Photo By Maj. Jonathan Camire | POCHEON, South Korea - Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Armored...... read more read more
Subscribe
CAMP HOVEY, South Korea – Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, and 2nd Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, participated in exercise Warrior Strike 7 at the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon, South Korea and Camp Stanley in Uijeongbu, South Korea May 1-5.
The combined exercise with the South Korean military had Soldiers conduct air assaults from multiple locations into the target areas before securing and searching for simulated weapons of mass destruction.
Warrior Strike 7 “strengthens our own ability to meet our responsibilities here on the peninsula in countering weapons of mass destruction,” said Maj. Ronald Brown, the 1st ABCT aviation officer and lead Warrior Strike 7 planner. “Also, since it’s a combined effort between us and the Korean forces, it strengthens our relationship with Korean military forces in a joint and combined fashion.”
During the first portion of the exercise, approximately 90 Soldiers from 1st Bn., 16th Inf. Regmt. conducted their air assault from the Dokdo, a South Korean naval vessel. The ship was anchored roughly 50 miles offshore when the Soldiers boarded their CH-47 Chinook and UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters bound for Camp Stanley.
“I, along with those 90 Soldiers, never imagined conducting an air assault from a navy vessel, especially one of the largest war ships in the (South Korean) navy,” said Maj. Michael Wellock, the operations officer for 1st Bn., 16th Inf. Regmt. “The Navy has a rich history and many traditions that our Soldiers are unaccustomed to. However, the (South Korean) navy and their sailors welcomed us with open arms and full transparency.”
Wellock went on to say that, while the Soldiers could have conducted their air assult from any location, doing it from the deck of a South Korean vessel showed that the battalion has additional operational reach and allowed commanders the additional options to employ their forces.
“The ‘Iron Rangers’ are prepared to move to an objective, link up and pass through the (South Korean) army, and clear any objective regardless of the delivery or movement method,” Wellock said. “Our ability to plan and coordinate with the 2nd Inf. Div., multiple battalions, enablers, aviators, the (South Korean) army and (South Korean) navy provides commanders at higher echelons a strategic employment capability.”
Once on the ground, the Soldiers joined with others from their battalion and met up with their South Korean counterparts before heading off to Camp Stanley’s tunnels. Also on hand were chemical specialists from the 2nd Infantry Division’s 23rd Chemical Battalion to help exploit the WMD site.
Once in the tunnels the 1st Bn., 16th Inf. Regmt. and 23rd Chem. Bn. Soldiers searched the tunnels for simulated munitions and WMDs.
“We conducted link up, passage of lines, integration of battle positions with the (South Korean) army, cleared and exploited an underground facility and submitted combined timely and accurate reports within eight hours of arriving at the landing zone,” Wellock said.
The next potion of the exercise had Soldiers from 2nd Bn., 34th Armor Regmt., board their helicopters at Camp Mobile in Dongducheon, South Korea, before flying to their training site on the Rodriguez Life Fire Complex.
Once on the ground, the ‘Dreadnaught’ Soldiers linked in with their South Korean counterparts that had already secured part of the mock village. Once link-up was complete, the Soldiers then cleared suspected WMD facilities, allowing for chemical enablers to exploit the sites.
The exercise culminated with a large-scale assault on Blackhawk Village on Rodriguez. The village contained numerous opposition force, or OPFOR, Soldiers that needed to be neutralized before searching for the village’s WMDs.
Warrior Strike 7 was the third such exercise the brigade participated in and was the last before departing home following their nine-month rotation to South Korea.
“I’m very pleased with the way the Soldiers performed,” Brown said. “From all the way from the planning phase, working in conjunction with division and our (South Korean) counterparts, to the way we performed on the ground was fantastic.”
Brown said organizers plan to pass along everything they’ve learned from the three exercises to future rotational forces, giving them the ability to build on what the 1st ABCT has already learned.
The Warrior Strike exercises are expected to grow and evolve as organizers build on the exercise as future rotational forces continue participating in the counter WMD event.
The 1st ABCT is currently in South Korea on a nine-month deployment as part of a regular rotational force to support the 2nd Inf. Div. and the U.S. commitment to security on the Korean peninsula.
| Date Taken: | 05.22.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 05.23.2017 03:22 |
| Story ID: | 234813 |
| Location: | CAMP HOVEY, KR |
| Web Views: | 569 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, ‘Devil’ Soldiers train in counter WMD in South Korea, by MSG Warren Wright, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT