Warfighter 2015: Proving the Arrowhead Division's mettle

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Elizabeth Pena | The 36th Infantry Division Commander Maj. Gen. Lester "Les" Simpson discusses ongoing operations during the 2015 Warfighter Exercise with a visiting officer at Fort Hood, Texas, June 10, 2015. The two-week exercise tested staff processes and coordination during a real-time simulated conflict. (Texas Army National photo by Sgt. Elizabeth Pena/Released)  

FORT HOOD, TX, UNITED STATES

06.11.2015

Story by Spc. Christina Clardy 

36th Infantry Division (TXARNG)

FORT HOOD, Texas -- For two weeks, more than 600 Soldiers from the 36th Infantry Division "Arrowhead" immersed themselves in an in-depth combat objective scenario to test and evaluate the unit's capabilities, organizational cohesion, and overall operational knowledge base at the Mission Training Complex on Fort Hood, Texas, May 29 through June 12, 2015.

The exercise, called Warfighter, places the Division Headquarters in a mock conflict with challenges based on real-world scenarios, giving the unit a mission to accomplish with realistic and interactive play from an enemy force. The purpose is to test the troops in a new type of environment, unlike the established areas of operational deployments like Iraq and Afghanistan.

This simulated war calls for the unit to plan, prepare, enter, and set up bases of operation in a new country. The division must then commit to and execute a multi-national, multi-divisional combat engagement with active and reactive offensive and defensive operations to complete the mission objective.

"This is a complex and resource-intensive experience for training audience commanders and their Soldiers," said First Army Division West Commander Maj. Gen. Jeffrey N. Colt. "This gives them a multi-echelon experience, and I have seen the 36th Division and their subordinate units make tremendous strides and grow in their confidence over the course of the exercise."

In the scenario, the fictional national of Ariana has invaded its neighbor Atropia and exiled Atropia's legitimate government to nearby Gorgas. The division's charge was to work in concert with Seventh Corps and drive the Arianan forces from Atropia and re-install the official government.

"Warfighter is a simulation exercise that allows units of various echelons, from corps to division to brigade, to integrate command systems and execute large-scale missions and operations," said Lt. Col. Gary Beaty, Warfighter chief of operations and command of Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 36th Infantry Division.

The training is run on preset situations and reactive scenarios based on the actions or inactions of the division, a subordinate brigade, or sections within the units. For example, enemy combatants are expected to react to any offensive attacks, and if a subordinate unit fails to make accommodate civilian situations in play, more problems may arise as a result of the lack of action on the unit's part.

"I will say that one of the strengths of the National Guard is that we are citizen-Soldiers," said 36th Infantry Division Commanding General Maj. Gen. Lester "Les" Simpson, "and that we bring civilian-acquired skills as well as our military specialties along with us."

Observer controllers from the Military Training Complex on Fort Hood play the opposition forces to the division and its brigades. This system was designed to not only be more interactive but to test critical skills and points necessary for the units to perform as if this were an actual conflict.

"It is about improving the process and systems while learning how to integrate large scale operations from theater to region," said Beaty, "and gives the units opportunities to use assets not organic to their own organization, such as artillery, aviation, or heavy maneuver forces."

The other facet is the observer trainers, who are specialized military personnel and experienced contractors working directly with each of the sections, unit level command staff, and personnel. Their purpose is to observe the sections and units for specialized evaluation, but to also offer advice based on their own wealth of knowledge and experience in that field.

"What impressed me the most about the division's performance and the performance of the Soldiers and staff overall was the synergy developed between the training audiences, the training audience units, and my staff as they synchronized air, ground, and artillery assets for maximum effect in the battlefield," said Simpson. "The challenge of developing a personal battle rhythm that allowed me time to think and visualize how the phases of the battle would unfold, while satisfying [video teleconferences], planning staff guidance, and speaking at senior leader engagements and press conferences."

The skills and capabilities strengthened through the Warfighter process will become an asset in both of the division's standing missions: supporting the citizens of Texas and training to defend the U.S. nationally and internationally. One of the benefits of the division's complementing standing missions is the wide utility of unit assets and the service members' transversal skills that boost and benefit their efforts within this exercise.

Guard Soldiers are distinctly skilled because not only are they trained and capable of performing their duties equal to any active duty Soldier, but they bring additional skills to the unit; these Soldiers have civilian careers as electricians, computer technicians, plumbers, chefs, business owners, and more.

"We are citizen Soldiers, and that is what makes us so unique," said Command Sgt. Maj. John Sampa, the senior enlisted noncommissioned officer of the 36th ID. "Our Soldiers have a civilian life and a military life. As civilians they are doctors, policemen, home builders, engineers, pilots and teachers."

For this exercise, four brigades were tested for validation as well: the 101st Division Artillery Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division, Texas' 56th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the 36th Inf. Div., the 26th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade of the Massachusetts Army National Guard, and the California Army National Guard's 40th Combat Aviation Brigade. The 40th CAB is slated to deploy later this year.

The 36th Inf. Div. has been preparing and planning for this exercise for the past three years and has attended other similar training exercises as non-evaluated support unit representatives for other divisions and brigades.

"Warfighter is important because it's not just the 36th Infantry Division from Texas, but it is a multi-state, multi-organizational exercise," said Maj. Gen. John Nichols, the Texas Adjutant General. "It is important for the Department of Defense to know that the National Guard is capable of conducting these kinds of operations, and it also lets the National Command Authority know that the division is deployable."

• Date Taken: 06.11.2015
• Date Posted: 06.30.2015 12:12
• Story ID: 168601
• Location: FORT HOOD, TX, US