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Golden Coyote Training Exercise

South Dakota National Guard Public Affairs

June 12, 2012 | 7:38

RAPID CITY, S.D. – The South Dakota National Guard's annual Golden Coyote training exercise in the southern Black Hills June 9 – 23, providing relevant training opportunities in support of overseas contingency operations and homeland defense. Created in the mid 1980’s by the South Dakota National Guard, with the cooperation of the National Forest Service and Custer State Park, the Golden Coyote training exercise allows more than 2,200 service members to conduct combat support and combat service support missions in a realistic training environment and provide valuable services to the public. Local residents receive numerous benefits of the many engineering projects being conducted during the training exercise. Engineering units transport timber cut in remote areas to those who can use it as firewood, identify hazardous wilderness areas and make them safe for public use, and re-surface local roadways that have fallen into disrepair. Approximately 37 units representing 17 states and six foreign nations participate in the exercise and from multiple branches of military service – Army, Navy, and Air Force – working together to create an invaluable training experience. Participating units train on their equipment and employ tactics to complete various projects that help improve the forest and infrastructure of many local communities. In addition, individual units in the task force are able to participate in numerous warrior training tasks and battle drills, such as urban combat operations, land navigation, first aid, casualty evacuation, and day and night convoy operations. This provides a valuable opportunity for units to train on skills needed for any future overseas deployment. Also available in high definition.