It’s the biggest Army Reserve base and the eighth largest in the entire Army with more than 165,000 acres of rolling hills, mountains, forests and rivers. With warm winters and temperatures rising to 115 degrees during summers, Fort Hunter Liggett offers an ideal location for training warriors headed to war.
Established in 2005, the U.S. Army Support Training Center trains Combat Support (CS) and Combat Services Support (CSS) units. It is home for the Army Reserve’s Regional Training Center-West where 108th drill sergeants conduct pre-mobilization training, allowing units to get the combat training they need, deploy quicker and get more “boots on the ground” time during deployments, say officials. Reserve officials say the RTC concept was developed from lessons learned by leaders who witnessed flaws in mobilizations during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. |
Soldiers from the 261st Ordnance Company fire the M203 grenade launcher as part of their pre-deployment training at Ft. Hunter, Liggett, Calif.Photo by Victoria L. White, 108th Training Command (IET) Public Affairs.
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Across the vast reservation are tactical training bases, live-fire ranges, urban assault courses, classroom facilities, air strips, drop zones and thousands of acres of forests perfect for learning land navigation skills. Recent additions include a new Military Operations on Urban Terrain (MOUT) site that resembles an Iraqi village where Iraqis in Arabic dress add realism to the training and HEAT. HEAT is the High-Mobility
GPS technology in recent years makes land navigation easier and more accurate. Soldiers learn to use the technology along with “the old way” of shooting azimuth measurements and map coordinates. Photo by Victoria L. White, 108th Training Command (IET) Public Affairs.
Multipurpose Vehicle (HMMWV) Egress Assistance Trainer, a high-tech simulator that teaches Soldiers how to react in the event their Hummer overturns on the battlefield.
“Soldiers come here for 21 days and we train them to go to war,” explains Command Sgt. Maj. Anna Vega, command sergeant major of RTC-West. “Every Soldier deploying comes through one of the RTCs. We train most of the transportation units and because of the warm weather, we can train the whole year. Most of our trainers right now are from the 3rd-518th BCT and the 95th Division on a one-year tour. Many of our drill sergeants extend another year.”
The U.S. Navy also sends deploying sailors for pre-mobilization training as part of their Sea Bee Readiness rotations. National Guard and other military agencies also take advantage of the training opportunities at Fort Hunter Liggett.
RTC-West is now being reassigned to the 84th Training Command along with the other Regional Training Centers (RTC-East at Fort Dix, N.J. and RTC-North at Fort McCoy, Wis.).
“As we transition over to the 84th, our goal is to make this new relationship seamless and transparent to the drill sergeants who are charged with training warriors preparing to deploy,” explains Lt. Col. Mark Teachey, commander of RTC-W. “Although this change will be visible, our dedication and resolve to provide world-class pre-mobilization training for those who are moving to the tip of the spear will not change. We owe the Reserve warriors our very best!”
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