The 10th Mountain Division (LI) hosted Summit Strike 2024, Nov. 19-21, with the intent to seamlessly integrate fires; intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR); and multi-domain operations (MDO) assets by partnering with other countries, military branches, and multiple industry partners to defeat adversaries, while showcasing Fort Drum as the premier training and force development hub in the Northeast.
“It is our sacred obligation to fight and win our nation’s wars,” said Maj. Gen. Scott Naumann, the 10th Mountain Division (LI) and Fort Drum commander. “Summit Strike provides the 10th Mountain Division the opportunity to hone the skills our warfighters need to accomplish this. Through this multi-domain training exercise, we are able to learn, refine requirements, and develop innovative solutions to fight a near-peer enemy with successive iterations of live, multi-domain training.”
“This type of training, partnered with facility improvements, deepening institutional knowledge from our deployments, and ever-strengthening partnerships in the region, positions the division to continue leading transformation initiatives to build warfighting readiness,” he added.
The exercise involved live-fire training, with emitters simulating enemy artillery and weapon systems placed throughout the Fort Drum training area. The Joint Air Ground Integration Center (JAGIC), then coordinated attacks on these targets using various weapon systems, including High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), AH-64 Apache helicopters, A-10 Warthogs, and Mobile-Low, Slow, Small-Unmanned Aircraft Integrated Defeat Systems (M-LIDS).
Summit Strike ’24 validated the division’s ability to integrate surface-to-surface, rotary-wing, and fixed-wing weapon systems, enhancing its lethality. The exercise also incorporated emerging military electronic systems technology to build resilient kill webs.
“Here, in these types of exercises, replicating real-world, large-scale combat operations, we are coordinating, synchronizing, and employing effects both lethal and non-lethal,” said Maj. Mark Smerka, 10th Mountain Division Artillery operations officer.
Owners of an 80-year-old legacy, born in the battle of Riva Ridge in Italy, the 10th Mountain Division remains at the forefront of modern warfare. The division is dedicated to adapting to the ever-evolving battlefield, embracing innovation, and staying ahead of potential threats, in line with the unit’s history as they face the future of warfighting.
“The future fight that we’re looking at in a near-peer environment is going to be bigger, faster, require more assets and more technology than we’ve been using in the past,” said Maj. Sean Thomas, 10th Mountain Division JAGIC chief. “We’re embracing a lot of that in this exercise, testing it out and getting comfortable using it.”
The exercise involved more than 400 service members from Fort Drum, with additional support from both U.S. and international military members. By fostering these partnerships within the Army and Department of Defense, Summit Strike ’24 provided MDO training on Fort Drum and allowed for the development of shared systems to enhance warfighting capabilities.
“We won’t fight alone in any future operation, whether that’s multi-branch or multi-nation,” said Capt. Maddie Crimmins, commander of C Battery, 3rd Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment, 18th Field Artillery Brigade, located at Fort Liberty, N.C. “Here we are executing multi-platform as well as multi-domain.”
Summit Strike ’24 provided a demonstration of the division’s ability to coordinate and execute an MDO live-fire exercise. The exercise highlighted the unique training opportunities offered by Fort Drum in a low-threat environment for Soldiers to train for MDO threats in a contested environment.
“Summit Strike is really the first of its kind where you have a division creating an MDO environment at home station to make sure we are trained proficiently so that we can win the Army’s future wars,” said Capt. Sean Thorpe, 10th Mountain Division cyberspace and electromagnetic activities officer in charge.
Summit Strike ’24 solidified Fort Drum’s position as the premier training and force development hub in the Northeast, showcasing its ability to integrate emerging technology and systems into range operations. The exercise also highlighted the division’s commitment to partnering with industry to enhance MDO training capabilities at Fort Drum.
“We learned that the 10th Mountain Division is able to conduct multi-domain operations, especially here at home station,” said Maj. Michael Spickard 10th Mountain Division assistant chief of fires, and lead planner for Summit Strike ’24. “We are more prepared in the future to make this exercise grow for Summit Strike ’25.”
By PFC Alyssa Norton, 27th Public Affairs Detachment