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US Aviation Forum Highlights Warfighting, Transformation, ‘Sacred Trust’ with Ground Force

Tuesday, February 6th, 2024

FORT NOVOSEL, Ala. — More than 200 U.S. Army Aviation leaders from across all Army components gathered at the home of Army aviation to discuss warfighting issues facing the branch, Jan. 23-25, 2024.

With a theme of “Transforming Aviation Warfighting, Strengthening the Sacred Trust”, the 2024 Aviation Senior Leader Forum’s three days of guest speaker and breakout sessions focused on current and future operations, training and leader development.

Event host Maj. Gen. Michael C. McCurry, the U.S. Army Aviation Branch chief, welcomed attendees and provided a branch update.

“Welcome, everybody, to the Aviation Senior Leader Forum, the only branch forum mandated in regulation,” he said, referencing Army Regulation 95-1.

He lauded the former branch leaders in the crowd and encouraged current leaders to seize the opportunity to learn from them.

“I wouldn’t be here today without a lot of these folks over here, and neither would a lot of the people sitting in the front row,” McCurry said.

“The dialogue is more important than what’s on the slides. The challenges we face in Army aviation every day out there in your [combat aviation brigades] and formations have been seen before, we have been here before. These warfighters over here, these warriors — some say gray beards — they have been there and had to fight their way through friction, and so your job is to be a sponge and glean from these warfighters everything.”

He also lauded the vital role of the branch’s enlisted corps as he recognized Command Sgt. Maj. Stephen H. Helton, U.S. Army Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth command sergeant major.

“We’re a pretty tight family in Army aviation. We all know none of us would be here without our enlisted Soldiers. Back in (the early 1990s), 1st Lt. McCurry and Pfc. Helton were in the same platoon. And for the last few years we have been the beneficiaries of his leadership at the Combined Arms Center as the command sergeant major. I want to make sure we recognize him, as a branch.”

McCurry explained his own responsibilities as a leader as three functions: Fort Novosel senior commander, force modernization proponent for aviation and senior trainer for Army aviation.

In Army aviation, “nothing’s really changed in what we do, we have the same set of core competencies,” which he condensed into the categories of see/sense, strike, move and extend.

“We increase the lethality and survivability of the combined arms team,” McCurry said.

In the future fight, first contact should be made with unmanned systems, he said.

“When the explosion of (unmanned aircraft systems) happened in the COIN fight, when many of us were battalion commanders, it was really about seeing, it was about persistence, it was about watching one IED engagement zone or one building looking for a high value target. Today with the explosion of unmanned systems, we’re using them in every function,” he said.

The branch is looking at future changes to medical evacuation, including extended casualty care and buddy care on the battlefield, and potentially employing UAS for blood transport.

The branch is also looking at aviation’s role in providing robust capabilities to extend the Army’s ability to command and control its forces.

“Let us never be mistaken (to think) that army aviation exists for itself,” McCurry said, explaining that the branch’s sole purpose is to support the Soldier on the ground.

McCurry also discussed the data solicited last year in the wake of aviation mishaps.

“Many of you that had meetings scheduled with me saw those cancelled on the last day of [the aviation association forum] last year because I was with Gen. McConville and we were working a plan on the aviation standdown as we looked at the series of accidents we had,” McCurry said.

“We collected data … all of you held standdowns … and you fed comments up. We tallied every comment, how many times certain things came up. We took all that collected data that bubbled up from the CABs and briefed the vice who is now our chief. We had every division and corps commander on the net,” he said.

“We identified with division and corps commanders the follow-on actions for the enterprise to take in the near, mid and far-term to get after increasing safety,” as he explained the data chart.

“For CAB commanders, the outcome was more engagement and ownership by your division commanders. They are engaged, they are reading what’s coming out, their DCG’s are getting the action items to follow up, so that’s a positive. We have to keep that momentum going,” he said.

He emphasized that the branch will not compromise on standards and called upon leaders to continue to focus on the fundamentals and understanding and managing risk, as the branch transforms to support the joint force in large-scale combat operations of the future.

Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Randy A. George, who joined the forum through video conference, called for readiness at every echelon.

