La. Guard enhances readiness with new heavy-lift cranes and specialized training

By Sgt. Danny Hough, Louisiana National Guard Public Affairs Office

PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana National Guard’s 225th Engineer Brigade received two new Family of All Terrain Crane (FoATC) Type 1s and completed training on the cranes at LANG Training Center Pineville from Oct. 29 to Nov. 8.

The new FoATC Type 1s, specifically designed for challenging environments, will support the LANG’s readiness by enabling units to perform essential construction missions and heavy-lift tasks more efficiently. This equipment enhances the LANG’s ability to respond to missions both domestically and abroad, ensuring Soldiers are equipped with the tools needed to safely and effectively execute critical infrastructure and emergency operations.

“This equipment is more mission-capable in adverse operating conditions for the heavy lifting required on many of our missions,” said Sgt. Larry Newman, a team leader from the 927th Engineer Company, 225th Engineer Brigade. “The most important part of training was learning safety procedures while operating in high-risk conditions.”

The training focused on Operator and Operator Maintenance New Equipment Training, covering safety, characteristics, capabilities and features, controls and indicators for the carrier and superstructure, maneuvering, crane setup, crane operations, lifting attachments, operations under unusual conditions, emergency hydraulic operations and troubleshooting.

“The importance of this training is to ensure Soldiers in the gaining commands are able to fully utilize this new capability in their peacetime and wartime missions,” said Brian Roberts, the lead training instructor from the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command. “Without this training the units cannot effectively incorporate this equipment into mission planning.”