More than 500 attend 'Hotwash' to help
48th eSIB, Task Force Oglethorpe prepare for NTC

More than 500 Army Guardsmen from across the country came to Atlanta in September to hear lessons learned from North Carolina's 30th Infantry Brigade and their recent experience at the National Training Center (NTC). The event was hosted by the Georgia Guard in an effort to learn as much as possible about the NTC rotation in preparation for the 48th Brigade's training in the California desert in 2005.

Nearly 20 states were represented at the weekend-long "hotwash" including members of Washington's 81st Infantry Brigade, which will train at the NTC next summer. 

"The conference was valuable because it gave us a chance to 'pick the brains' of the 30th eSIB and the North Carolina STARC to learn what went right and what went wrong," said Lt. Col. Jerome Thomas, who is project officer for Task Force Oglethorpe, which will support the 2005 rotation. "We'll be much better prepared for our turn in 2005, and better prepared for the mission rehearsal exercise at Fort Riley next summer."