Third Army showcases its readiness during Lucky Warrior 2011

By Sgt. M. Benjamin GableApril 21, 2011

Third Army showcases its readiness during Lucky Warrior 2011
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - Soldiers under Third Army's command participate in leader battle drills during the field training exercise at the Warrior Leader Course at Camp Buehring, Kuwait in March. These drills, along with Lucky Warrior, which is a four... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait -Third Army conducted a readiness exercise at Camp Arifjan Apr. 16-19. The exercise, titled Lucky Warrior, helped ensure Third Army maintains a full spectrum of responsive capabilities through an effective forward-deployed force structure.

In a region filled with uncertainty, Third Army maintains its commitment to defend its regional and partner nations in the region through an effective and robust theater-wide engagement plan.

"The Third Army team exhibited the level of readiness expected from such a professional organization," said Maj. Gen. Al Aycock, special assistant to the commanding general, Third Army and a native of Goldsboro, N.C. "The readiness displayed during the Lucky Warrior exercise is very import to the lives of U.S. Soldiers. Our team demonstrated that we take pride in our mission and understand the importance of the exercise."

The Lucky Warrior exercise has been conducted periodically throughout the years to maintain readiness for contingency operations throughout Third Army's area of responsibility. The focus of the four-day exercise was to provide a venue to gather lessons learned in order to refine and improve Third Army battle staff preparedness.

Lucky Warrior is geared toward exercising Third Army's command and control architecture and to demonstrate its capacity to operate as the Joint Security Coordination Center for U.S. Central Command. This was the first time many of Third Army's subordinate commands in distributed locations integrated their command posts into this readiness exercise. The commands included the 1st Theater Sustainment Command, Area Support Group-Kuwait and Area Support Group-Qatar.

"Third Army possesses the agility to balance real-world and exercise events simultaneously," said Col. George Cone, Third Army director of training and exercise and native of Chappaqua, N.Y.

So what is the status of Third Army's readiness'

"Third Army stands Ready Tonight to conduct operations anytime, anywhere to deter and defeat adversaries," Cone said. "We also possess the unique ability to sustain two theaters of operation and continue to Shape and build partner capacity in the U.S. CENTCOM area of responsibility."

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