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Georgia Army National Guard officials visited Fort Benning in Columbus, Monday, March 3, to watch specialized training being conducted by Georgia Guardsmen and visit with soldiers deployed to the active duty post in response to Operation 

Brig. General Terry Nesbitt, who commands the Army Guard, Command Sgt. Maj. James Dennis, the state command sergeant major, and representatives of the Guard’s Recruiting and Retention, Strength Management and Mobilization and Planning offices spent the day asking questions of commanders and enlisted troops regarding their living and working conditions and morale.

First stop on the group’s agenda was Ranger training being conducted by the Long Range Surveillance Unit (LRSU) at Benning’s Camp Rodgers. Soldiers of the LRSU are attached to the Army Guard’s 221st Military Intelligence Battalion and will be the battalion’s eyes and ears in an action the unit may see.

Company H and the 221st, both stationed at Fort Gillem in Ellenwood, have been at Fort Stewart since the end of February, and have spent nearly every waking hour for the past two weeks "training up" for future missions.

"We inserted in the backwoods of Camp Rodgers by helicopter Sunday night (March 4), set out a cache of rations and equipment for the training we’ll be doing for the next week, and then ‘humped’ back to the camp," said Capt. Matthew Smith, who commands Company H. "As the week wears on we’ll be running a variety of missions, with help from the Ranger cadre here, that emulate the type we may be asked to conduct during our deployment with the 221st."

After meeting with the LRSU troops, Nesbitt and his group moved on to Benning’s Combat Readiness Center (CRC) where soldiers undergo the Solider Readiness Process program to make sure their records and personal affairs are in order.

Nesbitt, Dennis and several others of the group said they were quite impressed with the way the center’s personnel were handling SRP issues and moving troops as quickly and efficiently as they were through the CRC.

Leaving the center, officials traveled a short distance across the post to visit soldiers of Thomaston’s 1148th Transportation Company and the 277th Maintenance Company from Kennesaw.

Nesbitt and his entourage met with the commanders of both unit’s and talked with troops who were involved in sharpening their individual soldier skills or moving equipment to collection points at Benning’s airfield for shipment to undisclosed locations.

"Know that your fellow Guardsmen and the citizens of Georgia are proud of you, and that their best wishes for a successful deployment and a safe return home go with you wherever you may be sent," Nesbitt told a formation of soldiers with the 1148th before leaving post for the helicopter flight back to Atlanta.

Dennis echoed Nesbitt’s sentiments with his own, saying, "Know that as you continue on the path set before you that we are here to support you and that the hand of support and friendship are extended to your love ones while you are away.

"We’re doing all we can to help them while you help the cause of freedom."

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