Cavalry scouts provide early picture for infantrymen in fight

Photo By Spc. Noelle Wiehe | Soldiers of 1st Squadron, 108th Cavalry Regiment, 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, react to contact while conducting a screen, June 19, 2017 at Fort Stewart, Georgia. The reconnaissance mission was a part of the eXportable Combat Training Capability exercise. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Noelle Wiehe)  

FORT STEWART, GA, UNITED STATES

06.19.2017

Story by Spc. Noelle Wiehe 

50th Public Affairs Detachment

FORT STEWART, Ga. (June 19, 2017) – The Soldiers of the 1st Squadron, 108th Cavalry Regiment, 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, created screens throughout the day, June 19, in support of the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment Task Force at Fort Stewart, Georgia, as part of the eXportable Combat Training Capability exercise.

The mission of the 1-108 Cav. Regt. was to detect any enemy forces counter-attacking in the area following the attack by TF 1-28 the night prior, said Lt. Col. Scott Jackels, squadron commander.

“Our job as a cavalry squadron is to develop the situation for the brigade combat team,” said Jackels.

The troops conducting training were spread out from point to point waiting for enemy contact before they would call the information up and displacing.

“The task and purpose of the squadron are to screen to provide early warning to TF 1-28,” Jackels said.

Staff Sgt. Josh Watts, observer controller, 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, said the soldiers were doing their mission of protecting friendly forces through repetition.

“It’s a refinement process; they are refining their reconnaissance mission sets,” Watts said.

“The squadron incorporated two cavalry troops – one motorized troop and one dismounted reconnaissance troop – at each iteration of the training to conduct reconnaissance on the task force’s main objective,” said Capt. Christopher Goddard, operations officer, 1-108th Cav. Regt.

The Soldiers provided the composition and disposition of the enemy 24-hours prior to the projected time for TF 1-28 to move to the objective.

“We painted a clear picture for TF 1-28 on the enemy that they were going to be fighting,” Goddard said. “We were able to provide them actual, real-time data on the enemy.”

The elements used by the 1-108th Cav. Regt. were a long-range surveillance system, a Raven unmanned aerial vehicle and dismounted elements to set up close-range survey sites within 50 meters of the enemy.

“Providing reconnaissance for an infantry battalion is exactly what we would do if the brigade deployed as a brigade doing its core function,” Goddard said.

Capt. Daniel Nichols, incoming operations officer for 1-108th Cav. Regt., said that safety is also a reason for the training.

“What we’re working on out here is the job that Soldiers would be asked to do, and they have to be prepared to do that for a successful mission, but also for their own safety and for the safety of those around them,” Nichols said.

This training was an opportunity for Soldiers of the 1-108th Cav. Regt. to focus on their war fighting skills prior to going to the Joint Readiness Training Center in 2018, Jackel said.

• Date Taken: 06.19.2017
• Date Posted: 06.19.2017 17:30
• Story ID: 238465
• Location: FORT STEWART, GA, US