 Lakeland Currents, your public affairs program for North Central Minnesota, produced by Lakeland PBS with host Ray Gildow. Production funding for Lakeland Currents is made possible by Bemidji Regional Airports, serving the region with daily flights to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, for information available at BemidjiAirport.org. Closed captioning for Lakeland Currents is sponsored by Niswa Tax Service, tax preparation for businesses and individuals, online at NiswaTax.com. Hello again, everyone, and welcome to Lakeland Currents, where tonight we're doing something we've never done before in our 12-year history. We're going to interview folks from Camp Ripley. And if you're at all familiar with Central Minnesota, you know that somewhere between Little Falls and Brainerd is a pretty good-sized military training camp. And if you're not a military person with a military background, you probably have never stepped foot on this place. But it's a very, very interesting, well-managed property. If you're a deer hunter, you may also have been there because there are people that go there and go bull hunting. But I'd like to welcome my two guests this evening who are from Camp Ripley. And first, to my right is Staff Sergeant Tashel Schweigel. I'm saying that right. And you are the senior culinary specialist, eye company, 131st Brigade Support Battalion. I'll get it out yet. And to her right is Chief Warrant Officer, Andrew Bachman, Chief Warrant Officer 3. And that's important to have those numbers. And he's a Minnesota National Guard corner master. That is correct, sir. And maybe we could start out with a little bit about your backgrounds, where you came from and how you got into what you're doing now before we talk about the camp. I am originally from Rosa, Minnesota. I joined when I was a junior in high school, back in 2002. So I have been in for 16 years, currently working with the J-4 office as the state food service program manager. Great. And you've been how long at Camp Ripley? I started as a technician about a year and a half ago. So when you, do you think you finish your career there? Absolutely. Okay. And how about you? So Ray, I've been in the National Guard since 1995. I enlisted as a senior in high school. And from there, I have been with a unit Northfield down at Division Aviation Brigade in the cities. And in 2007, I was transferred up to Camp Ripley. And I've been up here full-time ever since as the state quarter master. Well, let's talk a little bit about the size of the camp and who's there? Who's working there year-round? So year-round, and it fluctuates employee-wise, but give or take year-round, there's about 800 employees full-time. Only the general and his family live there full-time as far as on post. Everybody else comes and goes. And the camp itself, I believe, is approximately 53,000 square acres and predominantly most of it is training area. Is the camp growing at all? It is growing in the last few years substantially, even since I started there in 2007. Tremendous amount of building additions. A lot of the old aluminum sheds that we've had out there when we first started that we bivouacked in or whatever at annual training, a lot of those are gone now replaced with more modern facilities. How about land-wise, does the state still purchase property for a camp Ripley or is that pretty much locked in? They do, they have a program called ACUB and I don't know exactly how it works, but they do occasionally purchase land around Camp Ripley as a buffer. And I'm not exactly sure how they do do that, but I know they still do that. The environmental team works with that. And you have visitors that come from military groups from not only America, but from around the world, at least from Norway. Absolutely. Do you have any idea how many soldiers go through that camp in this typical year in December time? Well, as far as National Guard, I would say it can fluctuate anywhere from a few thousand to all the way up to, I've heard numbers somewhere around 10,000, 12,000, 10,000 person range for training season. Wow, and in your role in the culinary fields, are you responsible to help feed all those people then? We do have a central dining facility and we do have a full-time staff person, Staff Sergeant Christensen. She actually kind of operates the National Guard side of that, but then they do also serve any other entities that would be coming to Camp Ripley. So I know they do have high numbers that they feed there as well. We would help them with any type of MRE request or if they have anything coming from DLA, which would be like the UGR heat and serves, we would help with that aspect of it. So the 800 people that are working there, do they eat in that mess hall then? Or do they all have responsibilities to figure that out on their own? There are some people who do go to the central dining facility, but I would say most of the time we eat at the snack shop or they do bring meals up to the tack, which is where a lot of the employees are for AGR staff and a lot of people probably bring their own. Yeah, it's interesting. So one of the topics that we want to talk about today is a Norway Recipical Troop Exchange and it's called Norex. Is that the correct acronym for that? And what is Norex? So Norex in a nutshell