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‘Wearables Pilot Program’ Technology Tested at Exercise Talisman Sabre 2023

Sunday, July 30th, 2023

BRISBANE, Australia — Technology by definition is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry.

With a force of more than 1.4 million service members, not including Reserve and National Guard component service members, Dr. Nathan Fisher says the U.S. Department of Defense is always looking years ahead for the advantage in the continually evolving, multi-trillion-dollar industry.

While significant amounts of U.S. military spending is allocated towards weapons platforms, a relatively small portion goes into the wellbeing of its most critical assets — U.S. Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and Guardians, according to Fisher, a senior scientist with the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense.

Currently, Fisher said that funding is being used to test new technology that could help DoD prevent heat-injuries among its service members, among other things. He said more than 12,000 U.S. service members experience heat injuries annually.

Fisher said various research and development organizations within the DOD are participating in a one year Wearables Pilot Program to gain insight on how to implement wearable bio-physiological monitoring devices into the military from a practical and architectural vantage point.

The wearables come in various forms, which in some cases are familiar as a smartwatch.

One of its latest devices made the thousands of miles journey from the U.S. to Australia to be tested on service members training as a part of Exercise Talisman Sabre 2023.

“What we have here is the Health Readiness and Performance System, which is one of the devices that we’re evaluating as part of the wearables experiment (at) Talisman Sabre,” Fisher said.

The piece of technology connects to a data strip on the skin over the heart, which is nearly the size of a standard bandage you’d have in a medicine cabinet.

Although it takes up a small amount of space on a service member who otherwise carries upwards of 60 pounds of gear, its capacity to save lives is enormous.

“This particular device can do a number of things, but one of many is to identify early signs of heat stress and heat illness,” said Fisher, the native of Arlington, Virginia, who is also the rank of major in the U.S. Army Reserve.

The device connects to a cell phone through a receiver via secure communications technology.

“It measures heart rate, heart rate variation, respiratory rate, pulse oxygen level activity, and a few other physiological metrics that all come together in order to enable a predictive algorithm to analyze the data from that service member and then alarm that individual, or squad leader, or medic to take a look at that person,” Fisher continued.

A squad leader in the immediate area, or a medic receiving the information via a server, can receive the data to make an informed potential life-saving decision.

According to Fisher, the device ideally takes two days to establish a baseline reading of an individual’s data.

He said information derived from a collection of individuals’ data can also lead to preventive medicine measures amongst a formation including the spread of communicable diseases and viruses.

Wearables have commanded the attention of senior leaders supporting Talisman Sabre.

“I don’t get too excited about technology but this device is lifesaving,” said U.S. Army Col. Kevin Bass, the deputy commanding officer of 18th Medical Command, which is part of the Australian Defence Force and U.S. Combined Joint Theater Medical Component in supporting Talisman Sabre.

Dr. Nathan Fisher, a senior scientist, sits with U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Hughes, the public affairs chief for U.S. Army Pacific’s 18th Medical Command, and the Australian Defence Force and U.S. Combined Joint Theater Medical Component to discuss “Wearable Pilot Program” technology being tested in the field during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2023. The Combined Joint Theater Medical Component coordinates and synchronizes health service and support across the Australian continent, which is nearly the size of the mainland of the U.S. Talisman Sabre is the largest bilateral military exercise between Australia and the United States advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific by strengthening relationships and interoperability among key allies and enhancing our collective capabilities to respond to a wide array of potential security concerns. (U.S. Army video by Sgt. 1st Class Timothy Hughes/Released)

While reflecting on his service with the “Screaming Eagles” of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), he noted how a small percentage of paratroopers were expected to receive varying degrees of injuries on a given jump.

“Imagine if the medical guy sitting at the lead edge of the drop zone had an app,” Bass said. “You can sit there and scroll through it, and maybe in a future version of this, you can automatically race to the ones with an alert status.”

Currently, more than 500 service members across the Australian continent are testing the wearable technology.

The Combined Joint Theater Medical Component coordinates and synchronizes health service and support across the Australian continent, which is nearly the size of the mainland of the U.S.

Talisman Sabre is the largest bilateral military exercise between Australia and the United States advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific by strengthening relationships and interoperability among key allies and enhancing our collective capabilities to respond to a wide array of potential security concerns.

