434th Main Support Battalion attends annual training at Camp Ripley

CAMP RIPLEY -- Soldiers in the 434th Main Support Battalion are at annual training through June 28 at Camp Ripley. Approximately 400 soldiers are participating.

The training focus is "defend." It's one of four mission essential tasks for the battalion, which will be evaluated by the 1-340 Training Support Battalion out of Arden Hills.

Besides the annual training at Camp Ripley, the 434th Main Support Battalion is supporting several other missions across the country this summer.

"We're sending soldiers to Arkansas to support 1-125, and we've got some soldiers going to South Dakota to support the South Dakota National Guard," said Capt. Paul Webster, training officer for the battalion. "We've got some soldiers supporting the (134th) Forward Support Battalion (in Minnesota) in August and also some soldiers supporting the Officer Candidate School here at Camp Ripley."

More than 800 soldiers belong to the 434th Main Support Battalion, which has companies and detachments across Minnesota. Headquarters, Headquarters Detachment, A Co., C Co. and D Co. Detachment 2 are located at Camp Ripley. B(-) Co. is in Austin, B Co. Detachment 2 is in St. Cloud, D Co. is in Duluth, D Co. Detachment 1 is in Long Prairie and E Co. is in Cottage Grove.