Transitioning from heavy armor Soldiers to light-fighters has been an interesting challenge for the Soldiers of the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team’s Task Force Maverick. The  unit leaves behind its 60-ton M1A2 Abrams tanks and picks up their rucksacks and moves out smartly. 

Training at Tullahoma Training Center located north of Chattanooga, the Georgia Guardsmen of the 1st Battalion, 108th Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition (RSTA) Squadron, headquartered in Calhoun, focused their efforts during Annual Training on infantry soldiers' skills, such as individual and crew-served weapons training, land navigation, patrolling techniques and urban operations.

"Train them hard, that’s why these Soldiers joined this organization" Col. John King, 48th IBCT Deputy Commander recently told a gathering of the unit Soldiers. As the former battalion commander of the unit during their recent deployment to Iraq, King is very knowledgeable of the capabilities of the units and fully anticipates these Soldiers to be as successful in their new mission requirements.

"Our Soldiers are anxious to learn the new mission, so training the Soldiers hard is what the leaders of the 108th have been doing," said King. Every day, platoon sized units conduct road marches from one training event to another, and each units march back tired but confident in their newly acquired infantry skills.

"These Soldiers are working hard, but they are enjoying what they are doing." said SSG Jeffery Boyles who is serving as a platoon sergeant for Troop C, 1-108th. Boyles, from Hephzibah, said that "this is a great environment for to learn the new requirements for what is expected from us. Our guys are being challenged, but despite the fatigue are having fun."

"They're learning fast," said SPC David Amos from Chatsworth, "and they are willing put out the effort." Amos, a Gordon County Sheriff’s Department deputy, is referring to those Soldiers who had joined the unit after their fellow Guardsmen in the 48th Infantry Brigade had returned from Iraq.

Weapons' training is a key aspect of annual training for each Guardsman. Soldiers at AT are being conducted using a highly sophisticated computer simulation tool named FATS. The Firearms Training Simulation (FATS) is a training resource that allows Soldiers to maintain their weapons skills by using various computer simulation scenarios, from simple range qualification, to actual urban operations for up to a squad size element at a time.

Every Soldier is a rifleman first and foremost, and this complex computer system helps the Soldier qualify with whatever weapon he/she is assigned.

The Soldiers of Task Force Maverick conduct urban operations during their AT. There are five stations that provide various scenarios to focus Soldiers on proper techniques for room clearing, tunnel clearing proper teamwork and movement techniques, which many of them learned during their deployment in Iraq.

"I am very impressed with the realism of the scenarios given us," said King as he observed a squad's attempt to clear a two-story building. King, who was a battalion commander in Iraq, was quick to acknowledge the value of experiencing many different challenges facing Soldiers in an urban environment.

Soldiers worked through each of the five stations each day and were physically spent after working in the heat of the day and quickly moving around each station.

Soldiers of the 48th Brigade are part of an Army-wide transition moving from mechanized infantry and armor to highly mobile, light infantry units. The Soldiers of Task Force Maverick are among hundreds of Georgia Guardsmen who will be remolding the combat capabilities of the Georgia Army National Guard.