“As a leader, I have been dealing with, or being supported by aviation formations my entire career. I’m always proud of our aviation branch. I think it’s one of the strongest aspects of our Army, it always has been,” George said.

“There’s so many things that we can learn from aviation. I always use maintenance as a perfect example of that … a formation that is disciplined and knows how to get after that, so appreciate all of your leadership,” he said.

He described the volatile current world situation that people can readily see on the news daily.

“What’s different about where we’re at right now is just all the regional conflicts that we have going on around the world, in eastern Europe, in the Middle East, what’s happening out in the Pacific, and everywhere else,” and how quickly those could flare up into global conflict, he explained.

George described four focus areas for the force, including warfighting, delivering ready combat formations, continuous transformation and strengthening the Army profession.

“I want to make sure your formations understand that one of the things that you are going to be laser focused on is how you can make your formation more lethal, and your teams more cohesive,” he said.

George said he prefers the word transformation rather than modernization, because it indicates changes with people and tactics, techniques and procedures that have to change just as much as materiel, he explained.

He also said it’s critical that formations maintain discipline and standards that have been the “hallmark of effective units on the battlefield since the beginning of time.”

Gen. Gary Brito, who commands the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, also joined the event virtually. He emphasized support to Army-level imperatives, including warfighting, delivering combat ready formations and continuous Army transformation.

Brito said the onus is on leaders to help eradicate harmful behaviors and strengthen the profession.

“In everything you do as a leader, help us continue to keep our Army strong,” he said. “We as leaders own this — to reinforce the commitment, the competence, the candor, the character, the whole bit that makes our Army strong.”

He called for leaders to put everything they can into quality training.

“All echelons, all systems, all staffs, must work towards being adaptive, innovative, lethal in this new [multidomain operations/large-scale combat operations] environment,” he said.

What TRADOC owes the Army is trained and ready Soldiers and leaders who are brilliant at the basics, educated on the threat, who fight as a team, are resilient and adaptive and trusted by America, he explained.

“I’m very comfortable with the leaders that are represented in the room to make this happen, regardless of the patch that you have on,” Brito said. “We are all professionals. We all have responsibility … to build that bench before us and help our chief and the secretary of the Army with their priorities in the future.”

Gen. Daniel R. Hokanson, National Guard Bureau chief, who had just returned from a trip to Poland, joined to provide an update.

“The Guard has got to look exactly like the Army,” Hokanson said. “For those outside the military that may not be familiar I constantly have to remind them that the reason the National Guard exists is to fight and win our nation’s wars. That is our sole mission. But because we are manned, trained and equipped to fight wars, we can do just about anything else. You see this in aviation literally every day.”

To make sure Guard aviation is on par and in the same modernization process as the active Army, every unit needs to directly support a division or corps, Hokanson explained.

The lineup of speaker sessions included updates from the Aviation Branch command sergeant major and chief warrant officer, as well as various members of the aviation enterprise such as the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, the director of Army Aviation – Army G-3/5/7, Future Vertical Lift Cross Functional Team/Army Futures Command and Program Executive Office-Aviation.

The event also provided updates from U.S. Army North, the U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center, Human Resources Command and Army Reserve Aviation Command, as well as the Directorate of Evaluation and Standardization and Directorate of Training and Doctrine at the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence.

By Kelly Morris

Posted in Army, Aviation, Guest Post | Comments Off on US Aviation Forum Highlights Warfighting, Transformation, ‘Sacred Trust’ with Ground Force

Scholar Becomes Army’s First Military Intelligence Direct Commission Officer

Monday, February 5th, 2024

FORT KNOX, Ky. — Bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate, Army.

The only military-related background Capt. Chelsea Michta had prior to becoming the first officer to receive an active-duty direct commission in the Army’s Military Intelligence Corps was that her father worked for the Department of Defense.

Now, she is the officer in charge at the Army Europe Open Source Center – what Michta said is the largest open-source intelligence shop in Europe.

“It’s incredibly meaningful to work with a team who is providing commanders with information that is having a real-world impact on the battlefield,” Michta said. “It’s also humbling to be continuously learning.”