started in 1974 between Norwegian Major General Nygard and American at the time, the National Guard Chief Major General Greenleaf and it basically started as a handshake as a cultural exchange. So their soldiers would come here and train with us, American soldiers and the American soldiers would go to Norway and train with Norwegian soldiers. And it currently I believe is the longest allied exchange of all the exchanges that the military does. So they come typically like what July, August or do they come in the winter time? We've alternated. Sometimes they've come in the summer. Sometimes they come in the winter. And what I've been told for future Norexes, we're going to kind of continue with that winter theme. And do you send troops then to Norway and reciprocate with that? We do, we send approximately 100 soldiers over there. And then is that like usually a two week assignment? Yes. Okay, and then what do they do when they're over there? So when they're over there, they do the military training. So we have all that aspects, winter operations and then they'll also experience the cultural aspects in Norway. Have either of you been involved in that exchange? I wish, not quite yet. I'm actually going to be part of it this year. So you'll get to go to Norway? Correct. What month will you be going? We will be going in February. So it's probably going to be winter there too, isn't it? Yes. It's not like you could have gone to Florida for something in Jordan, some warm weather. And in your area then, what will you be doing when you go over there? I will be the food service person that goes along. I am in charge of the American meal when we are over there. From my understanding, they do a Norwegian meal where they bring all of their typical foods that they have. And then we will be bringing, I believe the Trolling for Troops is a big sponsor with Mancini Steaks down in Minneapolis area. Really? And they donate the steak meal for us to bring over there. So we will be bringing steaks and potatoes. And I actually am friends with the cook who went last year and she said they look forward to the steaks the most and apparently they are big for sweet tooth. So we're going to bring over a lot of desserts this year. It's a small world, I was with the person last summer who did that with the Mancini Steaks. Oh, okay. One of the people that worked with that program and he was talking about that, it's pretty interesting. Yeah, they give us the opportunity to go down there and learn how to cook their steaks and bring all of that knowledge over to Norway. So do you do this, do you bivouac at all? Are you out in the field during some of this or are you on one of their military sites in one of their mass halls? From my understanding, we do go to basically like one of their camp areas and they do take us down range or out in the field and the stories that I have heard, I guess we get to ski up the mountain. So I guess I've never skied uphill before so that'll be great training and something fun to learn. They're challenging all that. Yeah. So, and I know that they do what's called like a buddy weekend where the soldiers are allowed to go and learn the different cultures over in Norway. I believe they do that here as well. I know there've been a couple of families who have done that and they said it's a lot of fun. So do you fly over and military planes when you're doing this? I believe this year we are flying commercial. Oh, that'll be nice. Yes. I'm better than riding in some of those cargo planes. Yes. So it's a unique event and you talked a little bit of how it got started with just a handshake and is there, what else is interesting about the history of this? What's happened over the years that you've been doing this that might be of interest to people? I think initially I think it was more of a cultural exchange and throughout, and this is just some of the stories I've been told. This will be my fourth Noriex participating state side. And what I've learned is it's become, they've really kind of increased the mission or the op-tempo as we would call it. So like the training portion of it is probably increased dramatically. So how many people are typically involved are you going to take a company over? So there's approximately 100 that go over and 100 that come over here. And then we have approximately 150 support staff here to support those in all regions. Interesting. Does everybody in the camp take part of this at some way or another and all? Not everybody in camp. Camperably operations continues to function for other individuals that are using the camp for different reasons because there are different training facilities there being used at all times of the year. So we allocate those individuals well in advance so they know they're going to be participating in the exchange and those individuals will support it. Does anybody speak Norwegian? I'm Polish background so I... That's not gonna help. I did download the translator though for Norway. So when I get over there, if I have any questions, I have help. So I suppose as part of your training is that you do have to have interpreters along with you. Do you? Or no. The Norwegians speak very good English. So that's not an issue at all. It is not an issue. And you said here it takes about 150 people to support