Photo By Capt. Robert Wooldridge | 55th SB attends Mojave Falcon read more read more
FORT HUNTER LIGGET, Calif. — Mojave Falcon is one of the premier exercises when discussing tough, realistic training in austere conditions. The 55th Sustainment Brigade has just concluded the evaluation portion of their annual training, having experienced exactly that.
Interview with Maj. Gavin Keisling, operations officer for the 55th Sustainment Brigade:
What was the purpose of this exercise? Why was the 55th here?
"The purpose of this exercise, Mohave Falcon, was to execute sustainment operations in a simulated LSCO (Large Scale Combat Operation) environment."
"We were the sustainment brigade, executing sustainment operations for the simulated 52nd Infantry Division, 1st Armor Division, and 2nd MEDCOM."
What has your unit accomplished while attending this exercise?
"We accomplished training on three mission essential tasks, expeditionary deployment, distribution operations, and Human Resources Operations Branch (HROB), two of which are SPO-specific functions that are critical for our ability to be successful on our upcoming mobilization."
"Additionally, we had our special troops battalion conducting mayor cell operations for TA Mallard which at one point reached over 800 soldiers on ground. Lastly, we conducted air movement requests through the aviation battalion on the ground to execute a site recon for potential jump talk and sling load operations with the 7-158th Aviation Regiment. I think the primary focus was to validate our ability to communicate through all the communication systems, from JBCP to CPCE, as well as communication on SIPRNET. It was an exercise that had to run on all cylinders and included all sections."
What role does the HROB have in sustainment operations?
"The human resources operations branch is part of the support operations section of the sustainment brigade; they provide analysis of service members killed in action, wounded in action, and missing in action in theater during an operation. In this exercise, while the 52nd ID and 1 AD pushed forward throughout the phases of the fight and incurred losses, it was our HROB's responsibility to provide running estimates and forecasts that impact sustainment operations. And then on the back end, ensuring that replacements make it forward to the fight, not only for our supporting units but also for the forward units, 52nd ID, 1st AD."
Your brigade has accomplished a great deal while here. What training do you have left?
"We not only exercised and conducted sustainment operations, but we moved forward with our MDMP process as well as rapid decision-making processes from injects that we received that we hadn't planned for. It allowed us to rely on our course of actions (COA) that we developed during our leader training program (LTP). We also sent three soldiers as well as a senior gunner to the gunnery range, where they've accomplished great things and are currently conducting convoy live fire."
What kind of training is involved in conducting live fire at training exercises such as this?
"The Soldiers go from the very basics to expert on their crew-served weapon shooting the M-2 fifty caliber machine gun."
"Our process was initiated by sending individuals to the USARC senior gunner's course. We also have an internal brigade senior gunner who began training our Soldiers in November of 2024 at Atlantic Surge with practice familiarization on all crew-served systems as well as beginner qualification on tables one, two, three, and four."
"Throughout the year, we've moved to intermediate training, weapons familiarization, and then at our April field training exercise was our validation of that training process where we qualified three crews."
"We sent our primary crew to the gunnery range that started on May 31 where they started the process all over, starting with tables one and moving through to convoy live fire, which they're conducting June 9 and June 10. The training will end in a certification of the crew on our weapon system."
| Date Taken: | 06.09.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.10.2025 15:51 |
| Story ID: | 500231 |
| Location: | FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Hometown: | FORT BELVOIR, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 319 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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