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30th Annive

rsary

Delivering the news from Golden Coyote 2014Coyote Courier

Volume 30, Issue 4

June 18, 2014

Golden Coyote 2014 ends with a bang

Continued on page 1

On a winding gravel road deep in the Black Hills, a small

convoy of Humvees manned by the Danish Home Guard slowly comes into sight. In front of them is a straight stretch of road with open ground to their right and forma-tions of high rocks about 50 yards away. They smell a rat. The convoy halts and two crews dismount. Cautiously, but in plain view, they begin moving into the tall grass. Bang! Stung by a trip wire, the soldier falls. Small-arms fire pours in from the rocks. The Danes return it. Shouting every-where. Belts of an M249 are emp-tied into the lead vehicles. BOOM! It’s a remote-controlled IED. The rest of the trucks move forward.

The crews crouch behind them. The Danes begin fire and move-ment toward the machine gun. Their use of cover is poor. They’re losing the firefight. Casualties are dragged in behind the vehicles. But it’s over. “That was bad!” shouts a tri-umphant insurgent. He’s one of half a dozen, a motley crew in a mixture of kit from pure civilian to backwoods gear to something like a uniform, face cam included. They’re credible insurgents and they know very well what they’re doing. This is the Counter IED lane of Exercise Golden Coyote. The scenario is a post-conflict stability operation where the mission is, ac-

cording to orders from the 110th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, “to improve civil security, increase political stability, and facilitate economic recovery.” This means a large role for engineers working on the country’s infrastructure but it also means convoy operations, dismounted patrols, fighting in urban areas and plenty of combat lifesaving. The enemy was live and expe-rienced, in this case Soldiers of the 118th Sapper Company of the Utah National Guard. They were deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 and learned about IEDs the hard way. Now, they get to pass that experience along, improving their

A role player acts as an insurgent as a convoy of Danish Home Guard troops approach during a Counter IED training lane as part of Golden Coyote 2014. Photo by Cpl. Hélène Mogensen de Monléon, Danish Home Guard Public Affairs.

Story by Capt. Bob Kennedy32 Canadian Brigade Group

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own skills in the process. Playing the role of insurgent, said Sgt. Sterling Juarez, “gives us a whole new per-spective.” This link to real-world experience could be seen across the entire exercise. “You never know when you’re going to end up in another war zone,” said Lt. Cdr. Darlene McMiddle-ton, a Navy Reservist from Charlotte, N.C. “We’ve all gained a lot of knowledge these past years in Iraq and Afghanistan. We don’t want to lose all that knowledge so we keep training.” McMiddleton was running the Imme-diate Lifesaving Measures lane at West Camp Rapid. Another feature of Golden Coyote was the visible presence of foreign contingents and their total inte-gration into the exercise. Out at FOB Custer, four different flags were flying over the mud. Under the command of the 110th MEB is a Canadian battalion head-quarters from the Army Reserve brigade in Toronto. Their sub-units are a Reserve squadron from 71 Engineer Regiment of the United Kingdom, the 155th Engineer Company (Vertical) of the South Dakota National Guard, and a construction platoon from the Danish Home Guard. These were the troops applying their skills to projects of direct benefit to communities across South Dakota: a building for Habitat for Humanity, for example,

and timber for Native American reservations. Elsewhere in the exer-cise are a detachment from Surinam, officers of the Air Reserve in Germany, and more Canadians attached to the Civil Affairs organi-zation. “The biggest hurdle is translating acronyms,” said Lt. David Shaw, an officer of The Royal Regiment of Canada who has often worked

with Americans. “Everything is almost identical with how we do things – it’s just the terms that are dif-ferent.” The German view, understandably, was a bit