Michta, however, is no stranger to learning. Her achievement becoming the first Army MI direct commission officer is far from her only noteworthy feat. Adorned with extraordinary accomplishments, Michta’s path to the Army was not only unconventional, but shows why her selection was obvious.

“Boy, did she have all of the unique skills that no other lieutenant coming through the regular channels would have,” said Col. Christina Bembenek, 66th Military Intelligence Brigade commander in Wiesbaden, Germany.

Michta’s background and reputation preceded her. After all, how often does a University of Cambridge Ph.D. graduate who speaks English, German, Polish and Spanish commission in the Army? To Bembenek, Michta’s passion for service rivaled that of her passion for academics.

“When she came here, her desire to learn how to be an officer and how to be in the Army was impressive,” Bembenek said. “Her extensive research ability, combined with her knowledge of the languages and region — I could not have had a better officer fall into our brigade.”

Prior to putting on a uniform, much of Michta’s life was devoted to education. While in high school, her father, then professor at a liberal arts college in Memphis, Tennessee, accepted a position with the defense department in Germany. Although she lived in Warsaw as a child, this move provided Michta her first real exposure to Europe and living abroad.

Following her graduation from Munich International School, she went on to earn a bachelor’s in European history from Amherst College and then attended Cambridge for her master’s. There, she was one of just a few graduate students selected by the university to receive a full tuition scholarship to pursue her doctorate.

There was just one issue.

“I knew from the outset that I didn’t want to pursue a traditional civilian academic career,” Michta said. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my Ph.D. and explored a number of options during grad school to try and figure that out.”

It was while writing her dissertation that an unexpected set of circumstances ultimately opened Michta’s eyes to the possibility of choosing the Army as a career. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she had to return to Germany where her father was serving as the dean of the George C. Marshall Center. With the facility’s classroom the only available workspace outside her home, she spent the days of lockdown with Soldiers attending the Foreign Area Officers’ program there.

“It was honestly that experience of being around a lot of Army officers and talking with them about their experiences in the Army that first sparked my interest in uniformed service,” Michta said.

According to Michta, prior to speaking with FAO Soldiers, who were from various different branches and backgrounds, she admittedly had a fairly simplistic view of the Army. It was through her many conversations that she became both enlightened and inspired.

“I was struck by how diverse their experiences had been and the responsibility that was entrusted to them so early in their career, and by their sense of shared values and purpose,” Michta said. “It was the first time I considered pursuing a career in the military myself, but I just didn’t know what that would look like for me.”

As she began taking steps to see what options were available, Michta discovered the Army was expanding its direct commission opportunities to new specialties. With her combined education, cultural exposure and language capabilities, a panel of senior intelligence officers reviewed her civilian credentials and written statement outlining her desire to serve, and selected Michta to be the first person to direct commission into the MI Corps.

Now, two years after first arriving at Fort Moore, Georgia, Michta is leading her team in Wiesbaden and has her sights set on attending the Captain’s Career Course later this year.

“My short-term goal is to be a company commander and really step into a leadership role,” Michta said. “I want to take what I’ve learned leading my team here in Wiesbaden and apply that to a larger group of men and women and be the best leader that I can be.”

For Michta, the Army was never in the forefront of her mind as a potential career, especially as she traversed the world of academia. She said many people would likely be as surprised as she was that their own personal skillset has that perfect place within the Army’s many avenues.

“I think it’s important to get the word out about what the Army can offer,” Michta said. “If more people were aware of the sheer variety of experiences that a person can have, the shared sense of purpose, and the professional developmental opportunities the Army can offer, I think a lot more people would seriously consider it.

“Don’t write something off just because you’re not familiar with it or you have preconceived notions of what this profession entails. There’s always more to it than you think.”

By Jennifer DeHaan

Posted in Army, Guest Post, Profession of Arms | 32 Comments »

Northern Strike 24-1 Tests Winter Warfare Skills

Thursday, February 1st, 2024

CAMP GRAYLING, Mich. – A frigid winter wind fluttered past the snow-covered landscape as Sgt. Shane Vanderhoek, an indirect fire infantryman with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 125th Infantry Regiment, Michigan Army National Guard, adjusted his team’s 81 mm mortar.

