Sgt. 1st Class Jeff Froelich
Contributing Writer
Twenty-seven Soldiers from 174th Infantry Brigade at Fort Drum graduated Nov. 17 from the Observer / Controller-Trainer Course.
The brigade is charged with providing training oversight and mobilization training to Army Reserve and National Guard units preparing to deploy to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The purpose of the course is to train O/C-Ts on their duties and responsibilities, current doctrine and tactics, techniques and procedures emerging from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
“Our No. 1 mission is to train National Guard and Reserve units for deployment,” said Sgt. 1st Class William Colon, course noncommissioned officer in charge. “Here, we are training the Soldiers in our brigade the proper way to do just that.”
Soldiers were instructed on rules of engagement and escalation of force principles, counter-improvised explosive device operations, proper facilitation of after-action reviews and lane concept training.
“During the field training portion of the course, we did our best to replicate real scenarios involving ROE and EOF principles so the students could get a good idea how important realistic, theater-based training is for mobilized units,” said Sgt. Chelsea Williams, who served as an opposing force member during ROE / EOF training.
“The instructors were incredibly knowledgeable,” said Sgt. 1st Class David Stewart. “They gave us the one- on-one instruction we needed to prepare us to go out on our own when called on to assist in the mobilization training of any unit.”
In all, graduates received an understanding of what it takes to be an O/C-T and are prepared to coach, teach and mentor deploying units.
(Froelich is a member of 174th Infantry Brigade.)