Hohenfels, Germany
Greetings from Germany! Only weeks after a grueling year of COVID-19 support to Vermont and a month-long mission to Washington, D.C., for Operation Capitol Response, more than 900 soldiers from the Vermont Army National Guard are now deployed across the globe.
Around 400 soldiers from the 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain) left Vermont in May, bound for validation training at Fort Bliss, Texas. Soldiers completed validation at Fort McGregor, in New Mexico, while a small group validated and processed through the Conus Replacement Center at Fort Bliss.
Temperatures frequently soared into the 100s in west Texas and New Mexico, with zero humidity and frequent sandstorms. The red sand of Fort McGregor and the surrounding jagged, brown mountain ranges are beautiful, but not at all reminiscent of Vermont. That changed quickly upon our arrival in Germany, where soldiers would undergo their final training event at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels.
Vermont Army National Guard soldiers arrived in Nuremberg after nearly 16 hours of travel, including multiple stops. Upon arrival, we loaded buses bound for Camp Albertshof in Hohenfels. The drive through southeastern Germany — with its familiar weather, deep greens, sprawling valleys and the tall, rounded mountains — left one to wonder if we were traveling through the Northeast Kingdom. The architecture, however, painted a picture of a deeper history, far older than Vermont’s customary Colonials. The history of even the most common building or neighborhood is palpable, with much more modern buildings dotting the urbanized areas.
Arriving in Hohenfels, we quickly established where we’d be staying for the next several weeks: large white tents with 50 or so green Army cots per tent. Generators provide power, and three trailers provide small space for showers and washers and dryers.
The Joint Multinational Readiness Center at Camp Albertshof is hosting forces from seven other nations, in addition to the U.S. We have had the opportunity to observe and cover Albanian, Moldovan, Romanian and U.S. soldiers in training, and conducted interviews about training specifics from Slovenian, German, and U.S. instructors. Each nation is preparing for the culminating training event, which will have Vermont soldiers (among those from other nations), interact with civilian actors and fight off “OPFOR,” meaning opposing forces or enemy actor units.
After this event, we will again pack up our gear and head out to our mission as part of Operation Joint Guardian, KFOR 29, in locations across Kosovo.
Everyone is working hard preparing for the next steps. It has been hot here, but we are expecting the heat to break with a healthy dose of rain to follow it. For updates throughout our deployment, you can follow the Vermont Army National Guard on Facebook (www.facebook.com/172PAD/) for some awesome photography and videography from our very own Sgt. Gillian McCreedy and Sgt. Gloria Kamencik.
Put the Vermonters ahead!
Capt. Mikel Arcovitch serves with the Colchester, Vt.-based 172nd Public Affairs Detachment of the Vermont Army National Guard.