MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin National Guard's 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team has completed three weeks of training at Camp Blanding Joint Training Center in Florida.
The 3,000 Soldiers now will complete final preparations at local armories before departing for their mobilization station in late February en route to Iraq. This is the largest operational deployment of Wisconsin Guard forces since World War II.
The soldiers were alerted in late 2007 about the possibility of a 2009 mobilization. They spent the last 12-plus months completing individual and collective training during extended weekend training periods at their home armories and a three-week 2008 annual training period at Fort McCoy, Wis.
On top of meeting the pre-mobilization training requirements, the three weeks of additional training at Camp Blanding was planned and designed to sharpen the coordination and planning skills needed in moving an entire brigade and its support units; to provide maximum time in the field, which would be very difficult in Wisconsin's winter climate; and to minimize personal disruptions for Guard soldiers.
Many of them are college students, who otherwise would have lost the opportunity to attend school in the fall semester if the training had been held earlier.
With Florida temperatures dipping into the 20s with drizzling rain and fog, the Wisconsin soldiers didn't get the warmth and sunshine they hoped for, but temperatures still topped the sub-zero readings in the Badger State while they were away.
They also gained access to additional training from seasoned combat veterans and use of the latest technology to prepare infantry units for the battlefield — the Exportable Combat Training Capability (XCTC).
The XCTC provides a realistic field training exercise, complete with role-players and scenarios. Soldiers wear GPS-enabled gear that allows leaders to see what's going on in the battlefield as it is happening.
Training is tracked using a communication system that includes computers, towers, monitoring systems, satellites, and other equipment.
Enhanced three-dimensional video surveillance technology tracks all training and movement, and allows everyone involved in the training to review each exercise, evaluate and measure the training, and recommend improvements.
XCTC technology and scenarios are constantly updated, using lessons from previous exercises and information gained from other soldiers returning from combat.
Most training was led and critiqued by seasoned combat veterans drawn from other units. Because of previous deployments, about half of the 32nd Brigade is made up of combat veterans.
To allow the brigade to focus on training, Wisconsin's 157th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade (MEB) took charge of support services and weapons ranges.
About 800 Wisconsin Guard members from the 157th MEB, 64th Troop Command and Joint Force Headquarters-Wisconsin provided all logistics, transportation, administration, range operations and many other support services.
More than 300 additional Guard members from Iowa, Illinois, Washington, Michigan, Ohio, Puerto Rico, Arkansas, Georgia and Florida also supported the brigade's training.
The 32nd Brigade will mobilize units from 36 Wisconsin communities. Units from 12 additional Wisconsin communities will augment the brigade's strength.
Two additional Wisconsin units from the 257th Brigade Support Battalion — Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, from Oak Creek, and Company A, from Whitewater — have joined the 32nd since the initial mobilization order was received in September.
The soldiers will report to Fort Bliss, Texas in late February for about two months of mission-specific training before they deploy overseas. The mobilization is expected to last one year, including the time at Fort Bliss. The soldiers will spend about 10 months performing a wide variety of security missions in Iraq.
The governor of Wisconsin, members of Congress, Wisconsin legislators and community leaders will join senior Guard officials in a statewide send-off ceremony for the troops on Feb. 17 here at the Alliant Energy Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Wisconsin Guard has set up remote viewing sites in Sussex, Wausau, Eau Claire, Stevens Point, Green Bay, Onalaska and Fond du Lac for deploying soldiers' extended families, friends and community members. Units are also hosting local community send-off ceremonies.
After the event, soldiers will return to their armories for a few days and report to Fort Bliss in groups of 400-600 soldiers over the following 10 days. All soldiers are expected to be in Texas by March 1.