FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- The early morning silence on Fort Drum's Range 23 was shattered by machinegun fire Thursday that tore through the air as Soldiers assigned to 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, and British soldiers with 1 Rifles, 160 (Wales) Brigade, Gloucestershire, U.K., assaulted a notional enemy village.
Soldiers from both armies struck the objective in unison, separating regular and irregular enemy fighters from the local population, while securing enemy strong-holds during a culminating exercise in conclusion of Operation Commando Rattlesnake.
Rattlesnake was a three-week-long joint unit exercise allowing the exchange of lessons on training practices, identifying areas of improvement between U.S. and U.K. interoperability, and validating live, virtual and constructive integration architecture for the U.S. Army.
After the British colors were uncased at a ceremony last month marking the start of Rattlesnake, nearly two weeks of "crawl, walk, run" trainup followed in preparation for a final field exercise.
During week one, the armies observed each other's village clearance operating procedures, made notes, and derived a plan of execution for the squad tactical exercises that began week two.
Implementing lessons learned from the "crawl" phase, Soldiers "walked" through their live-fire exercise, honing the tactics to be used for the final assault. Using only two company-size elements on the ground, staff members monitored a brigade-size virtual element, implementing battle drills used in real-world scenarios.
"This exercise combines actual training with subordinate units that are providing simulated training using computers and mockup simulations," said Maj. Justin C. Jocuns, knowledge management officer, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade Combat Team. "It allows battalions to go through all of their battle drills and use all of their products to see how they would perform, while managing information for their commanders."
Amid military spending cuts, live and virtual training is at the forefront of less expensive large-scale unit training.
"It ties into a period of time when the Army is going to be transitioning; we know our budget constraints will be increased," Jocuns said. "This training lets us be very good stewards of government resources. For less cost, we can maintain and improve on our readiness as a unit here."
First Lt. Eugene Lee, a battle captain with 66th Combat Aviation Brigade, explained that in addition to cost efficiency and improved readiness, time is saved by using virtual and live training.
"For Army Aviation, for every one hour of 'blade time' there is normally four hours of maintenance time associated with that. In terms of that aspect we are saving a lot of time for the maintenance crew chiefs that are working on the aircraft," he said. "In a simulator, we turn it on, load the mission, fly the mission, power down the computer, debrief and you're finished."
During this operation, Lee and his Soldiers provided U.S. and U.K. ground force commanders with real-time battlefield updates, increasing reaction time to developing hostile situations.
"Being able to access our interoperability and developing that alongside our American brothers in arms, in this unique … environment, increases our adaptability to operate in all environments ar-ound the world," said U.K. Capt. Joshua Axford, platoon commander. "Getting a feel for the differences and similarities between our forces, rank structure, and operations will help us work seamlessly if we ever work together again."
With increased NATO-run missions, meeting in a combat environment is most likely.
"I think in the future, most operations will be conducted as part of a NATO force; it is unlikely that any nation will go to war on their own anymore," said U.K. Lt. Jack Brown. "We need to be able to operate together and realize our tactics fit in with the American tactics and the American tactics and doctoring fits in with our own. It's important to go out on an exercise and experience this firsthand."
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