TROY, N.Y. -- New York Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Michael Brown, an operations NCO with the 42nd Infantry Division Headquarters points out positions of maneuver forces during the division's combined arms rehearsal at the division headquarters' Troy Armory Nov. 7. Leading the rehearsal of battle plans in the background are (from left to right) Lt. Col. Dennis Deeley, Division Operations Officer, Col. Gary Yaple, Division Chief of Staff, Brig. Gen. Steven Wickstrom, the 42nd Infantry Division Commander, Brig. Gen. Matthew McCoy, Deputy Division Commander and Division Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Jenks.

The headquarters is preparing to deploy more than 130 Citizen Soldiers for the Bilateral Joint Training Exercise Yama Sakura in Northern Japan. The exercise, scheduled for the first half of December 2009, will involve a large-scale battle simulation between U.S. Army and Japanese Ground Self Defense Forces.