2009/01/30:32nd Brigade completes Florida training prepares to depart in late February

MADISON, Wis. – The Wisconsin National Guard’s 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team has completed three weeks of training at Camp Blanding Joint Training Center in Florida. More than 3,000 soldiers now will complete final preparations at local armories before departing for their mobilization station in late February, en route to Iraq. This is the largest operational deployment of Wisconsin Guard forces since World War II.

The soldiers were alerted in late 2007 about the possibility of a 2009 mobilization. They spent the last 12-plus months completing individual and collective training during extended weekend training periods at their home armories and a three week 2008 annual training period at Fort McCoy, Wis.

On top of meeting the pre-mobilization training requirements, the three weeks of additional training at Camp Blanding was planned and designed to sharpen the coordination and planning skills needed in moving an entire brigade and its support units; to provide maximum time in the field, which would be very difficult in Wisconsin’s winter climate; and to minimize personal disruptions for Guard soldiers, many of them college students who otherwise would have lost the opportunity to attend school in the fall semester if the training had been held earlier.

With Florida temperatures dipping into the 20s with drizzling rain and fog, the Wisconsin soldiers didn’t get the warmth and sunshine they hoped for, but temperatures still topped the sub-zero readings in the Badger State while they were away.

They also gained access to additional training from seasoned combat veterans and use of the latest technology to prepare infantry units for the battlefield — the Exportable Combat Training Capability (XCTC). The XCTC provides a realistic field training exercise, complete with role-players and scenarios. Soldiers wear GPS-enabled gear that allows leaders to see what’s going on in the battlefield as it is happening. Training is tracked using a communication system that includes computers, towers, monitoring systems, satellites, and other equipment.

Enhanced three-dimensional video surveillance technology tracks all training and movement, and allows everyone involved in the training to review each exercise, evaluate and measure the training, and recommend improvements. 
XCTC technology and scenarios are constantly updated, using lessons from previous exercises and information gained from other soldiers returning from combat.

Most training was led and critiqued by seasoned combat veterans drawn from other units. Because of previous deployments, about 50 percent of the 32nd Brigade is made up of combat veterans.

To allow the brigade to focus on training, Wisconsin’s 157th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade (MEB) took charge of support services and weapons ranges. Approximately 800 Wisconsin Guard members from the 157th MEB, 64th Troop Command and Joint Force Headquarters-Wisconsin provided all logistics, transportation, administration, range operations and many other support services. More than 300 additional Guard members from Iowa, Illinois, Washington, Michigan, Ohio, Puerto Rico, Arkansas, Georgia and Florida also supported the brigade’s training.

The 32nd Brigade will mobilize units from 36 Wisconsin communities. Units from 12 additional Wisconsin communities will augment the brigade’s strength. Two additional Wisconsin units from the 257th Brigade Support Battalion — Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, from Oak Creek, and Company A, from Whitewater — have joined the 32nd since the initial mobilization order was received in September.

The soldiers will report to Fort Bliss, Texas, in late February for about two months of mission-specific training before they deploy overseas. The mobilization is expected to last one year, including the time at Fort Bliss. The soldiers will spend about ten months performing a wide variety of security missions in Iraq.

The governor of Wisconsin, members of Congress, Wisconsin legislators and community leaders will join senior Guard officials in a statewide send-off ceremony for the troops at the Alliant Energy Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Madison. Due to limited capacity, attendance is by invitation only, but all of Wisconsin can watch this event on Wisconsin Public Television live beginning at about noon on Feb. 17. The Wisconsin Guard has also set up remote viewing sites in Sussex, Wausau, Eau Claire, Stevens Point, Green Bay, Onalaska and Fond du Lac for deploying soldiers’ extended families, friends and community members. Units are also hosting local community send-off ceremonies.

After the Feb. 17 event, soldiers will return to their armories for a few days and report to Fort Bliss in elements of 400-600 soldiers over the following ten days. All soldiers are expected to be in Texas by March 1st.

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Mobilizing 32nd Brigade Combat Team and augmenting units

The 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team includes units in 36 Wisconsin communities:

Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team — Camp Douglas

1st Squadron, 105th Cavalry (Reconnaissance, Surveillance, Target Acquisition)

Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 105th Cavalry — Madison

Troop A, 1st Squadron, 105th Cavalry — Fort Atkinson

Troop B, 1st Squadron, 105th Cavalry — Watertown

Troop C, 1st Squadron, 105th Cavalry — Reedsburg

2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry

Headquarters and Headquarters Company (-), 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry — Appleton

Detachment 1, Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry — Clintonville

Company A (-), 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry — Waupun

Detachment 1, Company A, 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry — Ripon

Company B, 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry — Green Bay

Company C, 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry — Fond du Lac

Company D, 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry — Marinette

1st Battalion, 128th Infantry

Headquarters and Headquarters Company (-), 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry — Eau Claire

Detachment 1, Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry — Abbotsford

Company A, 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry — Menomonie

Company B, 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry (-) — New Richmond

Detachment 1, Company B, 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry — Rice Lake

Company C (-), 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry — Arcadia

Detachment 1, Company C, 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry — Onalaska

Company D, 1st Battalion, 128th Infantry — River Falls

1st Battalion, 120th Field Artillery

Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 120th Field Artillery — Wisconsin Rapids

Battery A, 1st Battalion, 120th Field Artillery — Marshfield

Battery B, 1st Battalion, 120th Field Artillery — Stevens Point 

32nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion

Headquarters and Headquarters Company (-), 32nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion — Wausau

Detachment 1, Headquarters Company, 32nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion — Merrill

Company A (Engineer), 32nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion — Onalaska

Company B (Military Intelligence), 32nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion — Madison

Company C (Signal), 32nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion — Antigo

132nd Brigade Support Battalion

Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 132nd Brigade Support Battalion — Portage

Company A (-) (Distribution), 132nd Brigade Support Battalion — Janesville

Detachment 1, Company A, 132nd Brigade Support Battalion — Elkhorn

Company B (Maintenance), 132nd Brigade Support Battalion — Mauston

Company C (Medical), 132nd Brigade Support Battalion — Milwaukee

Company D (-) (Forward Support), 132nd Brigade Support Battalion — Baraboo

Detachment 1, Company D, 132nd Brigade Support Battalion — Madison

Company E (-) (Forward Support), 132nd Brigade Support Battalion — Waupaca

Detachment 1, Company E, 132nd Brigade Support Battalion — Appleton

Company F (-) (Forward Support), 132nd Brigade Support Battalion — Neillsville

Detachment 1, Company F, 132nd Brigade Support Battalion — Eau Claire

Company G (-) (Forward Support), 132nd Brigade Support Battalion — Mosinee

Detachment 1, Company G, 132nd Brigade Support Battalion — Wisconsin Rapids

Additional units to augment the 32nd are based in 12 Wisconsin communities.

257th Brigade Support Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 257th Brigade Support Battalion — Oak Creek

Company A, 257th Brigade Support Battalion — Whitewater

Company B (Support Maintenance), 257th Brigade Support Battalion — Kenosha

108th Forward Support Company — Sussex

32nd Military Police Company (-) — Milwaukee

Detachment 1, 32nd Military Police Company — Oconomowoc

829th Engineer Company (-) (Vertical) — Chippewa Falls

Detachment 1, 829th Engineer Company — Richland Center

Detachment 2, 829th Engineer Company — Ashland

1158th Transportation Company (-) — Beloit

Detachment 1, 1158th Transportation Company — Black River Falls

Battery A, 1st Battalion, 121st Field Artillery — Racine