this operation. And what are those people all doing? What are some of the roles that you see there? We have everything from the individuals that are the operation cell that are going to run everything the glue that holds it together to the logistics staff which includes everything from our cooks to our bus drivers to the individuals that are in charge of the warehouses to issue out winter gear. We have individuals that mirror the Norwegians senior officers to show them around. So liaisons, senior training coordinators, we call them company commanders, executive officers. And then just individuals that help on the ranges. They have a very important role. Everybody from safety officers, safety non-commissioned officers to the individuals that are actually running. So we talk about American meals and select meals. What are those terms meaning? I guess I'm not really understanding the select meals part. Well, part of the question we've got here, we hear a lot about select meal. What are they for, I guess is a question. Like the American meal or the Norwegian meal? We basically just do it as kind of like our gift to them for letting us come over. Is our food? Correct. And this year we are going to be bringing a couple of additional items with. And they said they would like to try bison. So we are going to do a couple different varieties of bison for them. And then we are also going to bring walleye with us over there. How are you finding walleyes? I can't find them. We actually can get that distributed from Cisco, which is where we will be ordering all of our food from. So they typically wouldn't be eating these kinds of American foods. And what kinds of foods do you expect to run across in Norway? I was told that they have a very large meal over there with a lot of the seafood because they are right near the ocean. So there's lobster, crab. They don't do a lot of the white fish like we have here. They're more of the salmon type of fish. And not as much red meat, probably, obviously, as we have. And that's why they look forward to that steak every year. Probably do, yeah. What are some of this, what are you finding as similarities when you get together with Norwegians? What are some of the similarities that you've experienced? So one of the cultural similarities that I picked out from almost right from the get go on my first Norax was the Minnesota nice aspect that we always discuss here. And I always kind of wondered where that came from. And when I met the Norwegians within a few hours, I realized that we share that. And I always kind of, when I explain it to my family, do the joke like when I say, would you like this? And then you say, well, no, that's okay. And then I say, well, please take it. And then we go back and forth maybe two or three times before I finally take your know for what it is. And I picked up on that right away. It's the same shtick, so to say, absolutely. We have a lot of Norwegians in Minnesota. A lot of the Norwegians in central Minnesota too. I'm kind of curious, both of you joined the guards in high school. What was it that triggered that for you? I'm kind of curious about that because in my era when I joined, it was mostly after high school or after college or back in my era, there was a draft too for people who got in the draft. But what attracted you guys to get into the military? I'm a first. The reason why I joined is up in Rozo, we do have a lot of flooding. And the National Guard was one of the main sources that came and helped with a lot of that. And I wanted to make sure that I was part of that because I cared about my community a lot. So that was one of the reasons. And then the other benefit of it was there was college assistance. Which is a very important thing. Yes, college is very expensive. So that was another reason. And I'll be honest, I really like the uniform. So that was another reason why I decided to join. That's very cool. I had a grandfather that was in World War II, another grandfather that was served shortly thereafter in the 101st Airborne Division. An uncle who was like an older brother to me who served in the reserves when the reserves still had infantry. And I grew up with the stories and I grew up with that aspect of it. And as well as the college portion of it, that was a big deal as well. But that kind of all played a part in me joining. So Andrew, you were a junior too in high school? I was a senior. And you were a junior? I was, yes. When you joined. And are you finding a lot of guard members that are joining when they're in high school? Is that still a pretty common thing? Absolutely. And when Camp Ripley serves the training in the summertime, do you know how many units come from outside of the state of Minnesota? You know, I couldn't answer a specific amount, but it is a regional training facility now. So we do get soldiers from all over the Midwest that come here and train, as well as emergency management individuals, and as well as MnDOT for plow training and whatnot. Is there still a camp in smarter Wisconsin that you know of? Is that still operational? You know, I'm unsure. Okay. I know that there's Fort McCoy somewhere down there and they are still operational. But they would be federal as a Fort. And then we are like a state owned entity with federal dollars that comes in