The sun began to rise over the jagged mountaintops as a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter approached the make-shift camp of armored vehicles and tents in a secluded area deep in southern California's Mojave Desert.

The chopper's rotors blasted sand into the air as Army Col. Robert Ashe stepped off the aircraft and marched toward the small encampment of his soldiers. He smiled, quietly making his way into a tent-covered command center.

It would be another hour before full sunlight at the Army's National Training Center would awaken the mass of slumbering soldiers spread throughout the campsite on cots or thin pads atop their tan vehicles. Those extra moments of rest were key for soldiers who didn't know when they might get to sleep again.

"They don't know what's next," Ashe said. "They could be attacked or called up for some kind of action. It reminds you of being in Iraq or for the guys that went to Afghanistan — it's part of the scenario and the realities of being deployed."

In early August, Ashe deployed the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division across the country to Fort Irwin, California, where his 5,000 soldiers spent the month training at the Army's massive National Training Center.

The barren, desert post reminds many troops of combat tours in the Middle East. Its sand-covered, uneven terrain can be difficult to manipulate, yet that harsh environment and the post's massive footprint, roughly the size of Rhode Island, make it an ideal proving ground for brigade-sized units preparing for new missions.

"You don't want a soldier to go into a hostile, harsh environment, and that's the first time they've experienced something like it," NTC spokesman Guy Volb said. "They get a solid feel for what deployed life is like. The environment here is brutal; I don't think it gets any tougher, but while they're here they are going to gain the confidence and the skills they need for the battlefield."

Fort Stewart's 1st Brigade had one major goal at NTC: Prepare for its next mission to align with U.S. Army Europe and serve as a quickly deployable unit with the NATO Response Force.

It's a complex process. Soldiers performed live-fire missions and navigated situational awareness exercises. They installed security features — from gun trucks to concertina wire — around their campsites and repelled enemy attacks.

Eventually, they launched a full battle against the Fort Irwin-based opposing force — cavalry scouts identified targets, artillerymen destroyed communication and air defense systems and, finally, two battalions of tankers and infantrymen launched an assault against the enemy forces.

Each is a crucial part of the mission, Ashe said, yet none of it would be possible without one of the key aspects of the entire NTC rotation — the logistics.

"You can train your brigade without the (opposing force) ever coming out here," the colonel said. "Just getting water, food, ice, repair parts for vehicles from point A to point B, when you've got 5,000 people and seven battalions spread to four corners (of NTC), that is a challenge."

Without food, water and fuel, soldiers cannot fight.

"That process never stops, so every day the logistical monster that is a heavy brigade combat team ... has to learn and grow," Ashe said. "Just being able to come out here and say, 'Hey, can we sustain ourselves? Can I get food, water to the right place? Can I get repair parts to the right place?'"

Like many units before them, 1st Brigade struggled at times with those tasks. Soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery Regiment went several days without being resupplied with Meals, Ready to Eat, or MREs. Likewise, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment soldiers were without ice and down to just one MRE per day at a point. Slowly, the brigade's enablers — as support soldiers are called — overcame those challenges, Ashe said.

"When we first hit the ground, it's a struggle because you're putting systems in place. You're learning new things every day, and it generally takes two or three days before you kind of get to the point where you start to smooth things out," he said.

Lack of meals, water and other supplies can wear on soldiers, lowering morale and focus, but it also builds mental toughness, said Army Capt. Joseph Tague, the commander of 1-41's Bravo Battery.

"It can happen downrange, supply lines can get cut off," said Tague, whose soldiers spent several days conducting live fire exercises on limited supplies. "... You have to have faith that (supplies are) coming. Then you've got to really ration and preserve what you've got."

Limited supplies, eating MREs, extended periods without showers and, at times, limited or no access to private toilets were among the chief complaints soldiers expressed during their two-week period "in the box" at the National Training Center.

