Vt. Guard trains at Fort Drum

FORT DRUM, N.Y. – Hundreds of soldiers in the Vermont National Guard traveled to Fort Drum in New York this week to participate in annual training with units from other states.

The six-day joint exercise, formally called Multi-Echelon Inegrated Brigade Training, began June 21 and concludes Friday. The 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain) is based in Vermont and includes units from New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan and Colorado.

About 2,000 active-duty and reserve personnel participated in the exercise.

Soldiers used the training to practice military strategies and to hone skills on a variety of weapons systems on the large base in upstate New York. Fort Drum occupies 108,000 acres of rugged, mountainous terrain, which Guard officers said offered a challenge to troops.

"The harder the training, the better off soldiers are," said Vermont Guard Brig. Gen. Mike Heston, the deputy adjutant general.

The head of the Vermont Guard, Maj. Gen. Steven Cray, the adjutant general, brought a group of state legislators and journalists to Fort Drum on Thursday spend a day learning about the training.

The legislators were Sen. Joe Benning and Reps. Job Tate, Maxine Grad, Larry Cupoli, Mitzi Johnson and George Till. Guard crews whisked the group in a convoy of Black Hawk helicopters from South Burlington to Fort Drum.

Legislators toured gun ranges, command posts and medical facilities spread out across the military installation. Soldiers practiced on .40- and .50-caliber turret guns at a range. Nearby, artillery units from Vergennes and Waterbury drilled on 105 mm Howitzers. At another site, maintenance crews practiced recovering damaged vehicles from the field.

For the exercise, soldiers simulated being "in theater" — deployed in a combat zone. Guard members slept in tents, kept watch over positions and relied solely on supplies brought in by their units.

The purpose of the drills, Cray said, was to prepare the Guard to serve the federal government should the need arise. The Vermont Guard most recently deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 and has sent soldiers and airmen to Iraq, Kuwait and other countries.

Cray said weeklong trainings offer troops a more imersive experience than weekend sessions.

"Seventy-five percent of our soldiers have outside jobs, so they don't get to train every day," Cray said. "It's important that we use these one- or two-week training periods to get these kinds of skills together."

Cray said the Vermont Guard brought soldiers and heavy equipment through the winding roads of the Adirondacks to reach Fort Drum. The Guard brought Howitzers, Humvees and supply vehicles.

"If you're going to come here to the field for a week, you want as much equipment as possible to be here to train on," Cray said.

Fort Drum, located on the western side of the Adirondack Park, is home to the U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division. Rough terrain makes transportation and navigation difficult. Many of the roads within Fort Drum are unmarked, so units rely on paper maps. Heavy rain earlier in the week rendered many unpaved roads impassable.

Sgt. Matt Murphy, a Norwich University graduate who lives in Maine, said long field exercises offer troops a higher level of training than regular sessions.

"It's difficult to maintain proficiency when you're only doing it two days a month," Murphy said. "Events like this reinforce and hone skills."

Lt. Emmanuel Nyarko, who attended Norwich University after serving in the Marine Corps, said training helps units maintain cohesion and preparedness.

"It keeps are combat readiness in tip top shape, so we are ready to answer the government's call at any time," Nyarko said.

Gen. Mark Lovejoy, who has served in the Vermont Guard since 1976, said even though the Fort Drum exercises were primarily about combat readiness, all Vermonters benefit from extra Guard training.

"We use all these skills when there is an Irene," Lovejoy said, referring to the 2011 tropical storm that heavily damaged parts of Vermont.

Legislators, who trudged through wilderness and rutted roads much of the day, said the experience awed them.

"It was an honor and privilege to see the Vermont Guard men and women in training and understand the dedication, courage and enthusiasm for serving our state and nation," said Rep. Maxine Grad, D-Moretown.

Rep. Job Tate, R-Rutland, said he observed that Vermont Guard members are motivated and proud of their work.

"If I'm ever in a tight spot," he said, "I hope there's a member of the Vermont National Guard close by."

Contact Zach Despart at 651-4826 or zdespart@burlingtonfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ZachDespart.