A noncommissioned officer with 1-23 Infantry, 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, specifies a Soldier's sector of fire Nov. 2, 2017, at Yakima Training Center, Washington. This was during operation Argos, a training exercise that included company combin...

Soldiers with 1-23 Infantry, 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, approach a mock village Nov. 2, 2017, at Yakima Training Center, Washington, during Operation Argos. This was a training exercise that included company combined arms live fire exercises, a...

A Soldier with 1-23 Infantry, 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, charges his weapon Nov. 2, 2017, at Yakima Training Center, Washington, during Operation Argos. Operation Argos was a training exercise that included company combined arms live fire exerc...

A Soldier 296th Brigade Support Battalion, 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, fires an M2 50 Cal. Machine Gun Nov. 6, 2017, during a training exercise at Yakima Training Center, Washington. This was during operation Argos and included company combined ...

A Shadow Unmanned Aerial System comes in for a landing Nov. 7, 2017, at Yakima Training Center, Washington. This UAS was operated by Soldiers of 23rd Brigade Engineer Battalion, 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, in support of intelligence gathering du...

Soldiers of 5-20th Infantry, 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, clear a trench Nov. 8, 2017, during a training exercise at Yakima Training Center, Washington. This was during operation Argos and included company combined arms live fire exercises, a sus...

Soldiers with 5-20th Infantry, 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, clear buildings in a mock village Nov. 8, 2017, at Yakima Training Center, Washington. This was part of Operation Argos, a training exercise that included company combined arms live fire...

A Soldier with 1-14th Cavalry uses a Laser Designator Rangefinder to determine if artillery destroyed targets during a Joint Capabilities Integration Exercise Nov. 14, 2017, at Yakima Training Center, Washington. This was part of Operation Argos, a t...

An A-10 Thunderbolt II conducts a show of force flyover Nov. 14, 2017, at Yakima Training Center, Washington. This was part of Operation Argos, a training exercise that included company combined arms live fire exercises, a sustainer gunnery and a joi...

An A-10 Thunderbolt II flies over a Stryker Combat Vehicle as the aircraft approaches an observation point Nov. 14, 2017, at Yakima Training Center, Washington. This was part of Operation Argos, a training exercise that included company combined arms...

YAKIMA TRAINING CENTER, Wash. - Soldiers of 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team conducted Operation Argos, a training exercise held Oct. 27 - Nov. 15, at Yakima Training Center, Washington, to build the brigade's war-fighting capabilities.

The purpose of the exercise was to prepare the units of 1-2 SBCT for their upcoming Bayonet Focus and National Training Center rotation at Fort Hunter Liggett and Fort Irwin, California, respectively. The training included company combined arms live fire exercises involving obstacle breaching, clearing buildings and reacting to a Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) environment; a sustainer gunnery; and a joint capabilities integration exercise involving coordination among the intelligence, artillery and Air Force assets to target simulated enemy on the range.

"It is important for everyone to know what is going on the battlefield," said Staff Sgt. Kiser Russell, a weapons squad leader with Company A, 2-3 Infantry, 1-2 SBCT. "Communicating with one another is essential to get the job done in a timely manner. When everyone is on the same page, it makes it easier for us to move pieces around the battlefield and accomplish the mission."

The CALFEX was a complex operation with a lot of moving parts, Russell added. Getting the coordination down between the different platoon leaders, the company commander, and the support by fire element is important and this training was good practice for that.

During the CALFEX, the habitual relationships with the other units were solidified, according to Maj. Joe Mangan, the executive officer for 23rd Brigade Engineer Battalion, 1-2 SBCT. There are platoons of engineers who will have a habitual relationship with the different infantry units. These platoon-size elements of engineers will go through the lanes with an infantry company to remove impediments to the mission such as mined wire obstacles.

"We use a specific jargon within the engineer field when we talk about things such as a Bangalore breach," said Mangan. "That is great internally, but now we need to ensure the maneuver elements understand that jargon so they can better synchronize their operations.

"We also learn to communicate effectively with those maneuver elements," he added. This helps create that shared understanding among us. That is a critical piece of this exercise that we wouldn't get if we were out executing a platoon live fire by ourselves without the infantry units."

It is essential for these units to get that foundation of skills down before moving onto the more complex environments that are at Bayonet Focus and NTC, Mangan said.

It is important to build that foundation, especially between those assets such as the CBRNE (Chemical Nuclear, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive) Reaction Team and engineer personnel, Russell said. When the unit has to work with those assets later on, they are already tracking how this unit operates and what is expected from each other.

"Ultimately it boils down to when you are deployed, you are going to be part of a larger team and it is critical to get out there and integrate and train the way that you would fight," said Mangan.