more distant. “We definitely have differences in how we approach things,” said Capt. Alexander Kullak. “But that is a positive, because we have so much to learn from one another.” All of this suggests the grand scale and complexity of Golden Coyote. The immediate area of operation was some 3,100 square miles of the Black Hills and the Custer National Forest. Various Civil Affairs engage-ments ranged from Yankton in the south-eastern corner of the state to Harding County in the far north-west. Some training was even done in Wyoming. More than 45 units from 15 states, plus the international contingents, generated some 4,400 troops. They came from the National Guard, the Army Reserve, the Navy Reserve and the U.S. Air Force. The 147th Brigade Sup-port Battalion from Colorado delivered, in only seven days, 90,344 gallons of fuel and 86,686 meals. FOB Guernsey saw an airborne insertion. High-tech simulators trained troops in vehicle rollovers, small arms and convoy operations. Insurgents challenged Soldiers on operations ranging from dismounted patrols to recoveries of pilots from downed aircraft to penetrations of urban terrain. Engineers repaired roofs, dug sediment ponds and even built a washroom. The mighty Missouri River was crossed in less than half an hour.

“Ever since I started as a private,” said Spec. Jonathon Crain, “I’ve always been told to train how you fight.” This principle understood by the Military Policeman from North Carolina was never far from the mind of Col. John Oberkirsch, the Commander of the 110th MEB whose staff spent nine months planning the exer-cise. “My mission was to come out here and make this 30th Golden Coyote the best ever,” he said on the final day. “I think we’ve accomplished that and so hopefully we’ve set the stage for future commanders to take it to the next level.”

Top left: A soldier with the United Kingdom’s 591st Royal Engineers unloads from a CH-47 Chinook helicopter during an air assault training mission at Camp Guernsey, Wyo., June 15, 2014. U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Mark VanGerpen.Center: Soldiers and members of the Danish Home Guard unload a truck as they pre-pare camp at FOB Custer. Photo by Cpl. Hélène Mogensen de Monléon, Danish Home Guard Public Affairs.Bottom left: A member of the Danish Home Guard gives the victory sign after par-ticipating in a training exercise at Golden Coyote. Photo by Cpl. Hélène Mogensen de Monléon, Danish Home Guard Public Affairs.

Ends with a bang Continued from page 1

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CAMP GUERNSEY, Wyo. – National Guard Soldiers and Airmen teamed up to perform a combat airdrop training mission at Camp Guernsey, Wyo., June 13, 2014. This event was coordinated between the Texas Army National Guard 1st Battalion (Airborne), 143rd Infantry Regiment and Wyoming Air National Guard 153rd Air Wing as part of the 2014 Golden Coyote training exercise. “We have so many paratroopers that it’s not feasible for us to jump out of anything but Air Force aircraft,” said Maj. Wade Aubin a drop zone safety officer for the 143rd. “Golden Coyote was the first time we [part-nered with] the 153rd Air Wing out of Cheyenne and they have been great to work with. The airdrop was a historic event as it was the first airborne mission that was conducted during Golden Coyote. “It demonstrates the capabilities of the National Guard to the rest of the military,” said Shane Whit-worth, an operations non-commissioned officer in the Wyoming National Guard. This jump was one of four airborne missions that took place during Golden Coyote. The first mission was a large-scale airfield assault, the second combat airdrop was a smaller support mission, and the third drop will be a daytime exercise that will help them prepare for their culminating night mission. The four jumps helped the unit com-plete their training requirements; while the first three helped the unit prepare for the last mission, which is a high-risk exercise. “We’re the first Army National Guard infantry battalion to perform an airfield seizure on camp Guernsey,” said Aubin. Units complete an airfield seizure in order to gain control of a landing zone to conduct further missions from that area. The mission for the 143rd was to per-form an airdrop then move to a tempo-rary headquarters to gain accountability before marching to and then clearing a helicopter-landing zone, where CH-47 Chinooks could land and take them

back to Camp Guernsey. “There is a constant steady learning process, its not one of those things that you stop learning about,” said Aubin. “The more you do it the better you do it.” One aspect to making the jump a success is ensur-ing equipment is ready for each soldier for every jump. Soldiers help each other strap their parachute and gear to them before a rigger checks it for safety and a jumpmaster does a final check on the gear’s readiness before the airdrop. “We make sure everything is done by the books, we double-check and triple-check because we have lives in our hands,” said Spc. Regina Ruizmoreno a para-chute rigger for the Texas Army National Guard 294th Quartermasters Company. Although Ruizmoreno has roughly completed 20 jumps, anticipation and nerves are still a big part of the experience. “Once we get up and start getting ready that’s when I get nervous and the adrenalin starts pumping,” said Ruizmoreno.“Once I’m out and my chute opens its just relaxing, it’s beautiful, but it’s only for a split second then you have to realize you’re about to land.”

