Every National Guard Soldier is required to do a two-week annual training with their unit. This annual training is typically during the summer months and gathers the unit together to accomplish yearly requirements for the individual Soldier.
For the 34th Combat Aviation Brigade, their annual training came much earlier this year because the Soldiers of the 34th CAB are facing a deployment to Iraq in less than eight weeks. During the month of April, units within the brigade conducted annual training at Camp Ripley, Minn.
Weapons qualification, as well as medical and personnel paperwork are just a few of many tasks that the units must have completed prior to the mobilization date in late May. However, the Soldiers who are a part of this brigade are taking part in something new for the Minnesota National Guard. Concentrated training will help shorten the time they will spend at their pre-mobilization site, Ft. Sill, Okalahoma.
According to Capt. Jason Hearn, the PTAE Current Operations Officer at Camp Ripley, "the purpose of the PTAE (Pre-mobilization Training Assistor, and Evaluator) is to conduct all pre-mobilization tasks at home station maximizing time spent with family and civilian employers and minimizing time spent at post-mob training. Doing this training at Camp Ripley reduces the time at Ft. Sill, Okla. by 3 mos."
The training is also much more realistic as it groups related tasks together rather than training each task seperately.
This new approach to training will give the Soldier more time with their family, friends and employers before having to leave for a tour of duty which could take them away for more than a year.
By Sgt. Lynette Hoke, 34th Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs
April 18, 2008
