Texas Army National Guard Soldiers share best practiced with Ugandan counterparts
By Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Malcolm McClendon
Task Force Raptor, 3rd Squadron, 124th Cavalry Regiment
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Michael Barker, Task Force Raptor, 3rd Squadron, 124th Cavalry Regiment, Texas Army National Guard, shares his best practices with Uganda Peoples Defense Force soldiers regarding squad movements at a basic soldier skills exchange June 7, 2012. The Texas National Guard Soldiers conducted various military-to-military training sessions in support of Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa, whose mission is to build partnerships with nations in East Africa. (Courtesy photo)
download hi-res photoSINGO, Uganda (7/26/12) - Soldiers from the Texas Army National Guard’s Task Force Raptor, 3rd Squadron, 124th Cavalry Regiment, exchanged best practices with their Uganda Peoples Defense Force counterparts during two seminars between May 18 and June 30.
Army Capt. Bradley Grimm, Staff Sgt. Jason Smith, Sgt. Enrique Icedo, and Sgt. Andrew James, were invited to participate in a Raven operational skills exchange with Ugandan airmen and soldiers.
“We shared best practices on how to operate the Raven small unmanned aircraft system,” said Grimm, the intelligence officer for the squadron. “I shared my specific experience with the system, which is to take the images it provides, analyze them, and then provide the commander with a detailed report.”
According to James, the physics that go into launching the system up into the air is a whole other set of instructions.
“Launching the aircraft has nothing to do with how strong you are; it has more to do with form,” James said. “We practiced with large tree branches at first, so we could get our form down, eventually moving on to the actual Raven. It was good practice, and at the end we all became better at it and had more successful launches.”
In a separate training area, U.S. Army 1st Lt. James Welton, Staff Sgt. Michael Barker, Spc. Trinidad Gamez, Spc. Christopher Saltmarsh, Spc. Jonathan Becmer, Spc. Shawn Quinn, and Spc. Aaron Roberts, all from the 3rd Sqn., 124th Cav. Reg., helped UPDF instructors mentor their own soldiers with basic soldier skills.
“We shared our best practices on close-quarters battle, marksmanship skills, counter IED patrols, and basic combat casualty care,” Barker said. “It was a good experience to team up with the UPDF instructors and share these skills. I could tell the Ugandan soldiers were soaking up everything, because of how much they improved from day one.”
Barker appreciated the display of motivation and gratitude the Ugandan soldiers had for their mentors at the end of each successful training event.
“Every time they did well, they would sing a song for us,” Barker said. “I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but the enthusiasm these soldiers had for the training and its successes could be felt.”
At the end of the month-long exchange, the Texas National Guard members helped mentor over 200 UPDF soldiers and airmen. The Guard members are deployed to east Africa in support of Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa, whose mission is to promote stability and security throughout the region.
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