Hunched over the mortar’s sights, the sun lit up his breath steamy and bright each time he exhaled while painstakingly making the needed adjustments. Though seemingly minor in their movement, each change took longer to make than expected.

“Everything is just cold,” he said. “A lot of our equipment takes longer to start to work, or it just doesn’t really like working.”

Learning to navigate those cold weather issues is one of the goals of exercise Northern Strike 24-1, a weeklong winter warfare training exercise hosted by the Michigan National Guard. Vanderhoek and his unit supported friendly elements while squaring off against both opposing forces and Arctic-like conditions.

“This just offers that extreme weather and the ability to test your ability to maneuver and to test your unit’s ability to function and plan in a totally different environment,” said Army Col. Todd Fitzpatrick, the officer in charge of the exercise’s ground elements. “With the temperatures we have, it closely replicates a near-Arctic environment.”

Held at Camp Grayling Maneuver Training Center and the Alpena Combat Training Center — which together comprise the Michigan Guard’s National All-Domain Warfighting Center — the exercise’s location and terrain make it and the National Guard key elements of the Department of Defense’s Arctic strategy, said Fitzpatrick.

“Obviously, Alaska is an ideal [cold weather] environment to train in,” he said, adding that getting units and their equipment to Alaska for training can be both difficult and expensive. “So, this offers a very similar climate, very similar complex terrain and just is cost-effective for units to do that near-Arctic training.”

Northern Strike 24-1 focused on integrated air and ground operations. Elements of the Army’s 5th Special Forces Group operated with close air support from Air Force and Michigan Air National Guard units while Michigan Army Guard units provided mortar and helicopter support.

The joint focus is another key element of the exercise, said Fitzpatrick.

“It’s really integral to Northern Strike because this is such a valuable training area for the joint force — air, maritime, land component — and, more importantly, across all domains of warfare,” he said. “The jointness and the all-domain nature of the exercise are really what separates it from others.”

Northern Strike began in 2011, typically taking place each August and often including participants from all U.S. military services and components as well as international partners. It was expanded to include a winter portion in 2020 after feedback, specifically from special operations forces, indicated a need for cold weather training.

“It was actually a demand from rotational units,” said Fitzpatrick. “SOF-oriented units wanted a place to train the way we do in a near-Arctic or winter setting with a complex maneuver space like we have here.”

While the winter portion of the exercise is typically smaller — this year’s iteration included about 200 participants while the summer exercise often includes more than 7,000 — its challenges are no less complex.

For Fitzpatrick, those challenges include ensuring the exercise meets or exceeds the training needs of participating units.

“It’s not a cookie-cutter exercise,” he said. “We like to say that every unit is the main event. So, it’s challenging deconflicting all that training, integrating those joint, multinational, multicomponent partners.”

Planning starts about a year ahead of the exercise rotation.

“Because we have two exercises, we have two [planning] cycles running,” he said. “And, of course, we’re looking into the future. We’re already scheduling units for 2025 and beyond.”

For Vanderhoek and many other units on the ground, the challenges are often more immediate, such as ensuring the mortar’s baseplate is emplaced properly.

“We like to dig little holes if we’re operating in a place just so the base plate can settle down easier,” he said. “Obviously, it takes longer when the ground’s frozen to do that.”

The frozen ground also makes it more difficult to ensure the mortar’s bipod support legs are dug in. Simply placing them on the ground means the mortar may move.

“Then we’re running the risk of the legs sliding out when we’re firing, which will cause a round to go somewhere completely different [than intended].”

None of those were challenges faced by the unit during its recent deployment to the Middle East, but the winter iteration of Northern Strike prompted them to find solutions to those challenges.

Though it took longer than expected, Vanderhoek dialed in the needed adjustments to the mortar.

“Gun 1 is up,” he called out. Shortly after, another Soldier came out of the tent that served as the fire direction center.

“Fire mission!” he shouted, as Vanderhoek and his team scrambled into position to execute.

By SFC Jon Soucy, National Guard Bureau

Posted in Army, Guest Post | Comments Off on Northern Strike 24-1 Tests Winter Warfare Skills

Washington, Oregon National Guard Soldiers Test New Weapons

Monday, January 29th, 2024

JOINT BASE LEWIS MCHORD, Wash. — Washington and Oregon National Guard Soldiers with the 81st Stryker Brigade Combat Team and 96th Troop Command started the new year with a bang by conducting new weapons training and fielding on Camp Murray and Joint Base Lewis-McChord Jan. 16-17.

