The 35th Infantry Division hosted a Division Readiness Symposium Sept. 9-10 at the division headquarters in Leavenworth. The event aimed to foster enhanced communication and shared understanding among the participants ensuring operational, exercise, and deployment readiness.
The Army National Guard recently realigned its units to better prepare for possible future large scale combat operations amid current global threats. The 35th Infantry Division’s newly aligned units include the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Arkansas National Guard; 45th IBCT, Oklahoma National Guard; 72nd IBCT, Texas National Guard, 230th Sustainment Brigade, Tennessee National Guard, 35th Infantry Division Artillery, Kansas National Guard, and the 35th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade and the 110th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, Missouri National Guard.
“From a mission command table perspective, one of the first things you do is build the team,” said Maj. Gen. John Rueger, 35th ID commanding general. "We aimed to come out of this with a shared understanding of our road map forward, and what we are doing to continue to build and prioritize readiness over time.”
The symposium served as a platform to align strategies, identify potential challenges, and develop a unified approach to achieving and maintaining the highest levels of readiness together. Participants also had the opportunity to hear from Maj. Gen. John Andonie, deputy director of the Army National Guard, about the importance of the symposium and its objectives.
“It’s about people: building a team that is disciplined and fit to survive in order to win during conflict,” said Andonie.
“It was a great opportunity to see people I have known and worked with for 10-15 years,” said Col. Andrew Ballenger, 45th IBCT commander. “All the synchronization and finding new ways to do things, particularly in the knowledge management realm, will help our own team streamline how we operate moving forward.”
“We are getting ahead of where the Guard wants us to be, a division synchronized and in tune with its aligned units,” said Brig. Gen. Nicholas Jaskolski, 35th ID deputy commanding general of sustainment.
This annual event is likely to become a critical part in the division's ongoing efforts to achieve operational excellence.
“We want to ensure we are prioritizing the building of relationships, and that we are all moving the same direction and understanding the challenges we may face,” said Rueger. “When it comes time to face those challenges, we will do so together.”