Army teams with Air force for combat drop

Story and photos by Spc. Donald E. Williams129th Mobile Public Affairs DetachmentSouth Dakota National Guard

Capt. Joshua Edgington, a jump master for the Texas Army National Guard 1st Battalion (Airborne), 143rd Infantry Regiment performs the Jump Master Personnel Inspection for Sgt. Oscar Moreno, a parachute rigger with the 294th Quartermasters Company. Jumpmasters have to check the paratrooper’s equipment to make sure it is safe for the Soldiers to use. This exercise helps to prepare units for both their wartime and peacetime missions. U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Donald E. Williams.

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Eight years after its inception, the timber haul mission at Golden Coyote will likely reach a peak

by delivering 201 loads of wood to Native American reservations throughout the state of South Dakota. With a ceremonial run to the Crow Creek reserva-tion, the 190th Combat Sustainment Support Battal-ion plans to celebrate the delivery of the 190th load of timber as they zero in on their objective to surpass 200 loads. Before this year, 185 loads was the top haul. “This team had a lot of energy, they wanted to work this real-world mission and push toward our goal,” said Capt. John Bleile, the 190th CSSB support op-erations officer who coordinated the mission. Three National Guard transportation companies worked the mission including the Kansas’ 137th, Nebraska’s 1057th and Michigan’s 1463rd. Canadian soldiers worked side-by-side with the Americans. Bleile said this year’s harsh winter made the need for wood on the reservations more important. “They’re very appreciative,” he said of the Native American recipients who use the timber primarily for firewood and sometimes for fence building. The mission began in cooperation with the Nation-al Forest Service in 2006 as a means to help remove the trees that were previously cut in a conservation effort to help avoid the spread of forest fires. Deliver-ing the wood to the Native Americans is an added benefit. The team faced challenges with the heavy rains that dominated the first days of Golden Coyote. “It was a tough go in the beginning but we got back on track, ”Bleile said. Heavy thunderstorms caused drop sites to shut down at least three times and the trucks dedi-cated to the mission were often called away to haul military equipment. “This was an actual state mission that gave Soldiers

an opportunity to drive, maintain and run their equip-ment,” Bleile said. “They don’t normally get a chance to do all this at home station training.”First Lieutenant Eric Grant, company commander of the 137th, said this year was the first time the team used a palletized loading system (PLS) during the Golden Coyote exercise.While the PLS teams were waiting for the timber, National Guard Soldiers of the 842nd Engineer Company from Spearfish, South Dakota and Canadian Reserve soldiers of the Lorne Scots from Georgetown, Ontario, cut and cleaned the timber in preparation for loading it onto pal-lets. “We pull in, we stage up and lower our flat racks,” said Spc. Mat-thew Moore from the 137th Transportation Company. “Then the engineers will load our flat racks with all the logs up to a certain height up to the two-by-fours we stick in the sides.” Bleile said the detailed coordination, working with the transportation units, higher headquarters and contacts on the reservations helped make this year’s timber haul a success.

Timber haul mission aims for record loads

Left: National Guard Soldiers man-uever timber into place in before loading it onto pallets and hauling it to Native American reservations. U.S. Army photo.

Below: Canadian Pvt. Monique Dunford with the Lorne Scots from Georgetown, Ontario cuts timber in preparation for hauling. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Paul Roberts.

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By Staff Sgt. Steve Reeves314th Press Camp Headquarters

Members of the 105th Military Police Battalion training in South Dakota

as part of Golden Coyote 2014 teamed up with a local utility company on Saturday for a real-world training scenario designed to prepare them for a domestic disturbance. The 300 members of the Ash-ville, N.C.-based National Guard unit worked with Black Hills Power security personnel to make the scenario, in which troops had to deal with civilian protesters outside of the Ben French power station in Rapid City, as realistic as possible.