as well. Right. So getting back to the Norwegian thing again, do you see this going on long term? Is it something that's just been beneficial to both organizations so that they can keep doing this, you think? I mean, I know you don't make the decisions for that. I would hope so. I mean, we have a lot of soldiers that I know that have gone and they really enjoy the experience and the different training and just the different cultures. So I would hope that they would continue to do this. Let's just talk a few minutes, if you don't mind, about some of the other things that people see. If they've never been to camp Ripley, what kinds of buildings, what kinds of things are going on there? Because I know when I was there back in the 60s, it's changed a lot. I know you have at least a museum. I think of all the animals from Minnesota. Isn't that there somewhere, an educational center? There is. And what is that for? What is that educational center? That educational center is in the training and community center. And what it's for is I believe a lot of the students go there and whatnot. And it's set up in such a way where they can identify the animals, the different animals that are native to Minnesota. And then later on they can pull out their worksheets and then they can see whether or not they got them right or not. It's a very, it's an amazing training tool. I've been there, I've seen it because the amount of animals they have in there is, it's amazing. And you have, what are the kinds of buildings or facilities do you have at camp? So you're probably there all the time and you don't think about it. But for somebody that just comes in and isn't familiar at all with the camp, what would they see? I think what they take away is how modern it's become. Even since I've started there, a lot of the old buildings, when you think the old army with the old tin buildings are green tents or whatnot, have been replaced with education centers with all the latest technology. We can communicate with other facilities as though we're right there in the meetings. No one has to drive anywhere with the technologies that are embedded in all the facilities now. The new style of barracks that are being built are so much better than what they used to be. One would even say that each individual soldier has a small little bit of privacy that wouldn't have been afforded to a soldier of maybe in the 1960s, 70s, 70s or 80s, or heck even when I started in the 90s. So there's a lot of that that you'll see. And you'll notice that the big takeaway that I see from Camp Ripley is not only how modern it is, but how clean it is. I mean, everything is up kept so nice and everything is taken care of. And you don't see broken windows and you don't see decrepit buildings and which is a testament to the state employees that maintain the facility. And you also have solar, don't you? Have some solar gardens there? And what do they do? What's the purpose of that? Are they actually providing heat or hot water or something or is that a demonstration site? I know I got hit by a tornado, I believe. So we start over with some of that. We do have some buildings that are geothermal heated. Oh, really? Which is kind of neat. And then we also have the solar plant. And the solar plant actually feeds back into the electrical grid so it doesn't necessarily power Camp Ripley proper. It's contributing to the grid itself. That's pretty cool. So when people, you talked about snow about plow drivers, state employees coming to get trained. Do they do that in that educational building that you have then? Is that kind of a multi-purpose setting? That particular one that you're referencing is purely for environmental students and whatnot. We have a much larger educational facility that has state-of-the-art classrooms and state-of-the-art technology designed for adult learning and the modern way that we teach and instruct things. And that is also attached to the dining facility so everything is co-located. And that's where the MnDOT employees, they're in that area. So they'll eat there, they'll dine there, they'll use those particular facilities. And then I think they're out in the maintenance base and whatnot too because of the type of training that they're doing. So on the culinary side, are you responsible for ordering the food for the camp? Is that part of your role? That is actually contracted. They do have a civilian side that does track all of the other entities that would come into Camp Ripley. And then we just track on the military side just the military units that are coming. So we could have anywhere from 100 to 500 soldiers. And on the civilian side, they could have anywhere from 10 to 120 people coming in from, whether it's the DNR, State Patrol, different counties that are doing SWAT training, schools, I know they have a lot of schools that come through. So it's really expanded its role, hasn't it? That camp from what it was back in my era was pretty much just military operations. So now it's making use of state resources and training state employees in a variety of levels. And you mentioned the conservation officers, highway patrol, that's pretty cool. They have the driving course out there. And I know my husband is a deputy with Stearns County and they do a lot of their driver's training