Coordinated force defeats enemy during training at YTC

Photo By 1st Sgt. Justin A. Naylor | U.S. Army Soldiers, Stryker Combat Vehicles and helicopters work together to defeat a simulated enemy force during training at Yakima Training Center, Wash., April 7, 2015. This training required the coordination of multiple Strykers, helicopters, engineers and other support assets all focused on defeating enemy targets. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Justin Naylor, 3-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs)  

YAKIMA TRAINING CENTER, WA, UNITED STATES

04.09.2015

Story by Staff Sgt. Justin A. Naylor 

1-2 SBCT, 7th Infantry Division

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – Watching a company of highly-trained infantry Soldiers work together to attack and annihilate a target is an awe-inspiring sight. Their sheer determination, firepower and lethal capabilities are almost unbelievable. Add Apache helicopters, artillery and engineers on top of that and you cross from awe-inspiring to truly mind-boggling.

Infantrymen, tankers, engineers and a host of other specialty troops, under the leadership of Alpha Company, 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, worked together to stop and defeat a simulated enemy attack during training at Yakima Training Center, Washington, April 7.

“We’re integrating all kinds of enablers, so we had aviation, engineers, fires, all of them are working together,” said Lt. Col. Edward Ballanco, the commander of 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment.

During the attack, dozens of vehicles moved in close proximity with the occasional Stryker opening to allow ground troops to dismount and engage enemy targets. Moving throughout the formation were Stryker main gun systems—basically Stryker vehicles with a large, tank-like cannon on the top. These vehicles are capable of inflicting devastating damage on an enemy at a large distance.

Although the enemy was simulated, the rounds were real, adding another level of difficultly to the already strenuous training.

The training began with what is known as a dry run where the Soldiers and vehicles fired blank rounds.

“It was all new to them two days ago when we first did a dry run,” Ballanco said. “It took a long time, a lot of people learning, doing something they haven’t done before. They cut the time by more than half. People are reporting better, vehicles are in the right positions ... really just across the board they’re doing a better job.”

One of the biggest challenges for the Soldiers and the company commander in particular was coordinating all the different moving pieces.

“It’s hard enough for a company commander to move his Strykers, his dismounted infantry, his weapons squad and do that in a synchronized way,” Ballanco said. “Now he has got to also think about how he’s going to move engineers, how he’s going to fly his Raven, how he’s going to use fires and how he’s going to use the Apache air support that was there. It’s a lot of different things for the commander to think about. It gets overwhelming in the turret for him as he tries to think through how to best employ these guys and keep them all focused on the enemy at the right time.”

For the Soldiers on the ground, this training was a chance to demonstrate the skills they’ve been building over the last few months.

“First, we worked with platoon engagements where individual platoons moved, and we supported by fire,” said Pfc. Jacob Bisbal, an Austin, Texas, native and main gun system driver. “Prior to that, we did our own gunnery; each crew has to qualify with their main gun and their crew-served weapons.”

This was Bisbal’s first time operating his vehicle in such a diverse and populated environment.

“Safety, I’m guessing, it’s the biggest thing,” Bisbal said. “We have an ability, and it’s really quite a powerful weapon system, and if we’re not cognizant of everyone who is around us moving ... some of the other elements, they may not be aware of what we do and the issues that come with firing such a large weapon on a mobile platform like a Stryker.”

“You have to be more aware of the whole group,” Bisbal continued. “It’s almost like a school of fish or a flock of birds; you’re all maneuvering together on the different points.”

This company-sized training is not something a unit jumps right into, though. The Soldiers of Company A spent months training at the individual, team, squad and platoon levels to get where they are now.

These Soldiers will train in a number of different areas during their rotation at Yakima Training Center. All of this work is helping refine them for any future mission they may face.

“The number one thing I want them to learn is how to use their weapons systems in the terrain against that enemy,” Ballanco said. “If you understand how your weapons system works, if you understand the advantages and disadvantages of the terrain you’re in, and if you understand what enemy you’re up against then you’re going to win every time. Those three elements combine to either make you win or lose.”

• Date Taken: 04.09.2015
• Date Posted: 04.09.2015 16:59
• Story ID: 159553
• Location: YAKIMA TRAINING CENTER, WA, US
• Hometown: AUSTIN, TX, US