National Guard Soldiers hone combat skills

Published June 4, 2015
By New York National Guard

JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- More than 3,500 New York Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to the 53rd Troop Command will conduct two-week annual training events this summer at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey.

The two-week annual training period allows National Guard units to conduct training that requires more time, space and equipment than training which can be conducted at armories across the state during a typical two-day weekend drill period.

Soldiers from the command's 204th Engineer Battalion, headquartered in Binghamton, New York, will have units training at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. The engineers will exercise combat engineer operations and conduct weapons qualifications on the base's extensive ranges. Their training began May 31 and runs through mid-June.

The 53rd Troop Command, headquartered at Camp Smith Training Site near Peekskill, is comprised of combat support units, which include military police, engineers, transportation companies, signal corps units and other logistics support elements. It has elements across New York.

National Guard units from throughout the tri-state area frequently come to the joint base for training and exercises. With capabilities like 26,000 acres of ranges, the Joint Training and Training Development Center, the Air Advisor Academy and the Air Force Expeditionary Center, the joint base serves as a training hub for the Northeast.

"JB MDL's central New Jersey location provides superb regional options for operations," said Steven Robertson, 87th Civil Engineer Squadron readiness and emergency management chief. "This, coupled with a unique and extensive portfolio of highly capable mission and skill sets from across the entire installation, enables MDL to support a wide range of events in our region."

The Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst Public Affairs Office has made edit to this article.