Defender battlion gets 'Ready' during week-long exercise

Photo By Spc. Catherine Bravo | A Soldier with Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 1st Infantry Division, takes up a kneeling position before firing at his target at Fort Riley, Kansas, on Nov. 20, 2019. The Soldier was given a ten round magazine to use while firing from the kneeling position. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Catherine Bravo) 191120-A-PF227-011  

FORT RILEY, KS, UNITED STATES

11.22.2019

Story by Pvt. Catherine Bravo 

19th Public Affairs Detachment

FORT RILEY, Kan. -- Soldiers with Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 1st Infantry Division, spent the week training during exercise Defender Ready at Fort Riley, Kansas, from Nov. 18-22, 2019.
The exercise focused on Soldiers being proficient and qualified with basic Soldier skills in a time efficient manner. During the exercise, they applied their knowledge and skill by establishing a tactical operations center, setting up communications equipment, and qualifying with their primary weapon systems.
"It gets them hands on experience," said Sgt. Kylee M. Hanson, an intelligence operations noncomissioned officer with HHBN, 1st Infantry Division. "It keeps Soldiers familiarized with utilizing their weapons and knowing how to shoot and working on all of their fundamentals. Qualifying helps Soldiers prepare them for overseas deployment with readiness and efficiency."
Soldiers from HHBN visited the range to qualify on their weapons. This allows leadership to have an accurate idea of the amount of equipment and weapon systems that are operational and qualified on for any future deployments or exercises. The exercise also allowed Soldiers to get hands-on practice with moving and setting up equipment, such as tents and communications antennas.
"For the Signal Intelligence Sustainment company, we've allowed their team to train in coherent units, and what that's resulted in is dramatic time improvements in setting up an antennae that was initially taking an hour," said Lt. Col. John W. Brock II, the battalion commander for HHBN, 1st Infantry Division. "We got those times down to fifteen minutes, just from rehearsing, and the Soldiers are also getting certified on it."
Brock said that the exercise is building readiness levels in anticipation of future field operations such as 1st Infantry Division's Warfighter and Danger Gauntlet exercises.

• Date Taken: 11.22.2019
• Date Posted: 11.22.2019 10:47
• Story ID: 353007
• Location: FORT RILEY, KS, US