53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team rehearses unified land operations

Photo By Staff Sgt. Aidana Baez | Maj. Jeffrey Odette, the information officer assigned to Headquarters, 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, briefs the operations during a combined arms rehearsal at annual training on Camp Blanding June 9, 2015.  

STARKE, FL, UNITED STATES

06.09.2015

Story by Staff Sgt. Aidana Baez 

Florida National Guard Public Affairs Office

By Capt. Colleen Krepstekies and Staff Sgt. Aidana Baez, Headquarters, 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team

STARKE, Fla. – The 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team’s leadership conducted a combined arms rehearsal during their annual training at the Regional Training Institute on Camp Blanding in order to train leaders on the three-dimensional nature of unified land operations June 9.

The Army is transitioning from a counter insurgency based doctrine back to a unified land operation doctrine.

“Unified land operations is what the Army is doing now,” said Col. Rafael Ribas, commander for the 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team. “That’s what we’re training to; that’s why we’re doing this scenario.”

Training and performing rehearsals allows commanders to showcase how unified land operations work in support of major operations.

“For those of us who are older, it brings back the information or the type of simulations we did when were younger and brings us back to their unified land operations where we were able to fight as a combined arms team as opposed to the current fight,” said Ribas. “For the junior leaders, it introduces them to what we might have seen when we were young.”

To fully explain the operational environment, a near gymnasium-sized three-dimensional mock battlefield was created to indicate terrain features and unit icons that assist military leaders to plan and rehearse how units execute military operations. The sand table provides visual markers and aids planners to understand the battlefield, refine multiple hypotheses and confirm the commander’s intent.

“They’re getting the opportunity to brief a senior leader and brief other people so it puts them at ease and gives them confidence in what they’re talking about and what it is they’re executing,” said Ribas. “Once they go through that, then in the rehearsal piece, they understand how they play in the entire group and organization.”

By incorporating rehearsals into the training schedule, commanders ensure leaders and staff understand the concept of operations.

“I think it’s the understanding,” Ribas said. “If you understand what your capabilities are, if you understand what your requirements are and you’re able to put these two together, then you should be able to meet any situation that comes up.”

• Date Taken: 06.09.2015
• Date Posted: 06.10.2015 14:01
• Story ID: 166116
• Location: STARKE, FL, US
• Hometown: JUPITER, FL, US
• Hometown: PINELLAS PARK, FL, US