By SFC Timothy Hughes

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USARCENT Tests Phone App That Detects Unmanned Aerial Systems

Friday, July 28th, 2023

SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. — U.S. Army Central’s Task Force 39, the team dedicated to developing innovative ideas throughout USARCENT, facilitated a test of CARPE Dronvm at McEntire Joint National Guard Base and Poinsett Range on July 18, 2023.

CARPE Dronvm is a DoD funded application developed by MITRE Corporation that uses crowd-sourced information to detect unmanned aerial systems, or UAS. This test used a version of the application on cell phones to detect a UAS. Maj. Travis Valley, the Task Force 39 operations officer, said the potential for crowd-sourced UAS detection increases force protection capabilities.

“The CARPE Dronvm experiment, or proof of principle, was a huge success for ARCENT.” said Valley. “This was the largest experiment ARCENT has conducted to date. We expanded the experiment footprint, covering 50 kilometers, with multiple individuals in the area using the CARPE Dronvm app. This was all to prove the CARPE Dronvm app works. It did, in fact it exceeded my expectations on the simplicity of use and the program’s drone detection ability. This has the potential as a force protection multiplier, adding another tool to help protect Soldiers in a deployed environment.”

During the test, Soldiers used government provided cellular devices to test the functionality and capability of the application by capturing images of a UAS. The UAS used in the test flew from McEntire JNGB to Poinsett Range to provide the maximum amount of testing space available.

CARPE Dronvm is the result of a U.S. Air Forces Central initiative to develop systems to detect UAS. U.S. Army Central is testing the ability to operate this application at the Soldier level.

“Countering the drone threat in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility is essential to keeping our personnel, aircraft and equipment safe,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Steven Norris, AFCENT counter-UAS cell chief. “Our MITRE partners have been helping make CARPE Dronvm a reality since 2019. Every single warfighter can help sense and warn, creating a comprehensive layered defense that will tie into our existing command and control architecture and increase awareness of threats in the region.”

In recent years, the threat posed by UAS increased as malign regional actors continue to use and experiment with this relatively cheap weapons system. Due to its low cost to entry, it is becoming the weapon of choice for potential adversaries resulting in rapid technology proliferation and increased employment. Lt. Gen. Patrick Frank, the USARCENT commanding general said his command is focused on developing technologies to counter this threat.

“The UAS threat is a shared security challenge for the U.S. and our regional partners,” said Frank. “To combat this threat, CENTCOM and USARCENT will test and field counter-UAS systems. The advanced measures we intend to pursue regarding innovation and experimentation will provide critical, real-time data to inform Army and defense decisions on counter-UAS technologies.”

United States Army Central is the U.S. Army service component command for United States Central Command and is responsible to the Secretary of the Army for the support and administration of more than 12,000 Soldiers, including those assigned to joint task forces and embassies, across the 21 countries in the CENTCOM area of responsibility.

Story by CPT Richard Moore

Photos by SFC Michael Behlin, SSG Leo Jenkins, and SGT Amber Cobena

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Nijmegen March Offers Challenge, Inspiration to Participants

Friday, July 21st, 2023

BRUNSSUM, Netherlands — Teams across U.S. Army Garrison Benelux and its mission partner organizations have prepared their minds and bodies for the Four Days March July 18 to 21, 2023, in Nijmegen.

Otherwise known as “De Vierdaagse” in Dutch, participants walk between 30 to 50 kilometers — or 18.6 to 31 miles — each day through villages and the countryside while an estimated 2 million spectators cheer them on. The ultimate goal for the marchers is to achieve the Four Days March Cross, an official decoration of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which can be worn on many nations’ military uniforms.

Lt. Col. Shaun Reynolds, a civil affairs officer with the Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum J9 (Civil-Military Cooperation), is registered to participate with the installation’s Allied International Marching Team. Reynolds finished the march for the first time last year, receiving his cross. This year he is marching for the second award, which adds a crown to the medallion.

“It’s a motivator, getting the cross,” Reynolds said, “but [now] doing it a second year … I’m going for the crown.”

This year celebrates the 105th edition of the Nijmegen Four Days March. As the world’s largest multiple day marching event, it invites up to 47,000 participants from over 70 nationalities. Participants can register as an individual or in a group and choose to compete in either the civilian or the military category. Ages range from as young as 11 years old to over 90 years old.

“There’s people that travel from all over the world [to participate in the march],” said Staff Sgt. Alexander Bertsch, a 424th Air Base Squadron air traffic controller at Chièvres Air Base, Belgium, and team captain of the installation’s marching team. This is his second time participating.