The training began with classroom instruction on Camp Murray. The weapons being introduced were the M110A1 Squad Designated Marksman Rifle, MK22 Precision Sniper Rifle and the M3 Multi-Role Anti-Armor Anti-Personnel Weapon System.

Soldiers focused on the weapons systems’ functions, safety and maintenance. The next day, they brought their weapons to the rainy ranges of JBLM for some hands-on training.

The M110A1 SDMR enables infantry, scout and engineer squads to engage enemies as far as 600 meters away.

“One thing I have done with the M110A1 in my platoon is assigned it as a primary weapon system for my weapons squad leader,” said Sgt. 1st Class Tylor Anderson, an infantry platoon sergeant with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment, 81st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Washington National Guard. “This means that he is utilizing the same caliber as his machine gun teams, forcing him to ‘think’ in 7.62 more consistently when planning for enemy engagements.”

The MK22 PSR, set to replace the Army’s existing M2010 and M107 sniper rifles, is outfitted with a modular, multi-barrel design, providing sniper teams with more diversity than its predecessors.

“It definitely improves our versatility when it comes to bringing the right tool for the job when we’re preparing for a mission,” explained Sgt. Remi Milslagle, a sniper with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment, 81st Stryker Brigade Combat Team. “We need to out-range enemy snipers, and we need ammunition that’s going to put holes through newer and stronger armor at those ranges.”

The M3E1 MAAWS, sometimes referred to as the “Carl Gustaf,” is an 84 mm lightweight, man-portable, direct-fire recoilless rifle, which is an upgrade from the AT4. It can fire a wide range of munitions effective against light and medium armor, personnel in open bunkers, and structural targets up to 1,300 meters.

“The AT4 with its ‘one-and-done’ loadout is not as adaptable as the M3,” said Staff Sgt. Dustin Davis, a section sergeant with Bravo Company, 1st Squadron, 82nd Cavalry Regiment, 81st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Oregon National Guard. “The variety of munitions the M3 has proves it to be a very adaptable weapon.”

Fielding new weapons allows team leaders to gain knowledge and experience. It enables them to develop as weapons experts and take their newly honed skills back to their organization to train other Soldiers on operating and maintaining their new weapons systems effectively and safely.

As they become more familiar with the new weapons, they can develop and implement standard operating procedures for the additions to their arsenal.

“Soldiers can look forward to getting experience with these platforms and developing unit-level SOPs on how they are employed,” said Anderson. “Training is paramount when it comes to staying ahead of potential adversaries in combat. By adding newer and more capable tools to our arsenal, we allow technology to help us consistently maintain that edge on the battlefield.”

By SFC Nicolas A. Cloward, 122nd Theater Public Affairs Support Element

Posted in Army, Guest Post | 7 Comments »

Army Developing First Arctic Doctrine in More Than 50 Years

Sunday, January 28th, 2024

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — The U.S. Army has begun development on the first Arctic-focused doctrine in more than 50 years, Army Techniques Publication 3-90.96, Arctic and Extreme Cold Weather Operations. The manual, slated for release in mid-2024, will provide Soldiers and leaders with the knowledge and techniques necessary to overcome the Arctic environment and succeed in temperatures as cold as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

“Arctic and extreme cold weather operations are about more than being able to survive, you have to be able to thrive,” said Capt. Edward A. Garibay, the lead doctrine author for the publication with the Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate. “As the Arctic warms from climate change, it’s going to become more and more accessible in the coming decades and take on new importance. We have to be ready to accomplish the mission in such an environment. This doctrine will help our Soldiers do that.”

The publication will be tactically focused and will help Soldiers use the concepts and experience they already know and adapt them for the Arctic and Subarctic. It will explain many of the unique and sometimes counterintuitive aspects of the region and the considerations Soldiers must take to adjust operations. For instance, the sun may never rise during the month of December; GPS and satellites can be unreliable due to solar storms; metals and plastics become brittle and can break; and batteries have significantly shorter life.