and all kinds of active shooter training downrange at Camp Ripley. And then they also have a law enforcement facility that they just built with. They have the behind the wheel driving stuff that not only we use, but I believe they use as well. So if a person were interested to go to camp and just see what it's like, do they have to make an appointment for that? How do they get into the camp just to see what it is? Well, what they do is they come up in as long as they have a valid ID. And then, especially if they wanna go see the museum or whatever, security will ask them what their reason is to be on post. But yes, the public is welcome and they just need to have a valid ID to get on post. Is there a cost to go see the museum? I believe it's a small fee, $5, give or take. Okay. Have either of you been in active duty? I have not, no. I have been active guard reserve, but that's very different than active duty. Not in the war zone, you have anything like that. Deployed to Bosnia and that was it. So my voice personally is that every healthy kid coming out of high school should be either in the peace corps or in the military. I thought my military experience was a wonderful experience and I don't regret a minute of it. Is recruitment going well for the National Guard? I know you guys aren't recruiters, but is it still, are most of the organizations in the state doing pretty well? From what I've been told, Minnesota is actually one of the better states for recruiting. It seems like the youth in Minnesota are very interested in joining the military and giving back and serving. And that's a testament to the state. It is. And you look at the Red Bull units and some of the overseas assignments they've had, they've had quite a few. Correct. Back in the 60s, it was assumed the National Guard only took care of things state side, but our desert wars have changed that significantly. Are you seeing many veterans from the wars coming to camp? I suppose you see some of those in the summertime? Absolutely. Coming back with some of these units? Absolutely. Yeah. And 20 years is a pretty good time to serve. There's a lot of benefits. Do you plan to go beyond the 20 years? Says, who knows? I'm at 23 now. Oh, you're at 23, so you're already going past that. Good for you, good for you. How about an airport? What's the airport condition like at the camp? I mean, planes come and go there, right? Yes, they do. I think you're flying C-17s, or not C-17s. C-130s? C-130s, because I see those from time to time. Those are big, humongous airplanes that no one's ever been inside of one, and they really can get up on a short runway. They've got so much power. So what's housed out there? What do you have at camp? So as far as the airfield goes, I think the air guards are located in different locations, and they'll come and use that runway to do training. So they'll fly there, train, and then they'll fly out. We also have the aviation for the Army. So you have your Blackhawks, and then you have your Chinooks that we have. And then we also have the unmanned aerial recon vehicles. I'm not sure if that's the term they still use, but they have their own little runway over there, too. I shouldn't say little. It's pretty big. I've been out on it, but they're doing the unmanned training over there as well. So is that airport in operation year-round? It is. It is. And the people that work in that, are they private citizens, or are they military? There's a combination of, I believe, they are contractors, and then they also have what we would call green suitors, or active duty, or active guard, or technicians, overseeing operations. So do you have many military units that come to camp in the wintertime to train for winter operations? It's slow, but there's always units training. There are, even in the wintertime. Really? Correct. And for your knowledge, where do the farthest ones come from? What states would be some of the long distance that they come from for training? Oh, goodness. They come from all over. Really? All west, down south, Alabama, Arkansas. Absolutely. And I mean, heck, even the Canadians come. Really? Absolutely. So you haven't exchanged program with them, or is it just that they're coming to train at Camp Ripley? But you don't go back to Canada and do any training there. I haven't been invited while I'm fishing yet. I can hold out hope. And when the Canadians come to Camp Ripley, what are they looking for, for experiences there? I think it's just a good facility, and it's close to where they're at. So it's a good one to train in. I'm out of time. They went fast. So it was pretty easy. You guys did a great job. Thank you for coming. And if anybody wanted to find out more about Camp Ripley, you have a website? We do have a website. And if you do, we'll post it at the end of the show. So you don't have to memorize it if you didn't want to. But thank you very much for jumping on board. We appreciate it very much. Interesting program you're doing with the Norwegians. But I think for people who have not been to Camp Ripley in the last 15 years, they really should just go there and see what a great place it is. Thank you very much. Thank you. You've been watching Lakeland Currents, where we're talking about what you're talking about. I'm Ray Gildow. So long until next time.