjutant general for Army, met with many Soldiers and leaders during a visit to the training exercise, which he described as the closest thing to combat Soldiers can experience in a training environment. He said troops at every level would use what they have learned at the JRTC for the rest of their careers.
“You aren’t going to win every fight, but you will learn from every fight and take that knowledge with you into future training and deployments,” Strub said.
Command Sgt. Maj. Curtis Patrouille, senior enlisted leader for the Wisconsin Army National Guard, said the Soldiers participating in JRTC were being challenged at every level.
“Everybody is taking the opportunity to learn and grow in their jobs,” Patrouille said. “Not only are they becoming masters at their own job, they’re asking to learn more.”
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