“One of the problems we face now is that we have a lot of localized knowledge that isn’t easily shared across the Army,” said Garibay. “We have pockets of individuals and units that are experts, but their knowledge is only available in local [standard operating procedures] and only passed down from one command to the next. We’re consolidating all that knowledge in one place and providing a foundation for everyone to build on.”

The CADD Special Doctrine Division, the doctrinal proponent for cold weather, has been extensively researching Arctic and extreme cold weather operations for more than a year. Their efforts include training at the Northern Warfare Training Center, referencing historical records, and consultation with other Arctic nations such as Canada, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark. One of their primary resources is the 11th Airborne Division in Alaska, which has played a critical role in developing doctrine. According to Garibay, their continued innovation and expertise has been invaluable. They have taken an active role in writing Arctic doctrine, staffing revisions, and providing subject matter experts.

“The U.S. Army has to be ready to fight and win in extreme cold and mountainous environments in order to deter conflict, and the 11th Airborne Division is the foundation of that capability,” said Maj. Gen. Brian Eifler, commander, 11th Airborne Division. “To build sustained Arctic readiness, we need to follow the example of Alaska native communities who have thrived here successfully for millennia, sharing best practices and lessons learned.”

Another milestone in the doctrine’s development will occur during the 11th Airborne Division’s upcoming Joint Pacific Multinational Readiness Center exercise this winter. During the exercise, which will replicate large-scale combat conditions, the division will also be validating concepts for the doctrine and providing immediate feedback to CADD.

To learn more about Army doctrine and access doctrinal resources, visit the CADD public website.

By Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate staff

Posted in Army, Guest Post, Profession of Arms | 5 Comments »

Army Hosts First-of-Its-Kind Cold Weather Manufacturing Challenge

Friday, January 26th, 2024

HANOVER, N.H. — If a critical part breaks in the Arctic, or other similarly remote and austere environments, forward-deployed warfighters can’t just order a replacement on the internet and have it shipped overnight. But what if they could manufacturer it onsite themselves?

That was the premise behind the Office of the Secretary of Defense Manufacturing Technology, or ManTech, Program’s first-of-its-kind Point of Need Manufacturing Challenge, held December 4-8, at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, or CRREL, in Hanover, New Hampshire.

The event showcased technologies generated by member companies of the Department of Defense Manufacturing Innovation Institute. Six projects, selected for funding in March by ManTech and DoD expert judges, used the event to demonstrate that their systems could be deployed in a cold weather environment to help close supply chain gaps and enable warfighters to manufacture and utilize critical equipment right where they need it.

“Material performance in the cold is different,” said Dr. Steven Wax, acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. “We must understand this to adapt to support current operations.”

According to Stephen Luckowski, an advanced manufacturing associate at the Combat Capabilities Development Command Armaments Center, CRREL was selected by the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense to host the event because of the unique capabilities that exist at the laboratory.

“The cold temperature capabilities at minus-60 degrees emulate the environments that we believe we will see in operations around the world,” Luckowski said. “This is a unique capability in the United States, and the only place where we could actually execute this type of work.”

One of the industry participants, Anusha Iyer, CEO and founder of Vienna, Virginia-based Corsha, said the opportunity to work in such extreme cold temperatures was invaluable.

“It’s been an incredible experience being able to come here and do this exercise at CRREL and really simulate that our platform can work at these kinds of extreme, austere temperatures and environments, and make sure that we’re putting in place technologies and solutions for the warfighter that will help them at point of need,” said Iyer, whose team demonstrated a platform that manages cybersecurity challenges presented by point-of-need manufacturing. “It’s only when you come into these types of settings that you see the unique constraints — everything that you take for granted sitting in an office or sitting in a secure data center that’s warmed up and continually connected — it’s a totally different playing field when you come into an environment like this. Everything from connectivity to cabling, to environmental constraints, are what we are solving for, and it’s great to do it in a live environment like this.”

Defense officials from allied partner nations joined senior leaders and general officers from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the military services, defense agencies and the National Guard to witness manufacturing demonstrations in extreme cold temperatures.

