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 Georgia Guard troops train for historic Afghan mission By Army Capt. Marvin J. Baker
                120th Infantry Brigade, Division West
 FORT HOOD, Texas - A Georgia Army National Guard unit will play a
significant role in the expected reduction of United States forces in
Afghanistan. The 648th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade headquarters staff will have a
three-fold mission: management of the Kabul Base Cluster, route security to
and from camps, and civil affairs in the areas where coalition forces work
and live. Before they will deploy to Afghanistan, the Georgia Soldiers wrapped up
nearly 30 days of post-mobilization training at Fort Hood earlier this month
with Division West's 120th Infantry Brigade. During the 648th MEB's culminating training event, to ensure the Guard
Soldiers are adequately prepared to deploy, the 120th Infantry Brigade tested
every staff section with events replicating those the Soldiers may face
during their upcoming nine-month deployment. "As we developed the plan to train the 648th MEB nearly a year ago, we talked
to and looked at the functions of every staff section, considered the
top 10 issues they may face, then made sure the 648th MEB commander's
training objectives went into developing the final training exercise," said
Army Col. Gary Brito, 120th Infantry Brigade commander. The 648th MEB's robust staff includes judge advocate general, civil-military
affairs, information operations and directorate of public works sections.
The sections will work together to meet the unit's overall top three missions
in Afghanistan. "We have nearly 67 different military specialties and branches in this
headquarters," said Army Col. Andy Hall, 648th MEB commander. "We have a
large
contracting section, attorneys and engineers we brought on our team that we
will use to start and oversee the construction and improvements to living
conditions at the nine camps in the Kabul Base Cluster." While the unit will manage nearly a billion dollars in military construction
and local government projects - also known as commander's emergency response
program projects - in Afghanistan, the 648th MEB's primary mission is base
infrastructure, maintenance and safety for its nearly 10,000 customers, Hall
said. Helping to meet this challenge are many Georgia Army National Guard Soldiers
with relevant civilian- or military-acquired skills. Hall said one
of his goals was to take advantage of the diversity in skill and thought
while preparing the unit to deploy. As the United States plans to reduce its military footprint in Afghanistan,
the 648th MEB will face challenges that come with fulfilling base space
requirements while also helping to responsibly hand over U.S.-controlled
camps to Afghan forces. During the unit's deployment, the United States
plans to withdraw some 30,000 service members from Afghanistan. As of last
fall, nearly 100,000 service members were in Afghanistan, according to the
Department of Defense. "We will tie in closely to the base-closure planning in Afghanistan," Hall
said. "We may be asked to develop plans to help decide which camps may close
and when and where those service members will live as they complete their
tour of duty." While the drawdown guides the 648th MEB mission toward closing bases, it also
focuses the mission toward opening facilities for the people of
Afghanistan. Soon after the Georgia Soldiers arrive in Afghanistan, they will
take control of several CERP projects, starting with an orphanage and a
school, from the Massachusetts Army National Guard's 26th MEB. "One of the first things I will do when we arrive in Afghanistan is conduct a
ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the school built by the 26th MEB," Hall
said. The 26th MEB sent the deputy director of its engineering section from
Afghanistan to Fort Hood to advise and mentor the 648th MEB's DPW section
during the Georgia unit's week-long culminating training event. "I came back to help train the DPW because the process for the base camps to
request construction support can be complicated," said Army Maj. Ralph
Pickett of the 26th MEB DPW section. "It is important that the camps function
well, because some camps are also used to train the Afghan Forces service
members so that they can assume the responsibility for securing the country
after the coalition leaves." To help train and validate Army National Guard and Army Reserve units for
deployments, Division West regularly brings in trainers and subject matter
experts from various locations. To build a full cadre of observer
controller/trainers for each exercise, trainers may come from the 75th
Training Division Mission Command, or units currently working in the relevant
theater of operations, or from Division West's own pool of experts
from its eight training brigades. Last year, Division West trained nearly 9,000 Army and Air National Guard and
Army Reserve members at Fort Hood. Later this year, the Texas Army
National Guard's 136th MEB is scheduled to complete post-mobilization
training at Fort Hood before the unit deploys to Afghanistan to replace the
648th MEB.
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