Story and photos by: Capt. Stephen Martin, Kentucky National Guard Public Affairs
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Civic leaders from across the state visited the Kentucky National Guard's Wendell H. Ford Regional Training Center in Greenville, Ky. to visit troops and view training Oct. 12, 2012. (Photo by Capt. Stephen Martin, Kentucky National Guard)
GREENVILLE, Ky. -- Civic Leaders from across the state visited the Kentucky National Guard's Wendell H. Ford Regional Training Center in Greenville, Ky. to visit troops and get a little taste of what it's like to be a Citizen Soldier.
Click here to see more photos from this event.
"It was a privilege to not only watch the Kentucky National Guard
train and see how much work and preparation goes into a deployment, but it was an honor to have the opportunity to interact with so many men and women serving our country," said Larry Vaught, sports editor for the Danville Advocate-Messenger.
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Civic leaders get a demonstration and assistance in how to properly eat a Meal, Ready to Eat or "MRE" from Kentucky Guardsmen currently conducting training at the Wendell H. Ford Regional Training Center Oct. 12, 2012. (Photo by Capt. Stephen Martin, Kentucky National Guard)
These 20 civic leaders were selected from a pool of educators, employers and influential community members to visit the pre-mobilization training for Agribusiness Development Team 5 .
Rick Rummel, who is the founder and President of Ohio Valley Surgical, saw the value of the training that Kentucky Guardsmen have to go through in order to be adequately prepared for the mission asked of them.
"I ended the day with the appreciation of how important, necessary, and how completely thorough the training is for those getting ready to deploy and also how necessary regular training is," said Rummel. "Quite a day that I will remember for, well, as long as my memory works."
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Danville Advocate sports editor and Kentucky Wildcat fan Larry Vaught took part in a civic leader visit with troops at the Kentucky National Guard’s Wendell H. Ford Regional Training Center Oct. 12, 2012. (Photo courtesy Vaught's Views)
Rummel, along with the other civic leaders, traveled to the training site on a UH-60 Blackhawk in the morning and watched as the ADT5 troops practiced their urban operations training, clearing buildings and responding to would-be aggressors.
Additionally, WHFRTC has one of the premiere Humvee Rollover trainers in the country, also known as the Humvee Egress Assistance Trainer or HEAT. These community leaders had the opportunity to see examples of the training as well as climb in and get a 30 degree tip demonstration themselves.
"This is also known as 'turn three at Talledega' for those race car fans," joked Staff Sgt. Sandy Austin, HEAT Operator for WHFRTC.
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Civic leaders from across the state get a demonstration of Kentucky National Guard troops going through urban combat training during a visit to the Wendell H. Ford Regional Training Center in Greenville, Ky. (Photo by Capt. Stephen Martin, Kentucky National Guard)
After stepping off the helicopter, Vaught commented, "Probably the one thing that will stick out with me the most was learning just how skilled the National Guard troops are when they are called for service and what wonderful training facilities they have to prepare them for all sorts of operations."
"I'm not sure any of us appreciate the Kentucky National Guard nearly enough."