Wax was joined by the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Deputy Commanding General Brig. Gen. David Trybula and DoD ManTech Director Tracy Frost in attending the event and interacting with and congratulating the developers on their accomplishments advancing the defense technologies to meet the warfighters’ needs.

The event allowed CRREL’s scientists and engineers to demonstrate the laboratory’s capabilities and forge important relationships with defense industry and DoD personnel.

“Hosting the Point of Need Challenge provided an opportunity for the CRREL community of scientists and engineers to not only support a significant DoD technology demonstration, but also to connect with, and develop, new partnerships with the larger DoD community of stakeholders,” said Dr. Joseph Corriveau, director of CRREL. “Through these partnerships our ultimate goal is to work together on tomorrow’s challenges, today.”

Those new partnerships have already begun to pay dividends, according to Dr. Orian Welling, chief of CRREL’s Force Projection and Sustainment Branch.

“Since the event, I’ve talked to several researchers who’ve been invited to engage on numerous topics, including participating in events this winter with SOCOM, holding trainings for our staff in Picatinny, and collaborating with researchers at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and Natick Soldier Center,” said Welling.

The projects covered three challenges — the Warfighter Medical, Health and Nutrition Challenge; the Staying in the Fight Challenge; and the Cyber Challenge — and were assessed in real time by Soldiers, Marines, National Guardsmen and engineers. ManTech will invest nearly $2.5 million, while industry partners will contribute nearly $700,000 in cost share.

By Justin Campfield

Posted in Army, Guest Post | Comments Off on Army Hosts First-of-Its-Kind Cold Weather Manufacturing Challenge

Former Tomb Guard Pins Son with Badge

Thursday, January 25th, 2024

ARLINGTON, Va. — When Bryan Campagna pinned the Guard, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Identification badge onto the chest of his son, Staff Sgt. Isaiah Jasso-Campagna, it symbolized more than a father honoring his son. Campagna had earned his own Tomb badge as a Tomb Guard decades earlier, making the pair only the second father-son badge earners in the history of the Army’s 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, nicknamed The Old Guard.

To earn his badge, Jasso-Campagna completed five phases of testing and demonstrated a high degree of proficiency in Army and Tomb Guard knowledge. Tomb Guards who earn the badge are called Sentinels.

Jasso-Campagna received his badge at a ceremony in the chapel of Arlington National Cemetery on Jan. 11, 2024. As he stood at attention before a crowd of family, friends and his fellow Tomb Guards, Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Jay, who oversaw the ceremony, told him, “You have met the standard and you are now charged with helping the next Soldiers grow into Sentinels.”

Jay then invited Jasso-Campagna’s father to pin the badge onto his son. Campagna needed no instruction as to where to pin the badge, having worn one himself when he served as a Tomb Guard from 2002 to 2004. Some of Jasso-Campagna’s family members came to tears. Once he finished the task, Campagna patted his son on his abdomen and returned to his seat. Everyone applauded.

With his Tomb Badge firmly in place, Jasso-Campagna recited the Sentinel’s creed. “My dedication to this sacred duty is total and wholehearted,” he declared in a strong voice. His father immediately stood at attention and joined his son and the other Tomb Guards in reciting the rest of the creed in unison.

The ceremony also meant a lot to Campagna. “It was a special moment to see my son’s achievement,” he said, “and a privilege for our family.” While Campagna did not directly help his son study for his tests, he helped in other ways. “I just gave him encouragement and direction and support.”

“It was a very emotional experience,” Jasso-Campagna said after the ceremony. “I came down to Arlington National Cemetery twenty years ago to watch my father do the same job,” he added, “so to be here receiving the badge and doing the same thing he did was truly something else.

Story by Kevin M. Hymel

Photos by Elizabeth Fraser

Posted in Army, Guest Post | Comments Off on Former Tomb Guard Pins Son with Badge

Soldiers Train to Enable Arctic Dominance

Wednesday, January 24th, 2024

FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska — Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians who routinely defeat dangerous devices had to overcome a different kind of hazard during training in Alaska.

