Force-on-force training ensures unit readiness

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Samuel Northrup | An M1A2 Abrams tank with Company D, 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry (Mechanized), 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, drives down the road during a force on force exercise March 11, at Twin Bridges Training Area. This exercise trained Soldiers on defensive and offensive tank tactics to ensure unit readiness for their mission on the peninsula. (U.S. Army Photos by Sgt. Samuel Northrup, 1ABCT)  

TWIN BRIDGES TRAINING AREA, SOUTH KOREA

03.11.2015

Story by Sgt. Samuel Northrup 

1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division

TWIN BRIDGES TRAINING AREA, South Korea – Dust hung in the freezing air behind the tanks as they sped down the road. Company D’s objective was in an area with very capable enemy forces.

The lead tank drove off the road to the right. The Bradleys veered off to the left to get a better view of what lay ahead of them. The situation was tense; they knew the enemy was nearby. All it would take is … Boom!

An enemy tank in the distance fired its main gun as the U.S. tanks maneuvered into a better attack posture. There was a rapid exchange of machine gun fire. Dust and the sound of chaos filled the air.

This training scenario was played out by members of Company D, 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry (Mechanized), 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, during a force-on-force exercise held March 11-13 at Twin Bridges Training Area.

“We are training on force on force, defense and offensive tactics,” said Sgt. 1st Class Hector Meza, an M1 armor series crewman with Company D. “We are using our Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System on the tanks and pyrotechnics to simulate the battlefield effects against each other.”

For the scenario, offensive troops start moving along the main supply route toward the objective, said Meza. They are on the look out for enemy tanks because the opposing force section that is in the defense is where the offensive force’s objective is.

New platoon leaders, platoon sergeants and section leaders are always coming in, which makes training such as this very important, said Meza. If the Soldiers are not practicing and cross training with one another, they can lose their ability to maneuver and destroy the enemy.

“There are four crew members for the M1A2 Abrams Tank,” said Meza. “You want them to have the ability to crosstalk with each other. Each Soldier is an integrated part of that crew. Without the ability to communicate, you will not have an effective crew or the ability to engage the enemy effectively as a tank, let alone a group of four tanks.”

With the current counter-insurgency operations many nations face around the world; some may believe conventional fighting is a thing of the past. However, with the attempted annexation and occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014, and the threat of the world’s fourth largest army just north of the Korean demilitarized zone, the threat of conventional war is far from over.

“The importance of this exercise is to be ready for whatever happens,” said Gabriel Sorensen, a tank gunner with Company D. “Technically the Korean War never ended in a peace treaty; it just ended in an armistice. North Korea has shown they have plans to use aggressive force, so we still have to be ready … if that happens.”

• Date Taken: 03.11.2015
• Date Posted: 03.23.2015 22:05
• Story ID: 157854
• Location: TWIN BRIDGES TRAINING AREA, KR