Photo By Spc. Rayonne Bissant | U.S. Army M1 Abrams belonging to 4th Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Armored...... read more read more
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Novo Selo Training Area, Bulgaria - U.S. Soldiers assigned to 4th Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, conducted platoon situational training exercises (STX) at Novo Selo Training Area, Bulgaria, April 28 - May 2, 2025.
The exercise trains the battalion to adhere to its division standard as a combat-ready force, allowing Soldiers to be subject matter experts in their Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) skills to apply to diverse situations.
The STX consisted of practicing combat tactics within simulated field missions in a fast-paced environment, such as conducting a mock raid, attack, ambush, reaction to contact, and defensive positions.
U.S. Army Spc. Marquis Baker, an Armor Crewmember (19K) assigned to 4th Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, comments on the gravity of platoon STX.
“The best part of doing this exercise is honestly just doing the training because complacency breeds things that we don't want in our ranks, and if we get complacent, people die,” said Baker.
1st Armored Division is utilized as a rotational force to support V Corps across the European theater, providing and maintaining deployable forces by building readiness, lethality and interoperability through months of unit-level training to become qualified at the highest level.
Throughout the year, the units conducted several STXs that led up to the unit’s culminating live-fire exercise to incorporate their training in a tactical scenario from a notional operational order to display the brigade’s capacity to defend itself and NATO Allies.
“We go from section STX and we’ll train section tanks maneuvering and executing the plan, then platoon STX and later company STX, building up to a grander scale, and from there we’ll go into gunnery and get qualified crews to go to the national training center to become a qualified brigade and once we are a qualified as fighting force we will go from NTC to an actual deployment,” said Baker.
Strengths and weaknesses within an element vary from communication to maneuvering and understanding the mechanics of how a plan works is a small portion of being successful. By executing the plan through continuous repetitions, Soldiers can get a better understanding of their position in the fight.
The 1st Armored Division has gone through the training needed to become qualified and is applying their skills on rotation.
“We are maneuvering through the training area to see how we react to receiving an operation order (OPORD), formulating and executing a plan, and then conducting an after-action review (AAR) to see where we can improve and where our weaknesses lie so we can be more lethal on the battlefield,” said Baker.
| Date Taken: | 05.02.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.05.2025 08:38 |
| Story ID: | 496978 |
| Location: | NOVO SELO, BG |
| Hometown: | FORT BLISS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 13 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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