Photo By Staff Sgt. Tiffany Banks | U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to the 311th Military Intelligence Battalion, 500th...... read more read more
SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii – Pele Strike is an annual interrogation and detainee operations exercise held at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. This exercise is a critical opportunity to build joint force readiness and enhance military intelligence capabilities across service components. Hosted by the U.S. Army, this year’s exercise brought together active duty, reserve and Marine Corps units for an immersive, realistic training environment that replicates the complexities of forward operations. In alignment with these objectives, the exercise directly supports U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s mission in the Asia-Pacific region by enhancing joint force integration, readiness and security.
This large-scale exercise brings together military intelligence and military police units to simulate the full spectrum of detainee operations—from initial capture and holding area security to screening and interrogations. Human intelligence specialists, linguists, and supporting personnel train side by side in order to synchronize their efforts and strengthen operational readiness.
U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to the 311th Military Intelligence Battalion, 500th Military Intelligence Brigade-Theater; 125th Intelligence and Electronic Warfare Battalion; 728th Military Police Battalion; 368th, 373rd, and 301st Military Intelligence Battalions under the Military Intelligence Readiness Command; and U.S. Marines assigned to the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment, Marine Forces Pacific, all came together for this year’s event. During Exercise Pele Strike, service members enhanced communication, established standardized procedures, and improved their ability to operate effectively in joint environments.
“Our role as OCTs (observer, controller, trainer) is to evaluate the individuals and the team and give feedback—not only for training purposes—but also for their certification,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Stanley Fisher, exercise lead and senior human intelligence technician assigned to the Western Army Reserve Intelligence Support Center.
The collaboration between units brought a wide range of expertise to the exercise, allowing for a realistic and dynamic training scenario. Each unit played a critical role in supporting the overall mission, from intelligence gathering and analysis to law enforcement and security operations.
“For the military police, our primary mission for Pele Strike is to run a detainee holding area,” said SFC Joshua Guzman, a military police Soldier assigned to 552nd MP Company, 728th MP Battalion, 8th MP Brigade. “Working with the military intelligence Soldiers, we can assist during interrogations by providing security.”
The exercise also emphasizes the role of linguists—an often overlooked but critical asset to the human intelligence mission. Linguists were embedded across interrogation teams, translating and interpreting during scenarios designed to mimic real-world operations.
“This is why this exercise is important—we are implementing this method to require all the interrogators to start using their language,” said Staff Sgt. Muhtar Boku, a linguist with Alpha Co., 311th MI Battalion. “Our Soldiers gain experience and focus on language to enhance their capability.”
The Marine Corps’ participation in Pele Strike represents an important step toward enhancing joint force integration. Marines operated closely with Army intelligence teams to align procedures, share expertise and foster interoperability.
“In a forward environment, we become a joint force,” said Staff Sgt. Keenan Ordonez, a human intelligence specialist with the 3rd Marine Littoral Regiment. “It’s important that we integrate from start to finish during screening, detainee handling and interrogations.”
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Brittany Crochet, a human intelligence officer with Alpha Co., 311th MI Battalion, emphasized the exercise’s dual value—both in certifying interrogation teams and deepening cross-branch understanding.
“The importance of this exercise is not only to certify teams on interrogations, but also interoperability between Army components and Marines and work in a joint environment,” Crochet said. “It’s important that we understand how we all operate.”
Language immersion was a major focus this year. The 500th MIB-T utilized Tagalog, Indonesian, Chinese Mandarin, and Korean linguists to enhance interrogation realism and challenge intelligence teams to adapt.
“Role players use cultural, political, and social perspectives,” said Boku. “That’s going to help the exercise participants get a deeper understanding of how to deal with people from different regions.”
The value of Pele Strike extends beyond annual training requirements, it reflects the evolving operational needs of human intelligence and the importance of joint readiness.
“Out of all five military intelligence disciplines, human intelligence is very resource intensive,” Fisher explained. “This exercise allows us to resource more people and facilities in order to effectively train and evaluate individuals and teams.”
Pele Strike is not only preparing service members for future missions—it’s strengthening the relationship and capabilities between the services and establishing a framework that ensures readiness.
“For the Marines, Pele Strike is unique training because we can resource the Army’s capabilities and personnel,” said Ordonez. “We are looking to continue and build our relationship with our Army human intelligence counterparts in future joint-exercises.”
Looking ahead, the future of Exercise Pele Strike will expand in scale and complexity to meet the demands of an increasingly dynamic operational environment. This growth will not only enhance interoperability but also ensure that both Army and Marine Corps intelligence assets remain agile, adaptive and mission-ready.
| Date Taken: | 06.16.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.16.2025 22:02 |
| Story ID: | 500768 |
| Location: | SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, HAWAII, US |
| Web Views: | 77 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Joint Intelligence in Action: Pele Strike Strengthens Operational Readiness, by SSG Tiffany Banks, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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