FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Soldiers from across the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne)’s Advanced Skills Company kicked off the unit’s first baseline lethality exercise to bolster the Group’s ability to tackle evolving global threats. Coined “War Horse,” 3rd Group is standardizing the baseline training pathway, building readiness and enhancing combat lethality for the Special Forces Operational Detachment Alphas, known as SFOD-A.
Across the Special Forces regiment, the ODA serves as the building block to execute unconventional warfare. Teams consist of 12 Army Special Forces Soldiers: a detachment commander, an assistant detachment commander and 10 highly skilled Soldiers with advanced training in weapons, intelligence, technical communications, medicine and engineering. Together, the ODA is highly autonomous, designed for self-sufficiency and independent operations in hostile, denied or politically sensitive environments.
Across 3rd SFG(A), ODAs are adopting a new way to build operational readiness. Over the next eight weeks, the unit will assess more than 100 ARSOF Soldiers as they train on tasks across seven warfighting functions, developing combat effectiveness and building readiness for future operational requirements.
“Developing a centralized baseline lethality training model enables the Group to standardize training across our ODAs while maximizing the use of our resources,” said Army Col. Anthony Heisler, commander of 3rd Group, emphasizing the criticality of implementing War Horse across the Group. “This training is preparing our formation to fight and win under the most demanding and disadvantageous conditions. The nation’s expectation of us is simple; fight and win in any environment and War Horse will help us deliver on that commitment.”
War Horse, which pays homage to the group’s nickname as the “warhorse of the regiment,” consists of six distinct modules designed to build individual and team-level readiness. Special Forces Soldiers begin training with academic instruction, building a shared understanding of Special Operations’ role in large-scale combat operations, and how evolving global threats shape the operational environment.
“War Horse is designed to assess our Green Berets on 22 baseline lethality tasks to ensure we are ready to operate in a variety of different environments with partners from across the Joint Force,” said the commander of 3rd Group’s Advanced Skills Company. “We built this exercise to codify the foundational skills of our Special Forces, replicating the most complex and dynamic environments to ensure the Group is ready to execute the most demanding missions across the world.”
After a week of academics, ODAs develop tactical operations procedures, working with seasoned Special Forces Soldiers to strengthen their foundational knowledge of executing battle drills in a multitude of environments. A week of building this tactical proficiency helps ensure Special Forces Soldiers are prepared to conduct tactical mission planning and execution during the following module.
In the two weeks following tactical skills development, the Advanced Skills Company will put the Green Berets to the test, assessing combat readiness by testing tactical proficiencies throughout a variety of different combat scenarios. Special Forces Soldiers initial movements are conducted throughout Uwharrie National Forest, a key training site used in the assessment of Soldiers vying to earn the Green Beret during the Special Forces Qualification Course’s Robin Sage exercise. The infiltration is designed to test ODAs’ movements across mountainous terrain, rapid decision-making, and combat readiness under a variety of different conditions.
Following training at the Uwharrie National Forest, ODA’s return to Fort Bragg, continuing to build upon skills developed over the previous two weeks. For the next three weeks, teams of Special Forces Soldiers continue to build readiness, executing live fire ranges, employing and calling for indirect fire systems, conducting dismounted maneuvers during both day and night and completing an immersive medical training scenario that ensures detachments are prepared to operate independently with minimal logistical support.
At the end of War Horse, ODAs take lessons learned and continue team-level training progression specific to missions across Africa, 3rd SFG(A)’s area of responsibility.
3rd Group mans, trains, equips, educates, and globally deploys scalable Special Forces, Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations elements to conduct Special Operations by, with, and through, partners, surrogates and allies to solve problems on behalf of Geographic Combatant Commanders, Theater Special Operations Command Commanders, U.S. Ambassadors and the nation.
By MAJ Justin Zwick
