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GRAFENWOEHR,
Germany –
The 7th Army Joint Multinational Training
Command and 1st Armored Division welcomed a group of civilian business and
civic leaders Oct. 19, providing an introduction to the U.S. Army in
Europe.
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JCOC 70 participants got to
handle and fire small arms during their visit to Graf .
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Joint
Civilian Orientation Conference participants came to Grafenwoehr
Training Area in eastern Bavaria to meet Soldiers, watch them work and
then put hands on weapons and vehicles themselves.
"This
is one of the (Defense) Department's most important outreach efforts,"
said JCOC Director, Air Force Lt. Col. Chet Curtis. "We've taken
hundreds of people through prior conferences. When they go home, they
take the DoD message, and they take stories about the people they meet. It's all about the people."
The day
began with a live fire demonstration by division cavalry elements. The
civilian visitors watched as tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, along
with artillery and aviation support, engaged and suppressed a simulated
enemy.
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Percy Kirk, Region Vice
President and General Manager for Cox Communications Omaha, sits
in the gunner's seat of an M1A1 Abrams during the JCOC 70 visit to
Graf.
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Following the demonstration, 1st Armored Division Soldiers provided a
show-and-tell session with static and live displays for the visitors,
who also got to ride in armored vehicles and put a few rounds downrange
themselves.
Capping
off the event, the group visited the JMTC's
Close Combat
Tactical Training Center for orientation to the virtual simulation
capabilities offered by the facility.
"The
JCOC program is extremely important to USAREUR and the Army," said JMTC
Chief of Staff Army Col. Michael Clark. "JMTC supported USAREUR and the
U.S. European Command in this visit providing the training facilities
and logistics support to 1st Armored Division, but most important was
what 1st AD showed them up close and personal.
"JMTC
has the only large caliber training areas in this part of Germany," said
Clark. "USAREUR could not easily prepare units such as 1st AD for
deployment without this training infrastructure, some of which was used
by 1st AD during the JCOC."
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Dave Hoxeng, ADX
Communications, discusses simulator capabilities with technicians
at the JMTC CCTT in Graf during the JCOC 70 visit.
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Following the tour and a quick ride in the simulators themselves, each
visitor was then paired with a 1st AD Soldier for lunch, with MREs as
the fare before they boarded C-130s en route to Ramstein Air Base for a
look at the Air Force.
JCOC is
a Secretary of Defense program giving participants an opportunity to
learn first-hand about U.S. military personnel, their equipment and
capabilities, and national defense strategies.
Participants visit military bases, fly on military aircraft, experience
aircraft landings and launches from Navy ships. They observe amphibious
landings, urban area combat techniques and special operations assaults,
as well as other military demonstrations.
While
seeing Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen in action,
they learn more about everything from conducting military operations to
the day-to-day lives servicemembers lead.
This
conference was initiated in 1948 by Defense Secretary James V. Forrestal
and is the Department's premier civic leader program. Participants are
selected from hundreds of candidates nominated by military commands
worldwide. This was the 70th conference since its inception. JCOC
participants pay all of their own expenses, including travel to and from
the conference, lodging and meals.
For
more information about JCOC, browse to
www.defenselink.mil/jcoc/. |
