Warrior Brigade excels at JRTC 17-05

FORT POLK, LA, UNITED STATES

03.31.2017

Courtesy Story

1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division

“Be aggressive, be disciplined and get better every day.”
Colonel Scott Naumann, commander of the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI), was clear on what winning looks like.
Often repeated, this motto paid off.
Task Force Warrior trained hard, learned a lot and made a lasting impression during their month-long Joint Readiness Training Center rotation at Ft. Polk, La.
“I’m proud of you guys,” said the commanding general of the 10th Mountain Division (LI), Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Bannister. “It’s been a lot of fun watching you all.”
Answering the call of the fictitious nation of Atropia, Task Force Warrior deployed to blunt the attack of their hostile neighbor, defend the ground they liberated and then attack to remove the invaders from the friendly nation.
The BCT maneuvered across 75 kilometers of Fort Polk training area, which is no small feat, given the logistical requirements of the 5,000 Soldier strong task force.
“The hardest thing I did was the planning to move the brigade,” said Maj. Matt Strand, the BCT operations officer.
Not only did the team fight its way across La.’s unforgiving terrain, they achieved impressive results along the way.
Among them was the Shadow Platoon’s ability to fly its unmanned aerial surveillance system, or drone, more than 125 hours, when the average unit only flies 57 hours at JRTC.
Not to be outdone, the brigade’s electronic warfare section tripled the average number of enemy fire missions thwarted when they denied 18 of them.
This rotation saw the first time that the opposing forces, AKA “Geronimo,” were unable to retake Hill 95, a key terrain feature, from the rotational unit. Nor were they able to capture the provincial capital of Dara Lam, in stark contrast to most JRTC iterations.
The BCT also saw success with its anti-aircraft capabilities.
“I can’t remember the last time we shot something down [at JRTC] with a Stinger [anti-aircraft missile],” said Bannister.
Task Force Warrior was comprised of the BCT’s own seven battalions with a host of enablers ranging from Abrams tanks to a civil affairs company to Apache Helicopters and the ever-popular, tank-busting, A-10 “Warthog” flying overhead.
Last November’s Mountain Peak exercise at Fort Drum was the first time that this team from across the nation was able to come together and gel as a fighting force.
A JRTC rotation is not about the accolades of a job well done. It is about taking the unit to the next level.
“We owe the Army a critical look at what we can do better,” said Naumann. “At the end of the day, we are a proud organization, but not satisfied.”

• Date Taken: 03.31.2017
• Date Posted: 04.03.2017 12:00
• Story ID: 228969
• Location: FORT POLK, LA, US
• Hometown: FORT DRUM, NY, US