SCHOFIELD BARRACKS -- Commanders and soon-to-be-commanders of the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, participated in the Warrior X-3 challenge, held here, April 3-4, in an effort to develop more adaptable leaders within the Warrior team.
The exercise focused on adaptability in leaders and building unit cohesion by fostering relationships between commanders of various battalions within the brigade.
"This exercise definitely helps develop the relationships that are necessary to be an effective commander," said Capt. Andrew Gardner, commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd SBCT. "Resources aren't always available, but another unit might be able to make those assets available to us."
"It allowed the commanders of these units to interact in a way they don't often have the opportunity to do," added Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Zeisser, an operations sergeant with 2nd SBCT, and one of the event organizers.
"They typically interact with other commanders in their battalion. Here, the teams are designed to get them working with other commanders," Zeisser continued.
The events of the exercise were based on proven training methods from both Special Forces and Ranger training systems, and were employed in a way designed to foster camaraderie.
"A lot of the ideas that went into this exercise came from my time in the Asymmetric Warfare Group's Adaptive Leader Program and my time in the Special Forces Assessment and Selection (SFAS), as well as my colleague's Ranger experience," said Zeisser.
Warrior X-3 is composed of multiple events, such as a standard Leader Reaction Course, Stryker PMCS, modified live-fire qualification course, as well as others, including the "apparatus," according to Zeisser.
"The 'apparatus' is an event pulled from SFAS and consists of moving a lot of equipment over a set distance using what they have available," Zeisser explained.
Exercises like this help keep leaders prepared for future combat operations in the Pacific, as well as contingency and emergency relief efforts, should they arise, by ensuring they have the skills needed to adapt.
"Because of the long movements between events, we had a good amount of time to get to know each other," said Gardner. "It was a lot of fun, but it also brought back some of those skills we're expected to use and teach to our junior leaders -- but it definitely wasn't easy."
A similar exercise is planned for 2nd SBCT first sergeants in the coming months.
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