To enable the U.S. Army’s focus on regaining Arctic dominance, EOD techs from the Fort Drum, New York-based 760th Ordnance Company (EOD) recently traveled to an even colder climate to train together with 65th Ordnance Company (EOD) on Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

EOD technicians from the 760th EOD Company attended the Cold Weather Indoctrination Course in December where they learned to construct improvised shelters and fighting positions, to ruck in snowshoes and to cook in subzero temperatures.

Capt. John D. Velasquez from Bethesda, Maryland; 1st Lt. Jude A. McDowell from Downingtown, Pennsylvania; Sgt. 1st Class Justin E. Liller from Philadelphia; and Sgt. Andrew G. McCoy from Tallahassee, Florida, from the 760th EOD Company attended the training.

Velasquez, the commander of the 760th EOD Company, said the EOD techs also trained with explosives in colder temperatures.

“We spent two days on the demolition range comparing the impact of the cold on the explosive effects of demolition material,” said Velasquez, a graduate of American Military University with a sociology degree who has deployed to Afghanistan twice during his 14 years in the Army. “Tests were run with explosives that were both at ambient room temperature and exposed to the cold and comparisons were made between the two.”

Velasquez said the EOD technicians also tested different methods for dislodging stuck rounds from an M777 Howitzer barrel during freezing temperatures.

The 760th EOD Company enables military operations around the world and supports civil authorities at home. The company most recently deployed to Kuwait in 2021 and covers domestic response missions across the northeastern United States.

The 760th EOD Company is part of the 192nd EOD Battalion, 52nd EOD Group and 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command, the U.S. military’s premier deployable and multifunctional CBRNE formation.

Soldiers and Army civilians from 20th CBRNE Command deploy from 19 bases in 16 states to take on the world’s most dangerous hazards.

On Fort Wainwright and Fort Greely, Alaska, the 65th EOD Company supports the 11th Airborne Division and organizations requiring EOD support while using the 870,000 acres of training land available in Alaska.

Capt. Stephen S. Goetz, the commander of the Fort Wainwright, Alaska-based 65th EOD Company, said this area includes Donnelly Training Area, Yukon Training Areas and Tanana Flats Training Areas. He added the 65th EOD Company also supports civilian and federal law enforcement across the northern half of Alaska.

“The 65th Ordnance Company (EOD) represents a very small portion of the Army garrisoned in Alaska but together we all face the same challenges presented by this harsh and austere environment,” said Goetz. “We are still working to source innovative solutions to the challenges presented and identifying ways to regain Arctic dominance.”

A native of El Paso, Texas, Goetz graduated from Texas A&M Corpus Christi with a biochemistry degree. He has deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq during his 13 years in the Army.

To add teeth to the U.S. Army effort to regain Arctic dominance, the 11th Airborne Division was reactivated in June 2022.

The Alaska-based airborne division conducts expeditionary and multi-domain operations in the Indo-Pacific theater and stays ready decisively defeat any adversary in extreme cold weather on mountainous, high-latitude and high-altitude terrain during large-scale combat operations.

Goetz said the 11th Airborne Division has been spearheading many new ideas and the 65th EOD Company is focused on explosive effects, render safe techniques and survival in small teams.

Many new challenges come with the harsh and remote operational environment, said Goetz.

“Batteries do not hold a charge rendering some equipment useless, ordinary drinking water freezes and puts you at risk of dehydration, unique rations must be used, weapons require different lubrication, rubber and seals in vehicles become brittle leading to non-mission capable vehicles, limited daylight affects operations and the physical wellbeing of personnel and EOD tactics, techniques and procedures must be modified based on the extreme cold,” said Goetz. “Everything takes longer and you must have a backup plan for everything that you do.”

Training with other EOD units helps to strengthen everyone involved, said Goetz.

“Working with another organization is always better,” said Goetz. “You can share ideas, build camaraderie, and realize other organizations share the same problem sets.”

“Compared to any installation in the lower 48, Fort Wainwright is not easily accessible,” said Goetz. “The highlight of the training with the 760th Ordnance Company (EOD) was working hand-in-hand with EOD brothers and sisters, shivering together, training to build skillsets and doing things that no one else gets to experience.”

By Walter T. Ham IV

Posted in Army, EOD, Forces Focus, Guest Post | 1 Comment »