The team, made up of service members from the U.S. Air Force and Army, started training for the march a few months ago.

“It’s not just a show-up-and-do-it kind of thing,” said Bertsch.

Master Sgt. Stephen Spaeder, 424 ABS emergency operations superintendent, agreed.

“I went in thinking it was just a walk. It was a lot more challenging than I expected [and] definitely a humbling experience,” he said. “I had just run a marathon the month beforehand, so I thought I was ready.”

Spaeder sustained a serious knee injury from the lengthy marching last year, landing him in physical therapy for three months after the event was over.

He learned valuable lessons from the previous year and began training earlier for the 2023 event. Additionally, this year Spaeder knows exactly what he will carry in his rucksack. While all military participants must carry 10 kilograms — 22 lbs. — of weight on their backs, it takes experience to know what items are best to bring along.

Spaeder also determined that taking more breaks throughout each marching day to take off his boots and socks in order to cool his feet and ward off blisters is an essential ingredient to success.

“You learn a lot about yourself and your feet,” Reynolds said. From his practice marches and experience last year at the Nijmegen event, he discovered that he needed to purchase boots a whole size larger than usual for a march this length.

He also emphasized how important it is to wear broken-in boots and learn how to properly care for your feet before even attempting the march.

While blisters top the list for injuries during the march, Bertsch struggled with different issues starting on the third day. The excessive marching caused his calves and ankles to tighten up, and he had to push hard through the final day to the finish line.

“I struggled to take each step,” he said. “You have to rely on the people around you. Without my team, I don’t think I would have made it.”

Even so, Bertsch will never forget the atmosphere of all four days of the march.

“It’s really inspiring to see all these people going through a rough time and being happy about it,” he said. “You can do a lot more walking than you think you can do, and keep good spirits despite the challenge.”

Members of both teams recounted how special it was to see the community and spectator involvement at the event. They explained that throughout the four days children were passing out snacks and candy, giving high-fives and asking for military patches off their uniforms. Crowds were clapping at 4 a.m. as the marchers began their day’s journey. Spectators cheered them on nearly the entire course as they marched up to 12 hours each day. DJs and bands played live music at many locations. One of the rest stops even offered drinks and bratwursts.

Maj. Juan Fuentes, future operations officer at USAG Benelux-Brunssum, will be participating in the march for the first time this year as part of the Chièvres Air Base team.

“I just really want to experience being … part of something,” he said. “There’s always a little bit of nerves and excitement. It’s an event I need to be part of.”

The Allied International March Team and Chièvres Air Base team join nearly 5,000 other military participants in the march. Their course will begin and end each day at the military camp Heumensoord, just south of Nijmegen. This camp is built every year for the Four Days March and supplies a dining facility, showers and sleeping accommodations for registered military detachments.

Nearly 90% of those who start the march cross the finish line four days later. Typically, around 70% of those people have participated in the march on more than one occasion.

“The atmosphere is what brings people back,” said German Armed Forces Maj. Heiko Lingelbach, a member of the German Communications Directorate at JFC Brunssum.

Lingelbach, who is also the chairperson of the Allied International March Team and leads a multi-national group of 41 participants this year, has seen people sign up for the march again and again.

“It grows on you, and you say ‘ok, I can do this again,’” said Lingelbach.

Reynolds emphasized the tremendous crowd support towards the end of the march.

“The last day you’re really on air even if you’re hurting,” he said.

During the last 5 kilometers (3.1 miles), all marchers are given gladiola flowers as they join a procession down the Nijmegen city center called Via Gladiola.

More than 250,000 spectators gather for this finale and offer high-fives, hugs, and cheers. Senior officials and dignitaries salute the military as they finish their last steps.

“I recommend that anyone who has the chance to do it, should do it,” said Spaeder, “I had a blast!”

By Sandra Wilson, USAG Benelux Public Affairs

Editor’s Note: The following story is the thirteenth in the series Bits of the Benelux. This series takes a deep dive into the stories, cultures and traditions found throughout Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

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National Guard’s State Partnership Program Marks 30 Years

Thursday, July 20th, 2023

WASHINGTON — This weekend, the National Guard’s State Partnership Program marks 30 years of contacts, exercises and aid to nations around the world.

The SPP is a unique program that began in 1993. It paired state National Guard units with the newly independent nations of the former Soviet Union and nations emerging from the Warsaw Pact.

