 If you ask the average Army National Guard soldier what annual training entails, he or she is likely to reply that it's a two-week yearly training period conducted at a unit's home station. For Army National Guard soldiers participating in Joint Readiness Training Center Rotation 2108.5 at Fort Polk, Louisiana, their annual training looks a bit different than what they're used to. I'm sure all of you guys have heard a lot about it being humid, hot and miserable. Yes, that's going to happen, but it's a good training event and it's something that's important to all of us. For Sergeant Frankie and other artillerymen of the 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, their focus is on training and preparing for the simulated battlefield, more commonly referred to by soldiers as the box, which they will be entering and operating in for approximately two weeks. In May, we went through and we did crew drills, which is where you don't have any ammo and you just repeat the motions of firing the howitzer over and over. We did convoy movement training, react to ambush, react to contact, security, all of that. We spent eight days just going over all of the tactical side of things. And that training and preparation will be put to good use when the 39th Infantry Brigade passes through these gates into what Fort Polk residents refer to as Tigerland. So they'll get a better idea of just how well they're able to operate as a brigade during combat. I'm just really excited to see how my unit functions based on the training that we've had over the past year or so. The combat effectiveness of the 39th will be evaluated as it maneuvers on the battlefield and must overcome whatever obstacles are thrown at them. Hey, they're pushing, get ready. That includes reacting to direct contact from opposing forces played by role players. It's very important to be able to know what it's like to have a force on force. It's very important to know what your mind is going to be thinking in that instant where someone is attacking you. I think we're going to learn a lot and come away with a much better force on the backside. Reporting from the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana, I'm Specialist Patrick Gillum.