STAFF REPORTS
LATHAM — New York Army National Guard Pfc. Tyler Wilson, a Rochester resident and an infantryman assigned to Charlie Troop, 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry stands guard at an observation post at Shoalwater Bay, Queensland, Australia, during exercise Talisman Saber, on July 14 in this photograph.
Wilson is one of 800 New York Army National Guard Soldiers who is in Australia as part of a joint Australian/ American training exercise called Talisman Sabre.
The exercise is held every other year and involves 30,000 Australian and American military personnel at six different locations conducting field exercises and command and control exercises.
The New York Army National Guard element is built around a task force comprised of the 1st Battalion 69th Infantry, along with support troop elements from the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.
Charlie Troop of the 2nd Squadron 101st Cavalry is based at the Masten Avenue Armory in Buffalo.
The New York Army National Guard Soldiers have been acting as part of the Australian Army’s 1st Armored Brigade and playing the part of the opposing force in the exercise.
The New York Army National Guard Soldiers spent the past year preparing for the mission, according to Lt. Col. Don Makay, the battalion commander. The Soldiers conducted road marches with full field gear and tactical training exercises at the platoon and company level to get ready.
Unit Soldiers prepared and shipped equipment and 139 vehicles required for the mission to Australia and an advance party from the battalion is already in Australia. A team of Soldiers in Fort Lewis, Washington prepared the vehicles and equipment for shipment across the Pacific.
The New York National Guard troops left for the Australian deployment on July 7 and are expected back around July 27/28.
The New York National Guard (New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs) is the state’s executive agency responsible to the Governor for managing New York’s Military Forces, which consists of nearly 20,000 members of the New York Army National Guard, the New York Air National Guard, the New York Naval Militia and the New York Guard.