“The program that began in 1993 with just 13 countries and has now grown to 100 countries,” said Army Maj. Gen. William L. Zana, the Guard’s director of strategy, plans and international affairs. The general spoke about the program at the Pentagon today.

The importance of allies and partners is a cornerstone of U.S. strategy. “It is a theme that runs deeply through our national security strategy, national defense strategy, and national military strategy,” Zana said. “And I’d argue [it] is deeply encultured within what we do as the U.S. military, how we operate and our values.”

The SPP is based on working side-by-side with willing partners around the world. The National Guard Bureau administers the program in close consultation with Defense Department officials and the State Department. The aim is to build trust, confidence and capabilities with partner nations.

In the program’s early days, the emphasis was on helping nations throw off 47 years of Soviet domination. Many nations in that first class of partners are now proud members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The program soon punched above its weight and spread to U.S. Southern Command, U.S. Central Command, U.S. Africa Command, and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. “The Guard is currently partnered with more than half of the world’s nations, and we expect to see continued growth in the coming years,” Zana said.

Combatant commanders universally praise the program. “[The SPP] is 1 percent of the nation’s security cooperation budget and results in 20 to 30 percent of the touch points or engagements that combatant commands have,” the general said. “So, they inherently see that value and the multipliers that go with that.”

These contacts are not limited to senior military and civilian officials, rather they stretch from privates and airmen up to generals. Guardsmen — unlike active-duty personnel – tend to stay in place, and many of the Guard’s noncommissioned officers and officers have “grown up” with their partners.

Zana, who has worked two of the last four years in Africa, said exercises are good training but often of short duration. “It’s not the same as having a relationship that has endured over many, many years where … families know one another, you’ve broken bread on both sides of an ocean,” he said. “You can’t build that trust overnight. I think it’s something that we, as the United States military, are particularly good — and our partners are really good — at.”

The partners have done more than simply exercise together. When U.S. National Guard units began deploying in harm’s way, the partners came with them. “The richness of those connections it can’t be… be overstated,” the general said. “It’s one of those things that made the program popular and built the enduring enthusiasm for it.”

National Guardsmen are Citizen-Soldiers who bring experiences and education from their civilian occupations to the process. “Often, some of the most creative activities and the things that happened with the program are an expansion beyond mil-to-mil or the creativity that goes with our Soldiers, Airmen and their counterparts from other countries,” he said. “That said, there are limitations with the funding of the program.”

The program calls for around $50 million, with additions coming from Congress. Zana would like to see all the money “on budget” to create a better planning horizon. “This year, we’ve got hundreds of events that we’ve either had to cancel or postpone,” he said. “And these are all events that are very much aligned with our national defense strategy and very much aligned with our partners and our combatant commands’ theater strategies.”

Ukraine was an early member of the program, partnering with the California National Guard in 1993. California Guardsmen helped train Ukrainian service members in NATO standards. They also trained them in using weapons like the Javelin and Stingers, which were so crucial in the early days of the Russian invasion of the country.

The California connection thrust the SPP into the news, and Americans got an idea of the depth and breadth of the military-to-military relationship. “In advance of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we were doing close partnerships, not just with the, with California and Ukraine,” Zana said. “One of the things we often refer to is ‘You marry one state, but you get the whole family with the Guard.’ So, when there’s a capability that doesn’t exist within the Army Guard or Air Guard within a state, we reach across the 54 states, territories and the District of Columbia to be able to get additional resources or capability.”

One aspect that hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves is the way Ukraine has adopted the U.S. emphasis on unit and tactical-level leadership, driven by noncommissioned officers. “If you look at the small unit, tactics and success within Ukraine, I think part of that is attributed back to much of the work that was done between Ukraine, California and other partners in the region,” he said.

The 30th anniversary will be marked at National Harbor in Maryland on July 17-18. Partner officials will join National Guardsmen, DOD officials, State Department officials and ambassadors to mark the event. Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will be the keynote speaker on July 17.

