1-14 Cav. troops conduct battlefield reconnaissance at YTC

By Spc. Ashley M. Outler, 28th Public Affairs DetachmentMay 26, 2011

Stacked up
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Moving in
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Keeping watch
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

YAKIMA TRAINING CENTER, Wash. - Cavalry Scouts of 1st Squadron, 14th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, practiced their artistic abilities as they provided details to paint a picture of the battlefield during a platoon live-fire exercise at Yakima Training Center May 24.

“Reconnaissance is about letting everybody know what’s happening on the battlefield so that they know how to weigh the forces that fight us. We provide the details for them to be able to refine how they fight so that they can apply the appropriate amount of forces in the right places to stop the enemy,” said Cpt. Kyle S. Phillips, troop commander, Alpha troop, 1-14th Cav. 3-2 SBCT.

The LFX provided the scouts opportunity to incorporate and coordinate every moving piece of a reconnaissance mission to be certified to perform the missions in combat.

“The live-fire exercise was a culminating event for the platoon so that they can actually go into combat and coordinate fires with each other while staying on line and not getting into each others way,” said Phillips. “It’s about learning how to disperse targets, learning how to move as a team while training as you fight.”

The exercise was a culmination of individual, crew and squad training and qualifications that the scouts had been performing for several days.

“They’ve trained on the same type of operations that a scout platoon would conduct in a combat operation, conducting reconnaissance forward. (They’ve identified) terrain that they would report, and enemy contact which they report and engage if they had to,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Ralph L. Miller, squadron command sergeant major, 1-14th Cav. 3-2 SBCT. “

The platoon had to transfer their report to upon completion of their mission to a scout platoon from 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment 3-2 SBCT.

“Out here we get to work with our brother and sister units and see how we can really compliment each other. We haven’t had very many opportunities to work with the infantry units in the past and now we are really working off of them, and they are working off of us, and we can see how we can better work with each other in the future,” said Sgt. Shaun C. Collins, team leader, Alpha troop, 1-14th Cav. 3-2 SBCT.

The training was conducted in support of the Arrowhead Brigades exercise designed to prepare them to perform full-spectrum operations at the National Training Center in hopes of becoming the first FSO certified Stryker Brigade.

“Full-spectrum operations is a lost art, for the last ten years we’ve been doing nothing but counterinsurgency operations so today we are trying to instill arts that were lost a long time ago, as in maneuvering in sections and maneuvering platoons gunnery, fire commands and basic Soldier skills,” said Miller.

The 1-14th Cav. training provided opportunity to perfect their piece of the brigade’s anticipated operational masterpiece.