Soldiers with the 650th Military Intelligence Group and contracted role-players from Hohenfels, Germany, escape from their vehicle after a simulated roadside bomb explodes during a pre-deployment training exercise at the new urban training area at Chievres Air Base, Belgium. (Pierre-Etienne Courtejoie/U.S. Army)
Work will soon be under way at Chievres Air Base to add more infrastructure to a new training center, thanks to an anticipated influx of federal funds.
Dennis Mayer, the local training area coordinator who helped develop the center, says $700,000 in Global War on Terrorism funding — approved just a couple weeks ago — means more realistic pre-deployment schooling for local units.
"That’s going to enhance the facilities to get people trained prior to their deploying," Mayer said. "We’ve been developing it (the center) and building it up."
Among the new structures will be a two-story building that will enable units to practice clearing rooms in an urbanlike environment, according to Mayer. Additional structures and roads also will allow for more elaborate training missions.
While more work is to be done at the center, there already has been a flurry of development. Within the past three months, the complex has constructed a mock village with more than 30 buildings as well as an outdoor market that replicates the sorts of encounters troops are likely to face in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
Though the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels already conducts sophisticated training scenarios aimed at replicating real-life missions, bolstering training capabilities at Chievres will serve as an additional resource for units in the region, Mayer said.
A local center means troops can spend less time traveling and transporting equipment, and more time focused on training, Mayer said.
"It saves time," he said.
The training center, which operates under the umbrella of the 7th Army Joint Multinational Training Command, will be available to U.S. forces as well as NATO partners and allies.
Last month, members of the 650th Military Intelligence Group, which provides counterintelligence to NATO, were the first to make use of the center as they prepared for a future deployment.
"My intent was to generate a scenario that was true to life," said Col. Scott St. Cyr, commander of the 650th MI Group, in a news release. "I wanted to bring the streets of Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo to Belgium, so that my soldiers and future soldiers who use this site are as prepared as possible to face the unknown."
St. Cyr, who committed $150,000 of his unit funds to the training area, said although it was designed for the immediate preparation of his soldiers, he envisioned a community training area that supports everyone within the SHAPE and NATO area of responsibility.
Other local units in the Chievres area are slated for training at the center, including 39th Signal Battalion.
