More than 600 Idaho Army National Guard Soldiers, joined by Soldiers from the Montana, Oregon, Ohio and South Carolina Army National Guards, have been training in Fort Bliss, Texas, since mobilizing from Gowen Field in early August. The task force, Task Force Rattler, will deploy to Southwest Asia later this month in support of Operation Spartan Shield, where they will rotate out with 250 Soldiers from the Idaho Army National Guard as well as Soldiers from the Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Florida Army National Guards. Each rotation is approximately 12 months. Soldiers from the 118th Infantry Re


More than 600 Idaho Army National Guard Soldiers, joined by Soldiers from the Montana, Oregon, Ohio and South Carolina Army National Guards, have been training in Fort Bliss, Texas, since mobilizing from Gowen Field in early August. The task force, Task Force Rattler, will deploy to Southwest Asia later this month in support of Operation Spartan Shield, where they will rotate out with 250 Soldiers from the Idaho Army National Guard as well as Soldiers from the Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Florida Army National Guards. Each rotation is approximately 12 months. Soldiers from the 118th Infantry Regiment from South Carolina National Guard and the 285th Medical Company from the Ohio National Guard are also part of Task Force Rattler, which provide the task force the ability to execute combined arms maneuvers. The intense training at Fort Bliss consisted of long hours with day and night combined arms maneuver missions with the Idaho Army National Guard shooting 120mm mortar rounds from M113 Armored Mortar Carriers, 25mm rounds from Bradley Fighting Vehicles and 120mm rounds from M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tanks. During the live-fire and joint operations, the training integrated scouts, snipers, South Carolina’s Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected tactical vehicles and overhead protection from Apaches from Charlie Company, 1st of the 501st Aviation Battalion from Fort Bliss. An evaluation team from the 189th Infantry Brigade Combined Arms Training Battalion from Joint Base Lewis-McChord conducted qualifications of the maneuvers, combined arms, live-fire and mass casualty medical demonstrations. ( National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Becky Vanshur)


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Keywords: 116th, army, asia, brigade, cavalry, combat, force, guard, national, operation, shield, southwest, spartan, task, team