By Pfc. Thomas Duval

FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska - Inside a tan, slightly weathered tent lies the heart of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.

On a simulated mission to support the Afghanistan National Security Forces, the 1/25 SBCT soldiers transformed the tent into a center for knowledge and talent during a 10-day field training exercise on the hot asphalt terrain of Fort Wainwright’s Battle Command Training Center Aug. 16-25.

During the exercise soldiers got a glimpse of what brigade and battalion staff life is like in combat operations. The soldiers underwent such challenges as scheduling and conducting key leader engagements, reacting to contact drills, medical evacuation exercises, and specific tasks unique to each section.

“The exercise opened my eyes to the key things I need to focus and improve on before I can be fully prepared for future missions,” said Pfc. Howard Goodrich, infantryman with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1/25 SBCT. “You can focus every day on how to do your job, but it’s not until you are called on to do it in a combat situation that you can truly become proficient.”

As the week progressed soldiers saw more scenarios at a higher intensity. Although the complexity of the training kicked into overdrive by days five and six, the simulated missions and enemy forces were still no match for the 1/25 Soldiers.

"The real measure of success was how willing and able we were to learn ... the answer I got was that we were learning,” said Col. Todd R. Wood, commander 1/25 SBCT.

For many of the junior enlisted soldiers, the intense training provided them with a platform to shine.

Pvt. Andrew Strauss was among them. Arriving to Fort Wainwright in 2008, Strauss stood tall while providing precise analysis of intelligence gathered by his section. Acting as the section representative he demonstrated his ability to lead from the front, a trait that many of the 1/25 SBCT soldiers demonstrated during the 10 days of demanding field training.

"On day one of the exercise I had all the new staff stand up and I realized that one third of the staff was new and new within the last 30 days,” Wood said. "We have a new team but they performed at a very high level very fast"

“The 1/25 SBCT Soldiers did an excellent job setting up and running a fully functional tactical operations center,” said 1st Lt. Amanda Warren, 25th Brigade Support Battalion, 1/25 SBCT. “It’s impressive to see the amount of cooperation that goes into essentially creating a huge network of tents and communication systems that can link several hundred persons in order to execute operations in such a short space of time.”

Although the soldiers’ high level of performance garnered much attention, it was a group of highly dedicated workers that made the exercise possible. Like the frame of the tent that housed the heart of the 1/25 SBCT’s soldiers and provided vital shelter to its operations, the members of the Battle Command Training Program supported the brigade’s mission and brought life to the exercise.

"You just can't buy the kind of insight that the members of the BCTP bring to this exercise," said Brig. Gen. Raymond Palumbo, commander of U.S. Army Alaska.

Retired Gen. Dan K. McNeil served as the exercise’s senior trainer and mentor bringing to the table his experience as the Coalition Forces commander in Afghanistan (2002-2003), commander of Forces Command (2004-2007), and the International Security Assistance Forces commander (2007-2008).

Together with McNeil and the BCTP, each battalion took the lead on multiple scenarios and although there were many working groups incorporated in the training exercise there was one group that stood above the rest; The 1/25 as a whole.