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Joint Reserve UK military leaders take to ASA force generation

  • Published
  • By David Moore
  • Army Support Activity-Dix Public Affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST --  United Kingdom reserve military leaders visited Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst to see the progress of Army Support Activity-Dix's transformation from a strategic reserve to an operational force June 2.

This visit comes as the British counterparts undergo a similar mission transformation.

All military forces of Britain are undergoing a Defence and Security Review that is comparable to the United States' Quadrennial Defense Review. This review will set a long-term course for military strategies, capabilities and forces to address present, future threats and conflicts.

"The military plan sets our way forward for the next five to 15 years," said U.K. Capt. Mike Oldham, assistant director for Reserve Forces, Navy.

The U.K.'s army and navy reserve forces were briefed on the U.S. Army's Force Generation five-year plan for Reserve forces. The brief was part of the visit by the Office of Assistant Secretary of Defense Reserve Affairs led by Richard O. Wightman Jr., deputy assistant secretary for Reserve Affairs for Material and Facilities.

"Here at JB MDL, we have the capability of taking an organization through all five levels of ARFORGEN model," said Col. Patrick Slowey, Army Support Activity-Dix commander.

American Reserve personnel returning from a deployment will spend the first year conducting individual training tasks, such as attending officer or noncommissioned officer educations programs, securing specialty job skills training and building the force. The training escalates each year. On year five, Army Reserve and National Guard personnel will take part in a major rehearsal exercise before a deployment.

ASA-Dix personnel are no longer just training and mobilizing Army Reserve and National Guard forces. They, along with 72nd Field Artillery Brigade trainers, are training and deploying Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard personnel for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Slowey said.

ASA's Regional Training Center-East Commander, Lt. Col. John Hamlette III, provided details on the 21-day training model used by the Army Reserve training organization in the pre-mobilization phase of training for Soldiers. RTC-East personnel do some collective training, along with individual tasks like weapons training, as they prepare Soldiers for the post-mobilization phase before a unit deploys overseas.

The ASA-Dix mission site tour, which included an Intermediate Level Education and Noncommissioned Officer training facilities visit, was filled with demonstrations by trainers and mobilizing Soldiers that focused on the AFORGEN model.

At the 72nd FA Brigade's Humvee Egress Assistance Trainer site, British defense leaders were treated to a training scenario of what Soldiers are trained to do in the event of a vehicle rollover and still survive on the battlefield. Reserve Soldiers, using Operation Warrior Trainer, practice unloading from the simulated rolled-over Humvee to secure fighting positions.

"Our OWT Soldiers contribute the freshest tactics, techniques and procedures and valuable experience to the training lanes," said Lt. Col. Peter Mucciarone, 1st Training Support Battalion, 309th Regiment commander. "We have mobilized Reservists, almost all of whom have combat experience."

"The OWTs and mobilized Reservists augment our active component Soldiers, so we have a wide range of knowledge to share with the deploying servicemembers," he added.

British and U.S. defense leaders also visited the New Jersey National Guard's Joint Training and Training Development Center. Training areas inside the 128,000 square-foot-facility evolved from fashion training into a virtual theater of war at the simulations heavy training center, during its most recent modernization plan.

"What I see here is an ingenious approach to training," said Maj. Gen. Greg Smith, U.K. Defence Staff for Reserves and Cadets assistant chief. "There are some ideas that may change the way we train."

The tour ended at the ASA-Dix Mobile Military Operations in an Urban Terrain, where Soldiers of the U.S. Army Reserves 358th Medical Detachment, of Tuskeegee, Ala., trained to eradicate an insurgent from a building.