By Jim Garamone, DOD News

Additional Info:

State Partnership Program Celebrates 30 Years

State Partnership Program 30th Anniversary media roundtable

Major General William Zana Briefing on 30th SPP Anniversary

30th Anniversary of the State Partnership Program

State Partnership Program turns 30

A Five-Part Series By Master Sgt. Jim Greenhill and Sgt. 1st Class Zach Sheely, National Guard Bureau

‘Why Don’t we do a Little Partnership Thing?’ The Department of Defense National Guard State Partnership Program is Born

‘Our Real Superpower as a Nation is our Allies and Partners’ The Department of Defense National Guard State Partnership Program Today

‘A Mosaic of Opportunities’ The Department of Defense National Guard State Partnership Program Looks to the Future

‘It truly is a Team Sport’ How the Department of Defense National Guard State Partnership Program Works

‘The Most Important People in the Army are the Sergeants’ The Department of Defense National Guard State Partnership Program: A Crucial Arrow in Ukraine’s Quiver

Posted in Army, Forces Focus, Guest Post | Comments Off on National Guard’s State Partnership Program Marks 30 Years

ASIs for Arctic Soldiers

Tuesday, July 18th, 2023

Calling all Arctic Angels and Soldiers who have had the opportunity to serve in Alaska.

The Arctic can be a harsh, ever-changing environment.

The skills to live, work and thrive there are invaluable, and now there’s an identifier to prove it.

Actually, there are four to distinguish those who have completed cold weather training.

Arctic Skills Specialist – J1

Arctic Soldier – J6

Arctic Leader – E9

Arctic Aviator/Operator – E2

For details, contact Division G1 Readiness or visit:

11thairbornedivision.army.mil/Portals/108/Arctic%20Additional%20Skill%20Identifier

Posted in Army, Profession of Arms | 6 Comments »

TRADOC and the Release of FM 3-24, Counterinsurgency

Saturday, July 15th, 2023

The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States were a watershed in U.S. history. Though terrorist attacks on the American homeland and its global assets were not unique, they were neither common nor large scale.

The 9/11 attacks prompted a U.S. counterattack in fall 2001 against Afghanistan, which was the haven and training ground for the 19 Al Qaeda terrorists who had hijacked the four commercial airliners that claimed nearly 3,000 lives. Then, in spring 2003, came the invasion of Iraq for numerous reasons, most of all for allegedly developing and possessing weapons of mass destruction.

Though U.S.-led international military operations against Afghanistan and Iraq were initially successful and generally conventional in nature, occupation of both countries without full conquest of either one quickly inspired insurgency, often supported by international terrorist organizations. This shift led the American military to formulate counterinsurgency (COIN) doctrine to guide its ground forces primarily.

COIN required complex and nuanced operations directed at defeating the insurgents while rebuilding both countries as independent and secure states. TRADOC’s role in the roughly twenty years of the Global War on Terrorism involved training Soldiers for duty, principally in Southwest Asia and the Middle East, and convening the experts who produced the first formal Army doctrinal manual for conducting counterinsurgency operations since the Vietnam War.

After Vietnam and TRADOC’s establishment in July 1973, the U.S. Army largely abandoned its traditional experience with insurgency and counterinsurgency, dating all the way back to the American War of Independence. After the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, the Army focused instead on the activities and programs associated with the Europe-focused AirLand Battle and the Big 5 materiel developments.

Now faced with the need from 2003 onward to defeat robust insurgencies, the Army, with TRADOC leading and with significant contributions from the U.S. Marine Corps, began to resurrect, revise, and reissue counterinsurgency doctrine.

Along the way as a stopgap measure, the Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas-based U.S. Army Combined Arms Center published Field Manual-Interim 3-07.22, Counterinsurgency Operations, in October 2004, with a scheduled expiration two years hence.

Then-Lieutenant General William S. Wallace, later the 12th TRADOC Commanding General, commanded CAC, which oversaw most of the Army’s service schools and wrote the bulk of the service’s doctrine. The changes initiated by the new counterinsurgency manual ultimately resulted in a cascade of updated doctrinal publications, including capstone doctrine, all reflecting the experiences of recent combat operations.

In September 2005, then-Lieutenant General David H. Petraeus assumed the duties of CAC Commanding General. Petraeus possessed extensive counter-terrorism experience in Bosnia about the time of the 9/11 attacks and later while commanding the 101st Airborne Division during and after the Iraq invasion.

Right away, Petraeus engaged both his USMC GWOT colleague, then-Lieutenant General James N. Mattis, commanding the Marine Corps Combat Development Command, and his West Point classmate, retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Conrad C. Crane, then-Senior Historian at the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute.

Starting in mid-February 2006 in a conference at CAC, Dr. Crane led the writing team composed of experts from the military, academia, and the private sector and served as the principal author for the Army’s effort quickly to research, write, publish, and distribute the seminal December 2006 joint Army-USMC FM 3-24/Marine Corps Warfighting Publication 3-33.5, Counterinsurgency. The manual served for the next eight years as the Army’s guidepost for conducting GWOT counterinsurgencies.

