BSTB Soldiers react to contact during XCTC - June 18, 2014

Soldiers of Fredericksburg-based Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 116th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team participate in a mounted react to contact evaluation June 18, 2014, at Fort Pickett, Va. The evaluation was part of the brigade’s 10-day eXportable Combat Training Capability rotation designed to train and validate platoons on tasks that support offensive and defensive operations under daylight and hours of limited visibility. Units will concentrate on training selected mission essential tasks in a realistic field environment to refocus junior leaders on tactical field craft. The Army National Guard’s XCTC program provides an experience similar to a Combat Training Center to Guard Soldiers at a home station training center, minimizing cost and time away from home and jobs. XCTC is an instrumented field training exercise designed to certify unit proficiency in coordination with First Army. (Photo by Sgt. JoAnna Greene, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs)