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MACON, Ga. – The Georgia Army National Guard deployed Soldiers to
Central America for the first nine months of 2014 to build regional
partners' military capacity in order to enhance the host nations'
capability to combat transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) and
drug trafficking organizations (DTOs). Regional partner military
forces were trained on best practices concerning border control
operations, command post operations, intelligence support operations
and brigade sustainment operations.
“The Georgia National
Guard's 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (IBCT) is well-suited to
promote partnership between U.S. Southern Command, Army South, and
the government of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras,” said Lt.
Col. Matt Smith, 48th IBCT deputy commander. “We believe Guard
Soldiers are uniquely qualified to partner with other nations due to
the extensive civilian skill sets and experiences they bring to the
process in addition to their military training.”
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Georgia Guardsmen with the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team
instruct policemen and Soldiers with the Guatemalan Interagency Task
Force on military operations in urban terrain in Zacapa, Guatemala,
in July of 2014 as part of the U.S. Department of Defense's
regionally aligned forces initiative. The Georgia Army National
Guard deployed Soldiers to Central America for the first nine months
of 2014 to build regional partners' military capacity in order to
enhance the host nations' capability to combat transnational
criminal organizations (TCOs) and drug trafficking organizations
(DTOs). Regional partner military forces were trained on best
practices concerning border control operations, command post
operations, intelligence support operations and brigade sustainment
operations. (Georgia Army National Guard photo by Maj. Will Cox)
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The Georgia's 48th IBCT was the first National Guard IBCT
to execute missions under the regionally aligned forces
program in an effort to forge strong regional partnerships
across the Americas. The training was so successful in
Guatemala that the governments of Guatemala and the United
States funded an additional 75 days for the Georgia National
Guard lead Task Force (TF) Warrior to better train the
Guatemalan Inter-Agency Task Force (GIATF) composed of both
Guatemalan police and military servicemen designed
specifically to combat drug trafficking organizations
operating inside of Guatemala.
“TF Warrior is not
only training the GIATF in vehicle and personnel search
techniques, but we are training them also in crime scene
investigation and evidence processing procedures,” said Lt.
Col. Anthony Fournier, 2-121 Infantry Regiment's battalion
commander and TF Warrior commander. “TF Warrior is not just
composed of the National Guard, it also includes the men and
women of the U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Border Patrol,
U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and local Guatemalan agencies
to help provide the best training possible.”
Regionally aligned forces are prepared to support combatant
commands like SOUTHCOM with mission-ready forces and
capabilities. Regionally aligned forces also receive
cultural, regional and language focused training. Forces can
be drawn from the Army, Army National Guard, Army Reserve
and Department of the Army civilians, in order to operate
within the current Army budget.
“We were there to
train the Honduran Military on Combat Life Saving
techniques; the 13 basic combative maneuvers (in case
someone resists arrest); and conduct weapons training from
the four basics of marksmanship (breathing, body position,
site picture and trigger control) all the way through a
live-fire shoot-house event,” said Capt. Jacob Stimson,
company commander for Alpha Company, 1-121 IN.
To
accomplish the RAF missions, Georgia Guardsmen were chosen
with local law enforcement experience in addition to their
military training to best train our regional partners'
military forces to combat DTOs and TCOs. Bravo Company,
2-121 Infantry Regiment, headquartered out of Newnan, Ga.,
was one of the units that went to Guatemala.
“As an
employee of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (in
Glynco, Ga.), I get to conduct advanced training for
agencies such as the U.S. Marshals, Secret Service and
Customs and Border Protection,” said 1st Sgt. Timothy
Sperry, senior enlisted advisor to Bravo Company, 2-121
Infantry Regiment and TF Warrior Sgt. Maj. “My 26 years of
military experience, combined with 16 years of law
enforcement experience as a police officer and defensive
tactics and arrest techniques instructor, gives me a breadth
of experience to pull from and relate to both the military
members and police agents.”
Georgia National Guard
members represent the nation's demographics and are the face
of the military in their local community. Eighty five
percent of the National Guard serves part time in the
military while working and living full time in almost every
community around the state.
“Our partner nations gain
from our Guardsmen's military and civilian experiences,
while our Guardsmen sustain their expeditionary mindset and
broaden their professional experiences,” said Smith.
By U.S. Army Maj. Will Cox
Georgia National Guard
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2014
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