Rooted in both historical study and contemporary experience, the manual drew immediate worldwide attention for many reasons, including its counterintuitive yet utilitarian “Paradoxes of Counterinsurgency Operations,” which included such strictures as “Sometimes Doing Nothing Is the Best Reaction,” “Many Important Decisions Are Not Made by Generals,” and numerous others.

In May 2014, the Army and USMC released the next and still current joint edition of FM 3-24/MCWP 3-33.5, now retitled Insurgencies and Countering Insurgencies, which builds on the 2006 version and casts counterinsurgency within the larger context of a range of military operations.

By TRADOC Military History and Heritage Office

Posted in Army, Guest Post, History, Profession of Arms | 6 Comments »

The Field of the Future: PEO Soldier Demos New Equipment at 25th ID

Saturday, July 15th, 2023

SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii – The 25th Infantry Division hosted a Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier portfolio overview/demo town hall and operational kit analysis overview, July 11-13, 2023.

The two-part multiday event was held for PEO Soldier to gather holistic data and receive feedback from Soldiers about innovative solutions and for 25th Inf. Div. Soldiers to gain a better understanding of products that are being developed and fielded to the force.

PEO Soldier is one of the Army’s leading producers of capabilities such as body armor, helmets, legacy weapon systems, sensors and lasers.

“We’re the acquisition organization that deals with everything the individual Soldier wears, shoots and uses,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Daniel Rose, the PEO Soldier sergeant major. “What we’re doing is making sure Army Soldiers have overmatch over the enemy by increasing capabilities, lethality, situational awareness and protective equipment.”

During the analysis, PEO Soldier representatives gathered equipment inventories, conducted targeted questionnaires and interviews, and received Soldier feedback, while during the demo, 25th Inf. Div. leaders and Soldiers gained insight and were provided a firsthand look at future technology and equipment set to be implemented within the Army.

“It was a great feeling to pick up and grab the new systems and gear that I can potentially use in the future,” said U.S. Army Pvt. Jeremiah James, an indirect fire infantryman assigned to 2nd Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Inf. Div. “I think it improves unit morale and sparks excitement amongst Soldiers, especially infantrymen, when we have something cool to look forward to learning and using.”

Throughout the demo, PEO Soldier showcased an array of updated equipment, to include the Next-Generation Squad Weapon (NSGW) rifle and automatic rifle, the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) headset, the new integrated head protection system, and the Aircrew Combat Equipment (ACE) vest — one that 25th Inf. Div. Combat Aviation Brigade Soldiers are currently the only Army unit to train with.

“It’s good to see that the Army is constantly improving our equipment, and that PEO Soldier is here to help us as jungle Soldiers,” said James. “Hopefully, PEO Soldier continues the demo, so we can always have a vision of what’s to come in the future.”

The Operational Kit Analysis portion consisted of Soldiers from both the 2nd and 3rd IBCT’s conducting a squad-level organizational clothing and individual equipment (OCIE) layout, where PEO Soldier examined what equipment 25th Inf. Div. Soldiers would bring into a 72-hour jungle operational environment.

“As we look to build the Soldier of 2030 and 2040, we’re here trying to collect information on what the current jungle Soldier looks like and what they may need,” said Rose. “Operational testing is super important to us. We want to make sure we’re informing the Soldiers and leaders of how important those touch points within the organization are, and how valuable it’ll be for them to have overmatch on the battlefield in the future.”

The nine-Soldier squads from each brigade completed an observational day of layouts, and also had the opportunity to speak with PEO Soldier representatives one-on-one about their thoughts on current equipment, and what may be needed in the future.

“I’m definitely happy that [PEO Soldier] is coming straight to the Soldiers using the equipment and asking us what it’s like,” said U.S. Army Spc. Carson Frantz, an infantryman assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd IBCT, 25th Inf. Div. “It’s important to get feedback from us. I hope they continue the analysis because there’s always going to be new weapon systems, new problems, and different environments, so making the equipment better makes the Soldier better.”

