Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Sierra A. Melendez | Soldiers with Company B, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat...... read more read more
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FORT POLK, La. - On the early morning of Feb. 20 in an undisclosed location deep in the woods of the Joint Readiness Training Center in Fort Polk, Louisiana, the only thing that could be heard was the slow roar of a hovering UH-60 Black Hawk.
With only the glow of the moon faintly silhouetting the chopper, one by one the outline of Soldiers rappelling from over 60 feet could be made out. Once they hit the ground, they disappeared again in the overwhelming darkness of the night, presumably in the never-ending wood lines.
Those Soldiers were with the 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). They were completing a joint forcible entry into "the box," JRTC’s designated area where the majority of force-on-force training takes place.
A joint forcible entry is a joint decisive action to seize operational initiative in a crisis, and it is one of the most challenging and complex missions assigned to the U.S. Army, according to Army.mil.
Like most units in the storied division, they executed the JFE in typical 101st fashion – by means of an air assault.
The JFE was conducted in order to seize the fictional village of Jaanan. The Blue Spaders are attached to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division (Airborne) headquartered in Fort Richardson, Alaska for this rotation. As paratroopers, the bulk of the “Spartan” brigade completed their portion of the JFE on other locations throughout "the box" by means of airborne operations.
According to the JRTC operations group, air assaults and airborne operations do not frequently occur within the same rotation.
Staff Sgt. Joshua K. Russell, 3rd Platoon sergeant, Company B, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, says that this has created a unique training environment for his Soldiers. Not only are they working with a brigade they are not organic to, they have been exposed to how an airborne task force might operate.
“It’s given them a broader knowledge of how different units in the Army work,” said Russell. “For a lot of my guys, this is their first unit. So it’s shown them that there is more out there and that there’s not only one way to skin a cat.”
A vital aspect of the curriculum taught at the Sabaulaski Air Assault School, where the majority of the Blue Spaders earned their wings, is sling-load operations. This invaluable skill has been heavily put to use during this rotation to benefit not only the battalion, but Soldiers with 4th BCT, 25th ID as well.
“I think we bring to the table a lot of different assets,” said Russell. “Not only can we stealthy assault into an object, but we bring with us the ability to sling-load. We can bring them equipment and supplies in a faster, sometimes safer way.”
While not much is known quite yet about 2nd BCT’s upcoming deployment to Iraq and Kuwait, Russell says this rotation can still benefit Soldiers for what they might expect.
“I’m not sure if we’ll be air assaulting during the deployment,” continued Russell. “If it ends being an advise and assist mission, this will give us the exposure of working side-by-side with other units. In Iraq, we may be working alongside the Iraqi forces and I’m glad these Soldiers are getting that exposure.”
The Blue Spaders are scheduled to return to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, upon the completion of their JRTC rotation in early March.
| Date Taken: | 02.20.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 03.02.2016 18:03 |
| Story ID: | 190904 |
| Location: | FORT POLK, LA, US |
| Hometown: | CLARKSVILLE, TN, US |
| Hometown: | FORT CAMPBELL, KY, US |
| Hometown: | FORT JOHNSON, LA, US |
| Hometown: | LOUISVILLE, KY, US |
| Hometown: | NASHVILLE, TN, US |
| Web Views: | 141 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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