Land navigation course offers infantrymen first taste of Utah terrain

“No food!  No water!  No services!”  This chorus echoed at every village they visited. While the troop commander conducted a “social” call with the town’s mayor, the platoon leader prepared to distribute food and medical supplies to anxious villagers wearing traditional Afghan garb.

As part of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division’s predeployment training for their upcoming mission to Afghanistan, the 3rd Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment was the first Fort Polk unit to fully take part in a counterinsurgency, or COIN, and combat advising academy led by the Directorate of Cultural Influence and Counterinsurgency from the 162nd Infantry Brigade.

The facility deals with aerosol, paints, petroleum oils and lubricants. Despite a number of possibly hazardous materials on hand at the operations center, DMPBAC and Siegfried Milerski, an electronics technician at the site, earned recognition for full environmental compliance from Fort Polk’s Environment and Natural Resources Management Division Feb. 19. Since Milerski joined Oak Grove, the subcontractor to Raytheon that runs DMPBAC, three years ago, DMPBAC has seen no reportable environmental accidents.

The 7th Chemical Company of the 83rd Chemical Battalion waited in the deepening dusk of Feb. 24 for a platoon of its sister company, the 51st Chemical Company, to drive by. Beyond a turn they had blockaded the road with a fallen tree, and they waited to attack a convoy of six vehicles. For the purpose of the 51st Chem’s external evaluation, they were to play the opposing force at the Digital Multi-Purpose Battle Action Complex in Peason Ridge from Feb. 22-26.

Soldiers of the 5th Battalion, 353rd Infantry Regiment, 162nd Infantry Brigade, are in the business of training combat advisors for deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan. That doesn’t mean they don’t have time to help their fellow Fort Polk personnel.

As our nation commits to preserving freedom through the uncertainty of deployments and conflicts across the world, Americans give us a special gift, embracing Soldiers and their Families with sincere support.

News briefs 3-5

The 52nd Interpreter Translator Company, 162nd Infantry Brigade, has five Soldiers in its ranks that can call themselves new U.S. citizens.

Everyone has a hidden talent or natural skill. Why not turn that skill into a business?

With the arrival of St. Patrick’s Day in March, Guardian staff writers asked members of the
Fort Polk community: “What is your superstition?”
Here are their replies:

As the 2010 Winter Olympic games wind down, Guardian staff writers asked members of the Fort Polk community: “What has been your favorite moment so far?” Here are their replies:

Commanders, command sergeants major and first sergeants from five chemical battalions and 27 companies across the 48th Chemical Brigade gathered at Fort Polk Feb. 17-19 for the first brigade off-site training event of the brigade’s history. Fort Polk’s 83rd Chemical Battalion, one of the brigade’s subordinate commands, hosted the event, which included a brigade run, motor maintenance training, a live-fire exercise at Peason Ridge, hazardous materials response training, networking sessions for the battalion and company leaders and the Chemical Corps’ evolving mission and technology.

Preparing for an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan, Soldiers from 5th Battalion, 25th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, conducted infantry tactics training at Camp Williams, Utah, Feb. 15-16.

The 52nd Interpreter/Translator Company (ITCO) activates March 16 under the administrative control of 1st Battalion, 353rd Infantry Regiment, 162nd Infantry Training Brigade.

The 46th Engineer Battalion, 1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade recently gave their senior leaders a “gut check” during a two-day exercise to test tactical and technical knowledge and offer a reminder that all Soldiers are “shooters first.”

Forty-two Soldiers from the 162nd Infantry Brigade recently deployed to Afghanistan to act as combat advisors to Afghan security forces. In short, they will get to practice what they preach. The 42 Soldiers of Task Force Tiger are the first Soldiers of the 162nd Inf Bde to deploy as a task force in support of combat operations since World War II. These Soldiers will fill a variety of roles as advisors for Afghan Security Forces.

Most of the Soldiers going through combat advisor training at the 162nd Infantry Brigade are from the National Guard and Reserve components of the Army. However, The 4th Battalion, 353rd Infantry Regiment, 162nd Inf Bde, recently put an active-duty Soldier through the rigors of combat advisor training.

It’s hard enough being a Soldier with two good legs.

The 1st Battalion, 353rd Infantry Regiment of the 162nd Infantry Brigade conducted a two-week Army Basic Instructor Course for 12 Soldiers from across the installation –– one of whom was Staff Sgt. Matthew Haller, the NCO Academy ABIC instructor.

A unit designated to train combat advisors to coach, teach and mentor host nation security forces in Afghanistan and Iraq is expanding its training to brigade combat teams.