Story by SGT Alvin Conley, 25th Infantry Division

Posted in Army, Guest Post, PEO-Soldier | 20 Comments »

Ridge Runner Builds Readiness for Army Guard Special Forces

Thursday, July 13th, 2023

BECKLEY, W.Va. – The wind danced through the trees as pewter-colored clouds hinted at heavy rain. Soldiers went about their duties at a rocket launcher site on a hillside clearing in an otherwise thickly forested area. Aside from the trees, all was quiet. But as the wind gusted again, Soldiers with the 19th Special Forces Group suddenly appeared from the woods in a coordinated assault to seize control of the site.

Located deep in the West Virginia hills, the launcher site and the attack were part of the culminating exercise for one training lane in exercise Ridge Runner, a two-week special operations training exercise hosted by the West Virginia National Guard and the Irregular Warfare Center.

The exercise included more than 420 troops, primarily with the 19th Special Forces Group headquartered in the Utah Army National Guard, and allies and partners from 16 nations. Training scenarios focused on core Special Forces mission sets, including working with foreign forces, counterinsurgency operations and irregular warfare.

“Irregular warfare is actually a difficult term to describe because there’s no doctrinal [definition] for irregular warfare,” said an operations sergeant major with the 19th SFG who oversaw one of the exercise’s training lanes. “It’s designed to be very broad because it includes hybrid threats, it includes security force assistance and doing not only counterinsurgency and unconventional warfare, but also doing foreign internal defense.”

Many of those mission sets were tied together throughout the training scenario. Exercise participants — mostly made up of Special Forces ODAs, or operational detachment alpha teams, the basic SF tactical element — assimilated into West Virginia communities in two simulated nations and met with actual local government officials, law enforcement and emergency services personnel.

They monitored simulated economic and political situations in each “nation” through simulated newscasts and media engagements, and mirrored responses to them with procedures and operations that would be used during actual deployments.

Information from those engagements drove the training and resulting missions, eventually countering a simulated invasion by hostile forces from neighboring nations.

“The change in the scenario replicates what our forces would experience if they were in a friendly country about to be invaded by a hostile force,” said the sergeant major.
Teams acting as the opposing forces, or OPFOR, also had to shift in line with those scenario changes — and their actions often caused other shifts by the ODAs.

“What the OPFOR brings to the exercise is kind of a realistic aspect to it,” said a staff sergeant with the 19th SFG on an OPFOR team. “We’re able to do our own planning against what we know or think that the partner force of the ODA is doing. And so, it’s more realistic of how an enemy would react to those situations.”

The exercise also tied into larger service-wide shifts as the Army and Army National Guard move from counterinsurgency operations to preparing for near-peer threats and potential large-scale operations.

“You’re getting away from what for the last 20 years has been the main effort [counterinsurgency operations] and you’re now supporting the warfighter in different capacities,” said the sergeant major. “During the Global War on Terror, special operations, we were doing direct action. We were doing FID [foreign internal defense], we were doing counterinsurgency and going after specific terrorist cells.”

Some tasks and mission sets may be similar in future operations, but their large-scale application has changed.

“This is different,” said the sergeant major. “This is full-spectrum warfare. It’s preparing for invasion or preparing the territories that we would operate in, in order to facilitate conventional battle lines.”

Training and ensuring high readiness for that shift is key, he said.

“Irregular warfare is our way to do that through more low visibility operations and our ability to work around the civilian populace and provide that support to the conventional military.”

Ridge Runner, and similar exercises, help teams refine those skills.

“It allows you to be very creative,” said the sergeant major. “You have to get very resourceful and kind of adapt to the changing environment and realize that you don’t have the freedom of movement that we did in other places. It’s no longer about having air supremacy. It’s no longer about having open comms with higher [headquarters].”

And the exercise also helped teams focus on basic tactical elements.

“We’re able to work on some of our small unit tactics that we’re doing together as this six-man contingent as well,” said the staff sergeant. “We’ve been able to have those discussions, work on basic patrolling as well and all those things that are in the Ranger handbook and are the fundamentals of success for an ODA.”

That’s critical, as the 19th and 20th SFGs — the two Army Guard Special Forces groups — are integrated into special operations missions worldwide.

“The 19th and 20th Group guys get to do that just as much as their active-duty counterparts,” said the sergeant major. “They deploy to the same areas, they go to the same schools, they work with the same partners.”

And for the sergeant major, that capability is part of the uniqueness of Army Guard Special Forces units.

“[It’s] an opportunity to serve in a special operations capacity, wearing a Green Beret and operating in some of the highest missions,” he said.

By SFC Jon Soucy, National Guard Bureau

Posted in Army, Guest Post, SOF | 6 Comments »