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Mountain Home armory gets new mission
Capt. Monte Blamires has assumed command of the Idaho Army National Guard unit stationed at the armory in Mountain Home, a unit that has been undergoing a massive change in mission over the last year.
After the IANG's 116th Heavy Brigade Combat Team returned from its deployment to Iraq last year, it began to reorganize, and as part of that reorganization the Mountain Home armory received a new mission, from a support operation to a combat unit.
Formerly, the armory had been the home of Detachment 1, Company B, of the 145th Support Battalion, a platoon-sized unit that primarily provided maintenance crews for the brigade's heavy equipment.
But over the last year it has morphed into a company-sized reconnaisance "cavalry troop," part of the 2/116 Armored Reconnaisance Squadron (battalion).
The move has meant a major increase in the number of citizen soldiers assigned to the armory, from roughly 30 to about 90 troopers, and a huge change in the equipment located at Idaho National Guard facility located on Hot Creek Road just above Mountain Home.
The vast majority of the guardsmen who had been assigned to the armory kept the the jobs for which they had been trained and transferred to other armory sites. A handful, however, decided to retrain to their new role as the brigade's scouts, but most of the new personnel at the armory are either new recruits or experienced guardsmen reassigned to Troop B of the 2/116 at the Mountain Home armory.
As scouts, they provide a crucial, although highly dangerous, role on the battlefield for the brigade.
Using Humvees and Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, the recon squadron operates in advance of the brigades heavy armor, providing intelligence on the location of enemy forces. Based on the information they relay back to the brigade's main combat power, its heavy combined arms battalions (of M-1 Abrams tanks and Bradley IFVs), the recon squadron's troopers help direct the brigade to "provide combat power at the decisive point," said squadron commander Lt. Col. Rob Lytle of Mountain Home.
Lytle, who has been in the guard full time for 13 years after serving 11 years in the regular army, said he's proud to be an armored cavalryman, a role in which he has spent most of his military career. The role of the unit he currently commands, he said, is a throwback to the days of WWII, when lightly armed recon units sought out the enemy positions.
Utilizing the experiences gained in Iraq, where he was the brigade's executive officer, Lytle is part of an effort to redefine the doctrine can -- and cannot -- do. Essentially, they provide the "eyes" for the "shooters," identifying enemy positions in order to bring the full weight of the brigade's combat power onto the enemy in the most effective and efficient manner.
It hasn't been an easy transition. Many of the recon unit's troopers are former tankers, used to commanding the awesome power of an Abrams main battle tank, with its 120mm cannon. Now, they have to learn how to be a little more sneaky to make maximum use of the more complicated 25mm chain gun on the Bradley. "They have to return to being stealthy," he said.
From identifying enemy forces, to spotting improvised explosive devices (roadside bombs) for ordnance disposal teams to take care of, recon units are the vital "forward line" of the brigade.
The troop stationed in Mountain Home (formerly based in Burley) also has detachments in Gooding and Caldwell.
Surprisingly, it's been relatively easy to fill his table of organization. "There's an increasing number of soldier who are challenged by the opportunities" of serving in a combat unit, he said, adding that the recon role is "exciting" to many of them.
And expect to see the guardsman on the hill in the community -- a lot.
"The ideal National Guard unit is an expression of a community," Lytle said. Mountain Home's support of the military, he noted, and its proximity to the Orchard Training Range, from a brigade perspective meant the brigade leadership believed the community deserved a line unit.
The guardsmen assigned to the Mountain Home armory will be participating in as many community activities as they can, helping their base of support whenever possible. "We want this unit to be a community organization, to serve this community, our state and the nation," he said.
And in the future, by 2013, Lytle said, he hopes to have the armory site expanded, with new facilities that can be used by the community (such as a larger gym and meeting areas).
"My goal in life is to see a proper armory in this town, he said."
Anyone interested in learning more about the opportunities available at the Mountain Home armory, or the Idaho Army National Guard in general, is urged to contact the local recruiter, SSgt. Darin Henecke, at 272-3622, for (cell) 514-7555.