Coyote courierComander of Troops: BG Kevin Griese

South Dakota National Guard MAJ Anthony Deiss, Public Affairs OfficerSFC Don Matthews, PA NCOIC

The editorial content of this newspaper is prepared, edited and provided by the 314th Press Camp Headquarters. LTC Stephen Harlan, CommanderMAJ Jesse Stalder, Executive OfficerCPT Christopher Parker, Operations OfficerCSM Christopher LuchsingerSSG Bryan Tull, Assignments EditorSSG Lisa Simunaci, Layout & DesignSSG Paul Roberts, PhotographerSSG Kevin McSwain, ContributorSSG Steve Reeves, Writer/PhotographerSGT Kade Miller, Proofreader2LT Carolyn Nielsen, ContributorSGT Samantha Hamilton, Contributor

Additional contributions from: 129th Mobile Public Affairs Detach-mentMAJ Wayne Asscherick, CommanderCPT Amber SymondsCPT Sam OttoSSG Jackie Fitzgerald, NCOIC

124th Mobile Publid Affairs Detach-mentSgt. Michael Uribe

Danish Home Guard Public AffairsRune Kronenberg, ChiefCPT Ulla Sørensen-MølgaardCPL Hélène Mogensen

32 Canadian Bridade Group CPT Bob Kennedy, Chief, PA Chief

“Where local law enforcement get overwhelmed with an issue such as Hurricane Katrina or any

other large security piece, we can assist,” said Lt. Col. Eric Locklear. Locklear said teaming up with Black Hills Power allowed the 105th to add a layer of authenticity to its training. “We saw an opportunity not only to train, but to train in a different environment,” he said. Locklear said the exercise validated the unit’s ability to perform security opera-tions in response to a credible ter-rorist threat. Black Hills Power officials said cooperating with military units like the 105th is useful when evaluating

MPs train for domestic threat

Soldiers with HHC 110th Manuever Enhancement Brigade served up more than 16,000 meals at the Camp Rapid Dining Facility during G-olden Coyote 2014. Photo by Cpl. Hélène Mogensen de Monléon, Danish Home Guard Public Affairs.

Above: A soldier with the 105th Military Police Bat-talion takes part in a training scenario designed to prepare troops for a domestic disturbance.

Left: Role players protest outside the Ben French power station in Rapid City, S.D. during Golden Coyote. North Carolina National Guardsmen teamed with Black Hills Power security personnel to create a realistic scenario. U.S. Army photos.

A famililar sight

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The Assistant Adju-tant General of the South Dakota Army National Guard, Brig. Gen. Kevin Griese, pins a Bronze Star Medal on Canadian Capt. Rob Ryan in the shadow of Mount Rushmore. Capt. Ryan served in Afghanistan with Combined Joint Task Force 101 during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2013 and was awarded the U.S. decora-tion for “his personal courage and commitment to mission accomplishment in a combat zone.” Watching from below is his brigade commander from Toronto, Col. Dwayne Hobbs, along with (standing) Chief Warrant Officer Mike Lacroix. Photo by Capt. Ulla Sørensen-Mølgaard, Danish Home Guard Public Affairs.

Spc. Ryan Dannen, left, a combat engineer with the South Dakota National Guard 211th Engineer Company (Sapper), carries Rachel Shields, a sap-per with the United Kingdom’s 591st Royal Engineers, into Combat Outpost Roberts during an air assault training mission at Camp Guernsey, Wyo., June 15, 2014. The Guard unit coordinated with the 591st for the mission during the 30th annual Golden Coyote Training Exercise. The exercise pro-vides realistic training opportunities for National Guard, Reserve, and active duty units from 15 states and four foreign nations. U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Mark VanGerpen

Continued from page 5ThreatCanadian earns Bronze Starcompany security procedures. Vance Crocker, vice president of operations at Black Hills Power, said that while the company has procedures in place to deal with potential disturbances, it was help-ful to put those procedures to the test with the help of the military. “This exercise with the 105th MP Battalion provided a great op-portunity to validate many of our internal processes,” Crocker said. “Black Hills Power gained a lot of experience and insight from this cooperative effort.” The training scenario was one of many that have taken place across South Dakota since Golden Coyote kicked off nearly two weeks ago.