And then there are nature's obstacles — the intense sun, heat reaching more than 103 degrees, and all that sand that seems to infiltrate its way into every crack and crevice of anything near it.

The sand, in fact, may be the most frustrating part of a deployment to NTC, several soldiers said.

"Out here it's really difficult to keep your weapons clean," said infantryman Spc. Michael Anderson, as he sat on the back of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle cleaning his M249 Squad Automatic Weapon with a toothbrush. "You set it down for a second and it's got dust in it.

"Any time you don't have something to do, you clean it. You just do the best you can do so that it doesn't jam."

For other soldiers the seclusion and the lack of contact with family members for two weeks was the most difficult aspect of the training.

That was especially true among the younger soldiers on their first major training rotation.

"It's not really fun. It's stressful. You just try to focus on what you're doing and getting back," said Pfc. Dillon Tate, an M109A6 Paladin howitzer driver who left his pregnant wife at home. "It's really difficult to be away, to have no contact for a couple weeks. I can't wait to get home; it's hard not to worry about her a little."

Pfc. Elis Rosario, a tanker who like Tate is about a year into his Army career, agreed that leaving family — his wife and two children — behind was the toughest part. Rosario, though, said he was enjoying the training.

"I'm learning a lot," he said. "It's actually been a lot of fun. It's a great experience. I'm becoming a better tanker."

For the first time in his short career, Rosario was introduced to the gunner's job.

"You start to get a handle on what it really takes to be a gunner," he said. "There's a lot to it. There's pressure. There's several difficult tasks, but we're getting the job done. You have to look at it like this is the closest we're getting to real combat ... You just take it seriously. You focus and you prepare yourself because once the real thing (war) comes, you had better be ready for whatever you might encounter."

For more experienced soldiers who've already served overseas combat rotations, the training deployment may seem easier.

"Thirty days is a walk in the park," said Spc. Tanner Layton, a Bradley gunner with 2-7 Infantry who has served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan during his eight years in the Army.

The main challenge for the more experienced soldiers, Layton said, is the change in mission — preparing to fight a conventional Army as opposed to the insurgencies U.S. forces have faced in recent years in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We're really fighting against ourselves," he said. "Really, that's kind of a huge switch. It's a mind-check for me. I haven't had to avoid tanks and stuff in my deployments. It's different when you're fighting an enemy that has similar weapons and tactics."

The "enemy" in 1st Brigade's NTC scenario may have been different than the insurgents American troops have fought on real-world battlefields in Afghanistan and Iraq for 13 years, but the planning process does not drastically change.

No matter where the Raider Brigade may be asked to deploy, it has to be prepared to fight, brigade leaders said.

One battalion commander compared the rotation to training camp for a football team.

"Folks have to understand the playbook. They've got to understand the plan, they've got to eat well and hydrate and prepare their bodies and we do the exact same thing with all this here at NTC," said Lt. Col. Chad Chalfont, the commander of 2-7 Infantry.

Among the keys to ensuring a successful training rotation, he said, is taking advantage of the opportunity to train across such a massive landscape, incorporating every aspect of the brigade combat team and the several dozen other units attached to it for the exercise.

It's something the unit cannot do at Fort Stewart, where it's rare for even an entire battalion to train together at one time.

"Here you've got all this space, so it's not just a notional unit on your flank," Chalfont said. "If you don't do something or if you do something it has an actual, real-world effect on that other unit.

"It gives our leaders a great workout ... that's an outstanding benefit and that's really tough to get anywhere but here."

The planning process can be complicated, but Chalfont said he's typically impressed with what his soldiers can accomplish with even only a small amount of guidance.

"These are great soldiers," he said. "American soldiers, I think, are accustomed to being great. You tell them what to do, and they get it done. It's amazing what a 22-year-old or a 19-year-old can accomplish.

"I think people respond well when they feel they're part of a team that's committed to excellence and they're part of an organization that takes care of its own, and that's what we do ... and I think it's the same all across the Raider Brigade."

Share:
In Other News
Load More