Arrowhead Brigade sweeps over National Training Center

Photo By Staff Sgt. Christopher McCullough | U.S. Army soldiers with 3-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division, "Arrowhead Brigade" arrive at Logistics Supply Area Warrior, a staging area for units preparing to conduct field training operations at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif. Their arrival marks the beginning of preparations for a month of intense training. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Chris McCullough)  

FORT IRWIN, CA, UNITED STATES

01.13.2014

Story by Staff Sgt. Christopher McCullough 

1-2 SBCT, 7th Infantry Division

FORT IRWIN, Calif. – The 3-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division, arrived at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., early this month to prepare its soldiers for a month of intense training.

The Arrowhead troops settled into living tents on Logistics Supply Area Warrior, a staging area for units preparing to conduct field training operations at NTC.

Throughout the main unit's arrival, Arrowhead soldiers who were sent in advance of the main body—what is referred to in the U.S. Army as a torch party—prepared the way for the 6,000-plus soldiers who arrived by planes and buses. They assisted them in offloading equipment, moving into temporary living quarters and setting up unit kitchens to feed the troops.

"Right now, we're receiving the main body on the average of 37 buses a day," said Sgt. Maj. Lynnwood Bailey Jr., of Fort Bragg, N.C., the brigade operations sergeant major. "That's not including all the other units coming from Fort Campbell, Ky., Alaska, engineers from Fort Drum, N.Y., national guardsmen from Fort Dix, N.J., the Old Guard from DC, as well as our Japanese counterparts. These are partners that will help us accomplish our mission."

Once the soldiers settled in, they spent their first few days unloading vehicles from railcars, pulling gear out of containers, preparing their individual equipment, installing multiple integrated laser engagement system equipment on vehicles and conducting individual training, explained Capt. Jesse Bolton, a San Jose, Calif., native and commander of Headquarters and Headquarters Company for 3-2 SBCT.

All this hard work is in preparation for intense training that Bolton promises will be different than anything 3-2 SBCT soldiers received over the last 12 years of conflict.

"Those that have either been deployed or experienced a training center rotation, it’s a completely different scenario" said Bolton.

He went on to say that there will be no fixed bases, and operations that once focused on capturing insurgents will shift to large-scale, conventional warfare training. The emphasis will be on going back to established Army doctrine with offensive and defensive operations that transition into local national support.

During the training, soldiers will conduct individual and unit-level weapons training, as well as vehicular drills and chemical weapons exercises all culminating in a force-on-force exercise.

All this training is in preparation for the brigade's new regionally-aligned, Pacific-region focused mission. It will ready the unit to conduct contingency response forces—small, tailor-made units designed to deploy on short notice to support Pacific Command, said Bolton.

For the next month, Arrowhead soldiers will spend their time at NTC honing their skills and working together as a team to accomplish the brigade's mission and ensure a successful training rotation.

• Date Taken: 01.13.2014
• Date Posted: 01.14.2014 01:05
• Story ID: 119119
• Location: FORT IRWIN, CA, US
• Hometown: FORT LIBERTY, NC, US
• Hometown: SAN JOSE, CA, US