48th Brigade and STARC Annual Training Underway

It's dress rehearsal leading to the big event for the 4,000 men and women of the 48th Infantry Brigade currently undergoing annual training at Fort Stewart near Savannah. Over the next two weeks, Georgia's enhanced brigade will be preparing to meet the enemy at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., in 2005.

In the two year roadmap leading to the NTC, the 48th will make a stopover at Fort Riley, Kan., in 2004 to further hone its combat skills.

Besides the usual elements of the Georgia Guard providing support to the 48th, there also are selected Army National Guard and Army Reserve units from other states that make up a Multi-State Task Force here to provide assistance.

"This is an important time for the brigade," said Brig. Gen. Terry Nesbitt, the Georgia Army Guard commander. "What makes it so important is that the 48th will replace an active Army brigade while the Army brigade ‘stands down’ and goes through transformation" into a lighter, more mobile force.

"Only a few guard units have been selected for this important mission," Nesbitt said. "The 48th was among those chosen because of its reputation for excellence."

That means all eyes will be on the brigade to see how well it will do, now and during the next two years, he added.

Throughout the weekend, soldiers from 27 armories across the state moved into barracks, unpacked their gear, and got themselves ready to face an intense two weeks of field training, come rain or shine.

Specialist Troy Sawyers, a medic with Calhoun’s Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 108th Armor, is one of the 48th Brigade’s estimated 1,200 soldiers here for AT 2003. Sawyers, a sales associate from Dalton, said he has looked forward to his two weeks here.

"This has been really good training," Sawyers said, while checking his equipment for the third time. "We’ve had quite a bit to do and much more to accomplish before training ends."

Fellow medic Spc. Jeremy Combs of Ellijay, also with Headquarters Company, added that while the training has been good, it’s also been hard.

"There’s a lot we must do to get ourselves ready for the NTC, and that requires an extra effort on everyone’s part to make sure every task is accomplished," he said. "Hard work, however, never hurt anyone."

Brig. Gen. Robley S. Rigdon, the 48th’s commander, said that elements of the brigade will spend 10 consecutive days in the field. Included among them are soldiers from the 121st Infantry, 108th Armor and 148th Heavy Support Battalion.

First Battalion, 121st Infantry has units in Winder, Lawrenceville, Thomaston, and Gainesville. Elements of the 121st’s second battalion are at Albany, Tifton, Valdosta, Cordele, Fitzgerald and Americus. The 108th Armor has soldiers at Calhoun, Rome, Dalton and Douglasville.

The 148th Forward Support Battalion has elements at Forsyth, Dublin, Hinesville and Macon.

Rigdon said that brigade leaders will focus on taking the soldiering skills of the individual guardsman and incorporating them into training at the platoon level, or the larger company level. Combat arms units, such as the infantry and armor, will concentrate on small-unit training, while the support and service units will focus on training as larger units, Rigdon explained.

"There are going to be long days and plenty of hard work between now and June 14 when our citizen-soldiers return to their home stations," he said. "But I’m confident the 48th Brigade will demonstrate the professionalism and dedication for which it’s known."

While a successful annual training may be measured by how well units perform the tasks they are given, it’s also gauged by the how safely the soldiers complete their assigned missions, Rigdon said.

"Safety, as always, is paramount," he said. "We want Annual Training 2003 to be a success but we also want our soldiers to be healthy and injury free.

"Every unit commander within the 48th, every NCO from the most senior to the most junior understands the importance safety plays in the accomplishing the mission," Rigdon added. "I know they will see to it that their soldiers have a great AT and return to their families safe and sound."

Between now and its rotation to the NTC, the 48th will travel in 2004 to Fort Riley, Kan., and where it will continue sharpening its combat skills.

Riley, known as America’s warfighting center, is near Manhattan, Kan. With 100,656 acres, it will offer the 48th an excellent location in which to hone its combat capabilities.

When the 48th Brigade does arrive to Fort Irwin, it will come up against one of the best opposition forces the Army has. During two weeks of force-on-force combat against this highly trained unit, elements of the 48th will "shoot and move" through the hills and mountains of the Mojave Desert in hopes of soundly beating the active Army force at its own game. The advantage, however, goes to the opposing force, since Irwin is its home ground.